Sunday 16 November 2014

Kiev's act of genocide

Ukraine scraps human rights treaty for rebel areas, cuts services, freezes banks

Kiev has suspended the protection of human rights and ordered the withdrawal of its institutions from areas controlled by local militia in the nation's east. Rebels have branded the decree, which hits the population on winter’s eve, an ‘act of genocide.'

A rebel stands in front of a building that was destroyed in the recent shelling, in the town of Yasinovataya, eastern Ukraine, September 22, 2014 (Reuters / Marko Djurica)
RT,
15 November, 2014

Kiev has suspended the protection of human rights and ordered the withdrawal of its institutions from areas controlled by local militia in the nation's east. Rebels have branded the decree, which hits the population on winter’s eve, an ‘act of genocide.'

The move was prepared by the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council last week and enacted by a presidential decree signed on Friday. It has yet to be ratified by the newly-elected parliament, but the decree explicitly says that this procedure must be expedited – so there is little doubt that the new governing coalition will adopt it next week.


Arguably the most controversial part of the decree is the suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights in rebel-held areas. The convention, which guarantees basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe, has a provision which allows some of its articles to be derogated by a signatory “in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation.”

Kiev has been insisting that the military campaign it launched against the dissenting provinces is not a war, but an “anti-terrorist operation.” Apparently the operation threatens the life of Ukraine, which will now observe only those provisions of the convention, which cannot be derogated under any circumstances. In particular, they are the right to life, the prohibition of torture and slavery, and the right not to be subjected to unlawful punishment.

Cutting ties with breakгway regions

In practical terms, the decree orders that many social and economic ties with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics be severed. Kiev will withdraw all its officials and evacuate its offices in rebel-held areas. The order covers all public services, including crucial ones, such as schools, hospitals, and emergency service.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (Reuters / Mykola Lazarenko)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (Reuters / Mykola Lazarenko)

The same measure is applied to all state-owned companies and their employees and to prisoners serving terms in the affected parts of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian central bank has been ordered to stop servicing all banks operating in the rebel-held areas. The accounts of individuals living there and companies located there have been frozen. This will stifle the local economy, as businesses will have to conduct transactions in cash or use a bartering system.

At the same time, the rules of taxation and budget transfers between Kiev and local governments in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions will be altered under the decree.
Reuters / Anatoly Stepanov
Reuters / Anatoly Stepanov

Local heating and power plants will be subjected to a “special procedure for accounting supplies of fuel” to ensure that their debt will not grow. This potentially could involve cutting supplies altogether to the plants that don’t pay.

Ukraine's decision to halt subsidies to rebel-held areas may be understandable. However, the problem of standing debts in Ukraine’s energy sector has a long history, as energy companies have been for years failing to collect payments from consumers, and as a result pay for fuel supply.

The debt burden has been a de facto social subsidy by the government – and a practice which the International Monetary Fund wants eradicated as a condition for further loans to Ukraine. For people in eastern Ukraine who may be left with no heat in the middle of winter, it's an issue of survival rather than economic effeciency.

Ceasefire imperiled

President Petro Poroshenko’s decree also repeals a Ukrainian law which provided special status for the rebel-held areas. The law was adopted by Kiev to deliver on its promises under the ceasefire it negotiated with the rebels in Minsk in September.

Poroshenko threatened to repeal the law after the self-proclaimed republics held elections on November 2 in defiance of Kiev’s order not to do so.

The new measures, while apparently in line with rebels’ desire to be independent from Kiev, have been harshly criticized by them.

A rebell stands guard during the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic leadership and local parliamentary elections at a polling station, November 2, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev)
A rebel stands guard during the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic leadership and local parliamentary elections at a polling station, November 2, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev)

"Poroshenko’s decree on the total socio-economic blockade of Donbass is de facto an act on genocide and devastation of our people,” Igor Plotnitskiy, leader of the Lugansk People’s Republic, said.

He added that his government would not change its course, and that people in Lugansk “will live better than Ukraine, which will find the rule of the oligarchs worse and more devastating than any blockade.”

A fellow official from the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said Poroshenko’s decree is “a flagrant violation of the Minsk protocol.” He called on the OSCE, which brokered the ceasefire deal together with Russia, to come up with comments on the situation.

Kiev conceding to reality

Poroshenko’s decree marks Kiev’s acknowledgment of the reality on the ground, prominent Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryev commented.

"Those territories are not controlled by the Ukrainian government, which cannot and does not want to perform its functions, as we see. De facto they are acknowledging a certain degree of sovereignty [of the self-proclaimed government over] those territories,” he told RIA Novosti.

"In my opinion, the most important thing now is that civilians don't get killed there. If these measures held the ceasefire, one could probably welcome them,” he added.

A meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation in Minsk, Belarus (RIA Novosti)
A meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation in Minsk, Belarus (RIA Novosti)

But Mikhail Fedotov, who chairs the Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights, doubts that.

"I believe those measures are dangerous and would hurt the civilian population in the conflict zone,” he said. “They are showing a desire to distance from the conflict zone. It does not make progress towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

The presidential decree is one in a package aimed at stabilizing the situation in Ukraine. Poroshenko's other orders are aimed at controlling the weapons that flooded the country amid the deterioration of the police force and toughening up punishments for war crimes, as well as reforming the military and energy sector

Putin: Economic blockade of E. Ukraine a ‘big mistake’

Russian President Vladimir Putin (RIA Novosti / Mikhail Klimentiev)


RT,
16 November, 2014

Ukraine’s decision to sever economic ties with rebel-held areas and stop funding local public services is a big mistake which does not help the locals gain trust in Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists at the G20 summit.


I don’t understand why Kiev authorities are cutting off those territories with their own hands. Well one can understand – to save money. But it’s not the time or the case to save money on,” he said.

Putin compared Kiev’s debacle with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to Russia’s own armed conflict in the Chechen Republic that erupted several times since the early 1990s and officially ended in April 2009. But even at the worst moments, Moscow did not stop paying pensions and other social benefits to the Chechen people, he said.At moments that appeared to be stupid, because the people who were in control there not only embezzled that money but also could use them for obviously less-than-noble goals. But we did it due to our moral obligations to the common people. And in the end it turned out to be the right decision, as Chechens appreciated what Russia did to support the common people,” Putin said.

The Russian leader said he hopes the decision of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will be amended according to the demands of real life.

View image on Twitter
Putin: E. Ukraine economic blockade decision was Kiev’s mistake LIVE: http://on.rt.com/7cdyiq 
Kiev decided to take a number of measures in the rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, including suspending human rights protection for their residents, freezing public services, and banning banks from operating there. The stifling economic measures were ordered in a decree by President Petro Poroshenko on Friday.

The move was in retaliation for the 
elections that the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics held earlier in November in defiance of Kiev’s prohibition.

Sanctions, oil, G20 talks


Putin was speaking in Australia’s Brisbane, where he took part in the G20 summit.
During the G20 meetings, there was a common understanding that economic sanctions against Russia harm both their targets and the countries imposing them, and a way out of the current situation is urgently needed, the Russian President told journalists following the second day of talks.
I believe there is a common understanding that this statement does not only deserve a right to exist, but is the only true one,” Putin said.

While many media outlets, both in Australia and in other countries, implied that Putin had an icy welcome at G20 summit, the actual atmosphere at the event was quite cordial, the Russian leader said.

Putin praised the attitude of Australians in Brisbane and the hospitality of the country’s Prime Minister Tony Abbot, who played host to the event.
I took a look at the local press and other media after I arrived here. There was some whipping up of the tension. The actual reality and the virtual life as reported by the media – at least in this particular case – differed a lot,” Putin stressed.

Putin said that while virtually every bilateral meeting he had at the summit focused on Ukraine, the general meetings did not even mention it. Instead, the agenda included infrastructure investment and introducing a new institution into the global energy industry, among other topics.

Speaking of Russia’s own standing in a world of lowering oil prices and after the Russian national currency experienced rapid devaluation, Putin assured that the nation has enough resilience to weather the storm. Due to the dollar’s rise, oil was traded higher than the Russian 2014 budget expected in the first half of the year, so the current low price won’t force a correction, he said.
We will see what happens next year. If this continues, we’ll correct our spending, but it won’t affect our social obligations,” Putin said.

Putin’s early leave


Vladimir Putin is leaving the G20 summit early. Following an avalance of media speculations over the motives for his early departure, he explained the move by saying he had a long trip back to Moscow before returning to work on Monday. 

“Just to avoid speculations here, I am not going to the events tomorrow. I am leaving the finance minister in my place, who will report on Russia’s effort in fighting the Ebola outbreak,”
 he said. 

“The trip from here to Vladivostok is nine hours. And nine hours more from Vladivostok to Moscow. I’d like to get home before going to work on Monday. And have at least four or five hours of sleep. So I told that to Tony [Abbott] and he bore with me. There are no other considerations here.”


Earlier, some media implied that Putin would leave the summit early because other world leaders pressured him over Russia’s position on the Ukrainian crisis. 


Putin denied the reported hostility, saying that the reality of the summit was different from what the media described, and the atmosphere was constructive.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.