Ukraine: “We Are Europeans”

Global Voices Online
Saturday, October 29, 2011

In September 2008, Ukraine seemed headed towards signing an Association Agreement with the European Union the following year, in 2009. Three years later, in 2011, the Agreement has still not been concluded.

The latest obstacle to finalizing the process is the Oct. 11 sentencing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. A resolution passed by the European Parliament on Oct. 27 describes the 7-year jail sentence given to Tymoshenko "as a violation of human rights and an abuse of the judiciary for the purpose of the political suppression of Ukraine's leading opposition politician." The resolution also warns of the potential consequences for the EU-Ukraine relations:

[...] a failure to review Yulia Tymoshenko's conviction will jeopardise the conclusion of the Association Agreement and its ratification, while pushing the country further away from the realisation of its European perspective [...]

It remains to be seen whether the Ukrainian authorities manage to successfully contain the geopolitical fallout of their domestic policies. Meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians are beginning to take some of the matters into their own hands, voicing their commitment to democratic values, urging fellow citizens not to remain silent, and searching for optimal ways to interact with Ukrainian and European politicians on a grassroots level in order to help make the country a better place to live in.

On Oct. 20, a group of about 200 people, many of them journalists, gathered in front of the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv to convey this short message to the authorities: "We are Europeans."

The turning point for many of them must have been the EU's Oct. 18 decision to postpone President Victor Yanukovych's visit to Brussels for Association Agreement-related talks (the Ukrainian leader ended up paying a visit to Cuba instead) - as well as the looming prospect of Ukraine joining Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in the so-called Eurasian Union.


The logo of the "We are Europeans" Facebook group (features the EU flag and the Ukrainian coat of arms)

Yevgeniy Ikhelzon [uk, ru], one of the organizers of the "We are Europeans" rally, wrote [ru] that it had taken just two days and "not a single phone call" to bring the people together: online social networks and blogs had been used to spread the word. As a follow-up to the Oct. 20 event, a Facebook group [uk, ru; 1,620 members] and a Facebook community [uk, ru; 596 'likes'] were set up, and later a number of much smaller regional Facebook branches were registered as well (uk, ru: Lviv, Crimea, Zaporizhzhya, Volyn, Kherson, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk).

On his Ukrainska Pravda blog, Ikhelzon offered these explanations [ru] for the "We are Europeans" initiative:

Oct. 19, 2011:

[...] We want to live by the European laws, we don't need a new Iron Curtain. [...] Even though Europe is indeed facing a crisis now, it is just an economic crisis, not a crisis of values. [...]

***

Oct. 20, 2011:

[...] - European values do resemble what free people call common sense. [...]

- The Association Agreement with the EU includes a number of legislative requirements, which [if implemented] may really change the situation in Ukraine. [...]

- There is nothing that prevents Ukraine from fitting the criteria. Serbia, which had a war a very short time ago, will soon get an EU candidate status. We didn't have a war, we didn't have ethnic cleansing. All that needs to be done is replacing the occupation-style governing system with a human and humane one, turning the state around so it faces the citizens. [...]

- Joining [Vladimir Putin's] Eurasian Union will not bring about any changes for deregulation of the economy, human rights and civil liberties. [...] That is, [the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev] is not going to mind accepting Ukraine into this organization because Tymoshenko is still in jail. Basically, this gathering of former communists and KGB people do not care about such "trifles" - for them, [gaining profit] is the main thing. [...]

Here is what some members of the "We are Europeans" Facebook group are saying about Ukraine and the EU:

Oleksandr Oleks. [uk]:

Ukraine's EU aspirations mean very little on their own. If this happened tomorrow and we got a chance to move freely and work in Europe, perhaps half of Ukraine's population would [re-settle there] the day after tomorrow. As for the middle class, all 100 percent would probably move [out of Ukraine]. It has to be emphasized that the most important thing isn't joining the EU, but adopting the European values in Ukraine: first of all, the ability to defend one's property rights, the right to vote in fair elections, to control the work of the authorities, of the police and others. This is when the issue of joining the EU would not be that urgent anymore, and Europe would be more interested in us than we are in it.

***

Adriana Bubnovska [uk]:

[...] I don't want to join anything, neither the United States, nor Russia. I want to live in a normal country with normal values and normal civil rights and liberties. The EU happens to personify this value-based choice. For me personally, it is absolutely not important whether we join the EU or not. What matters to me is that the Ukrainian society grows to understand that it's bad to steal, impossible to falsify the elections, nonsense to jail political opponents - instead of arguing with them during the elections, and that a democracy [cannot select certain convenient rules to play by, while refusing to observe the inconvenient ones].

Some of the group's members are debating the necessity of cooperating with Ukrainian politicians to implement their Europe-oriented goals. Journalist Vakhtang Kipiani wrote this [uk] on his Facebook page:

[...] a single protest isn't going to change anything. We need to form a group of people that will delegate their pro-European value-based interests to another group of people. This is called politics. Without pro-European politics we will not become part of the environment where the law comes prior to the wishes of a particular official. [...]

Some Ukrainian politicians seem interested in cooperating with the "We are Europeans" group, too. Iryna Gerashchenko, an MP from Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, suggested [uk] that the group's most active members take part in the upcoming meeting of the parliamentary committee on the European integration that she is a member of, to "express their position and concern about the reverse processes in this sphere."

So far, there is no consensus in the group on whether it is worth it to allow politicians into this grassroots movement. In a comment to Gerashchenko's note, Ostap Kryvdyk thanked her for her initiative, which he considers useful - "a window to the legislative process, and a link to Western policymakers." Oleg Zavada, on the other hand, is one of those who feel they do not share any common ground with the Ukrainian MPs:

[...] I'm afraid of catching the [virus] of conformism, narcissism, [euro-loserism] from them, and losing whatever remains of the European prospects, because some of them have as much to do with the European standards as I have with Sharia law.

"We are Europeans!" rally in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Sergei Svetlitsky, copyright © Demotix (26/10/2011)

The second "We are Europeans" rally took place on Oct. 26 in Kyiv. Even though, according to reports [ru], it was less numerous than the first one, the activists managed to draw attention of some of the European diplomats to their cause, by handing the group's Open Letter on the State of Relationships between Ukraine and the European Union [en] to Miroslav Lajčák, the EU's External Action Service's Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Neighbourhood and Western Balkans, who was in Kyiv at the time.

Yevgeniy Ikhelzon posted a link [uk, ru] to the Ukrainska Pravda article [uk], which quoted Lajčák saying that "the desire of the majority of Ukrainians to move towards the European Union is very important, and every demonstration of this is very important and significant." Ikhelzon concluded [ru]:

This is the message that we need to get out into the streets and that this is what is expected from us.

Russia: A Psycho-Neurological Patient's Photo Stories

Global Voices Online
Thursday, August 11, 2011

Pasha Kyshtymov, a lifelong patient of a psycho-neurological internat on the border of Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions of Siberia, cannot communicate through speech, but had no problems learning to express himself through photography.

Russian photographer Oleg Klimov, who visited the internat with colleagues earlier this summer and took some photos there, has documented on his blog [ru] the poignant impromptu experience of teaching Pasha to share his worldview with others:

[photo]

It is natural, perhaps, that a person who cannot speak is looking for other ways to communicate. Visually, through images, for example... At the psycho-neurological internat in Siberia, I noticed one patient's amazing way of catching other people's peculiarities - he was showing them with his hands and facial expressions, thus explaining what he wanted to say. This is how I understood that "making circular movements with one's thumbs" denoted the internat's director. The director is always doing it when he is talking to somebody or is very nervous...

This perceptive person's name is Pasha. He is approximately 30 years old, he [suffered a brain injury at birth, when his head was being pulled with forceps, according to his health record) - and this resulted in a pinched "speech nerve"... It means that Pasha is only capable of saying "Daaa" [yes] and "Nyeee" [no], while the rest of the sounds are hard to comprehend. What exactly he understands, how he feels - in most cases, he is the only person who understands it. He cannot write and he cannot read. He can only observe, make some conclusions of his own, based exclusively on his own experiences, because no one has ever taught him anything. "A pure mind to teach photography!" I thought.

The idea was to quickly and efficiently teach Pasha to take photos. I was sure that with the help of photography, his language would become more "communicative" and I'd be able to understand him better. "Do you want to tell me about a flower?" - I'd ask him, - "Take a photo of a flower and show it to me... Photography is also a way of saying something..." [...]

[...] While taking photos, Pasha did not aspire to fame, did not want to get rich through photography, he did not have lofty ambitions of an artist and a limitless faith in his own genius - he wanted nothing but express himself and communicate with the people who surround him. He wanted to tell people so, so much. He was just happy with the camera in his hands. I was laughing when Pasha was making shots that were absolutely like the ones that smart-looking photography school students make, or, which is worse, the ones that "established photo artists" make [...]. [...]

[photo]

In a very short time, Pasha became a member of our "experimental expedition." We were walking together, taking pictures together. Together, we were drinking tea in our hut outside the internat, drinking village milk, eating cheese and excellent chocolate. I bought him a hat that was "almost the same as photographer Syomin's hat," taught him to fasten a tie, which he preferred to wear like some of the "Kremlin pool" photographers did. In other words, we accepted him as our own and were happy together with him.

[photo]

But when we came to dinner at the internat, Pasha wasn't allowed inside the dining hall with us. They said we couldn't enter together with the patients. Only separately. We didn't have to explain anything to Pasha. He took off the camera and passed it to me. He wanted to return the hat as well, but I told him it was a present. He waited for us in the street nearby, while we ate our dinner in the official dining hall and were then able to go take photos again...

[photo]

This "system" is monstrous in its imperfection, the internat's director told us - an amazing person, open-minded and principled. A child, whose parents had given him up right upon birth, has practically no chances to get out of this "system," regardless of whether he has some psychiatric deviations or not, regardless of whether he is capable of living in the society with these deviations or not. This is the "system" that "strictly forbids entrance to outsiders" [...] - [...] and forbids exit as well...

[photo]

When we were leaving, we couldn't give Pasha "an extra camera." And he didn't really have any hope we would. I promised him that we'd find a camera for him, that we'd gather money and buy a new one. Or perhaps some colleague would find an old and unneeded one. And the director promised us that he'd be downloading [Pasha's] photos onto his computer and thus would save them until our next visit. And this way we will learn what Pasha wants to tell us about... [...]

[a selection of photos taken by Pasha Kyshtymov]

Russia: Moscow Pride 2011

Global Voices Online
Sunday, May 29, 2011

The May 28 Moscow Pride event - banned by the city authorities on May 17 - did not go smoothly: according to news reports, at least 18 gay rights activists and 14 of their opponents were detained by the police, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Manezhnaya Square and, later, in front of the Mayor's Office on Tverskaya Street. This was the sixth attempt to hold a gay pride parade in Russia's capital; a 2006 GV translation about the first attempt is here.

LJ users zyalt [ru], drugoi [ru], o_maksimoff [ru], al_31f [ru], edelveis8 [ru] and linuel_foto [ru] were among those who posted photo reports of the rally and the clashes on their blogs.



An anonymous Moscow-based riot police officer, who blogs as LJ user omon_moscow [ru] and tweets as @OMON_Moscow [ru] (more about him in this post by Kevin Rothrock of A Good Treaty), shared some photos [ru] from Tverskaya Street, where he was on duty at the time of the rally, noting that "the activists of homosexual relationships" had been trying to ruin the Russian border guards' official holiday, which is marked annually on May 28 (photos from the May 28 celebrations at Gorky Park, by LJ user ridus-news, are here). On Twitter, @OMON_Moscow defended the actions of the police this way [ru]:

To all the smart ones who are telling me about gay rights and European laws, I suggest not to bother. I live by the laws of [the Russian Federation], not by those of the European Union. :)

A number of foreign gay rights activists were arrested in Moscow on May 28, including a former U.S. Army officer Dan Choi (a report on his violent detention, which includes a video, has been published by AMERICAblog Gay, here). @OMON_Moscow posted this casual-sounding, work-related comment [ru] about it:

Okay, the majority of foreign [homos] have been detained at [Manezh Square]. [A black one] is still running somewhere. They're here now. I'm running off to do some work.

Yelena Kostyuchenko (LJ user mirrov_breath), a 23-year-old Novaya Gazeta journalist who, among other things, has written extensively [ru] about the Khimki Forest case (GV coverage is here), explained on her blog why she was planning to attend this year's Gay Pride event in Moscow. The post [ru] has generated 7,414 comments so far (it has also been re-published [ru] by Novaya Gazeta, where there are two pages of comments now).

Kostyuchenko - pictured here, by LJ user o_maksimoff, with a printed note that reads, "It's boring to hate :)", and here, by LJ user zyalt, as she was being taken away by a police officer - reportedly suffered a concussion [ru] after someone had hit her in the temple during the rally, and is now at the hospital.

Here is a translation of excerpts from Kostyuchenko's powerful post, in which she writes about her 31-year-old partner, describes problems that homosexual couples are facing in Russia, and responds, in advance, to the homophobic readers of her blog, recounting some of the obvious truths, which may not seem all that obvious to many.

[...] We've been together for two years. [...] Moved in together after two weeks. I haven't regretted it for a minute. I'd like to spend my whole life with her.

[...]

It is this very ordinary kind of happiness. I don't think it's much different from yours.

[...]

We'd like to register our relationship. [...] We are adult, capable [women], citizens of the Russian Federation, we work a lot and well, we pay taxes, do not violate laws and love each other - we would like to register our union.

We'd like the state to recognize us as relatives. Not just relatives, but spouses, with all that it involves. We'd like to be able to take a family mortgage. To get a family medical insurance [...]. I'd like my woman to feel secure in property lawsuits that may follow after my death. I'd like her to have an opportunity not to testify against me in court. And if I find myself at ER one day (which is, unfortunately, quite possible with my health), I'd like her to make decisions.

We will have children. You, my dear homophobes, may [defecate yourselves] right now on the other side of the computer screens, but we will have children. And we already love them and look forward to their arrival very much. And, if necessary, we'll [do anything] to make them happy. And yes, we do want to have both of us listed in our children's birth certificates. We want - both of us! - to represent our children's interests at school, at the doctor's office, and (God forbid!) at the hospital and in court. [...] WE DEMAND GUARANTEES that, in case of the biological mother's death, our children will not be sent to an orphanage, while the second mother is trying to prove to the [damn] Russian custody authorities that she is related to these children.

[...]

Everything written above relates to your question as to "why do they need parades if the Criminal Code article [criminalizing male homosexuality] is no longer there?" and "screw quietly in the corner and no one will touch you." I'm sorry, but we want a little bit more than this safe "screwing in the corner." We want a normal human life. Scary, isn't it?

[...]

I don't like it when you are [wishing death on the homosexuals] in the comments. [...]

I feel even worse when seemingly mature people who look smart and speak good Russian start musing on the "propaganda of homosexuality." My dear ones, are you serious? [...] I understand that you don't want to read all those boring scientific works and research by anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, sexologists and historians. OK, they are indeed boring. Just turn on your brains then. The absolute majority of the Russian homosexuals were born and grew up in heterosexual families in the Soviet Union, where [there wasn't even any sex], let alone gays. So where do we come from? [...]

[...]

It makes me furious when ignorant comrades recommend that "homos undergo treatment." Treatment of what, [damn it]? Homosexuality has been officially excluded from the list of disorders, both internationally and in our country. [...] To make it easier to understand, a variation of the norm, it's like with the hair: some people are black-haired, others are quite blond, and some have red hair. One doesn't encounter redheads too often. But no adequate person would suggest that someone get treated for red-hairedness. [...]

Some of the people I consider friends say: "you are right, but in this country..." And then follows a lengthy message about national culture, religion, social mores, etc., with a hint on emigration at the end. And I don't remind them of the fact that "this country"'s traditions included slavery and mass executions just a short time ago, and national culture and religion, as well as social mores, tolerated it well enough. I don't remind them because I believe that our country deserves something better. [...] Russia will change. It is changing already.

And it will happen even if you, bastards, smash my head with a baseball bat [at the Gay Pride event later today].

Because love and common sense always - even though not at once - defeat hatred and [nonsense].

This is how this world works, and gays have nothing to do with it. [...]