Letter urging Vanhanen to use the E.U.-Ukraine Summit meeting on October 27th to seek concrete commitments from the Ukrainian government to improve its record on guaranteeing fundamental human rights protections for people living with and at high risk of HIV/AIDS.

A letter to the United Nations Human Rights Committee to guide their upcoming review of Ukraine’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Human Rights Watch highlights key issues of concern with respect to abuses fueling Ukraine’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, including torture and other ill-treatment by police and discrimination by health care providers; the forcible return of Uzbek asylum seekers; and other violations of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers.

I am writing to express Human Rights Watch’s serious concerns about the Ukrainian government’s forced return of ten asylum-seekers to Uzbekistan on the night of February 14-15, in violation of international law.

Human Rights Watch expresses deep concern about proposed amendments to Ukraine's drug classification tables, which would revise the standards for criminal possession of illicit drugs to criminalize the possession of very small amounts of certain narcotics. The use of illicit opiates constitutes a serious public health issue in Ukraine, not least because those who inject opiates account for a substantial share of HIV/AIDS cases in the country. Human Rights Watch is concerned that if adopted, the proposed amendments would damage Ukraine's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS by driving those most vulnerable to HIV infection away from HIV prevention services and exposing many to health risks in prison that would put them at risk of HIV or accelerate existing HIV infection.

Human Rights Watch expresses deep concern about recent reports that the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has proposed amending the list of scheduled drugs to reclassify methadone as a prohibited narcotic substance, thus barring its use for therapeutic purposes. This proposal contradicts recommendations from international health and drug enforcement bodies, which have advised the use of substitution therapy, including with methadone, as an integral part of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.

Human Rights Watch believes that your election and the formation of a new government mark an important opportunity to break with past shortcomings in Ukraine’s respect for human rights. We urge you to seize this opportunity, and embark on legislative and policy reform and the promotion of practices that will firmly establish, as a central feature of your administration, the full enjoyment of human rights by all people in Ukraine.

Dear Mr. Speaker, Respected Deputies:

Human Rights Watch welcomes the Verkhovna Rada?s forthcoming hearings on political censorship as an important step towards improving conditions for freedom of expression in Ukraine. We would like to share with you a summary of our recent research findings on informal censorship practiced by the presidential administration in the hopes that it will be of use to you in your discussions.