19/05/2012 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 19.05.2012 – The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), have welcomed the recent access given by the authorities to imprisoned opposition leaders.
After meeting with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kharkiv hospital where she is being treated, the rapporteurs said they were glad that she is now receiving proper medical treatment under the supervision of doctors she trusts.
At the same time, they expressed their concern at recent leaks of information regarding her health situation and the treatment she will receive: “Medical information is by definition private and confidential. In addition, trust in her treatment, and its privacy, is important for its success. Such leaks undermine this trust and are unacceptable. We call upon all concerned not to leak information or use her medical condition, or that of other imprisoned opposition leaders, for political purposes,” said the two co-rapporteurs.
They also expressed their concern at reports that the health situation of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko is rapidly deteriorating. “We expect that the authorities will ensure he receives the same quality treatment as Ms Tymoshenko,” said the co-rapporteurs.
During their stay in Kyiv, the co-rapporteurs had an extensive exchange of views with President Yanukovych. This they took as a clear signal of his willingness to enter into a dialogue on the concerns expressed in the Assembly’s resolutions on these issues. “We expect that this will now lead to substantive and concrete results. These are urgently needed, also in the light of the forthcoming elections in the country. We will continue to follow these developments actively and closely,” the co-rapporteurs concluded.