Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIEV473
2006-02-03 12:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: EXTREME MAKEOVER FOR THE PARTY OF REGIONS?

Tags:  PGOV 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 000473 

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DAMON WILSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: EXTREME MAKEOVER FOR THE PARTY OF REGIONS?

REF: A. KIEV 408

B. KIEV 400

Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 000473

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DAMON WILSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: EXTREME MAKEOVER FOR THE PARTY OF REGIONS?

REF: A. KIEV 408

B. KIEV 400

Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) As part of an effort to transform itself its image
into that of a democratic political force, Ukraine's Party of
Regions -- long a haven for Donetsk-based mobsters and
oligarchs -- is in the midst of an "extreme makeover." The
effort enlists the help and advice of veteran K Street
political tacticians. The fact that Ukraine's Human Rights
Ombudsman, Nina Karpachova, is number two on the Region's
list for the March parliamentary elections does not help;
despite the title, the ombudsman gets failing grades from
Ukraine's human rights community and, among other things,
publicly defends the Castro regime. End summary.

Extreme Makeover
--------------


2. (C) Enjoying a lead in the polls since the fall 2005
Orange team split, ex-PM Yanukovych's Party of Regions is
working to change its image from that of a haven for mobsters
into that of a legitimate political party. Tapping the deep
pockets of Donetsk clan godfather Rinat Akhmetov, Regions has
hired veteran K street political help for its "extreme
makeover" effort. According to the Internet news site
Glavred.info, Davis, Manafort & Freedman is among the
political consultants that have been hired to do the nipping
and tucking.

We're Real People...Real Bad People
--------------


3. (C) Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights
(known as the Human Rights Ombudsman),Nina Karpachova, is
number two on the party's list for the March elections.
Karpachova's presence on the list does not help the attempted
image makeover. Despite her title, Karpachova is a
Soviet-style bureaucrat who has done little to promote human
rights in Ukraine and, generally speaking, gets very poor
marks from the country's human rights community. In
December, the leaders of 18 of Ukraine's major human rights
groups sent Karpachova an open letter, which was released to
the media, calling on her to step down. The letter noted
that her decision to run on the Region's ticket undermined
the "independence and impartiality" of the Ombudsman's
office.

Vintage Karpachova
--------------


4. (SBU) Karpachova was in rare form during the Regions party
congress in December. During a feisty speech, she declared
that her lowest professional moment had come during the 2005
session of U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, where
Ukraine's Orange government had instructed her to vote
"against Cuba, a small island nation that has helped us."
Pressed to explain that comment at a January 16 meeting with
Ambassador, during which he passed her information about
Cuba's dismal human rights record, Karpachova launched into a
lengthy defense of the Castro regime, praising the dictator
for, among other things, curbing illiteracy and running
summer camps for Ukrainian children affected by the 1989
Chornobyl disaster. (Note: Karpachova neglected to mention
that, while the summer camps are intended for children
affected by Chornobyl, media reports established that during
her watch the camps also hosted a number of children of
Kuchma cronies.)


5. (SBU) Karpachova even blamed Cuba's poor economic record
on the U.S. embargo, which she advocated lifting. Ambassador
expressed surprise that a representative of a party that
purportedly believes in business would ignore the fact that
the socialist policies of the Castro regime were the primary
cause of Cuba's economic problems. She had no response.


6. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website at:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
HERBST