Ukraine: Police and/or state protection available to persons in fear of members of Russian and/or Ukrainian organized crime groups
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | UKR31026.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ukraine: Police and/or state protection available to persons in fear of members of Russian and/or Ukrainian organized crime groups, 1 February 1999, UKR31026.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac1f5f.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Specific information on state protection available to persons in Ukraine in fear of Russian and/or Ukranian organized crime groups is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
The following information was obtained during a 27 January 1999 telephone interview with a Legal Officer of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). She stated that the ICJ does work in Ukraine but that her comments were general since the organization is not a human rights monitoring group, but rather one that is working on the issues of human rights and the rule of law. She stated that it is a "well-known fact that there is a high level of corruption in Ukraine" and that there are "serious flaws in relation to the training and functioning of the police forces." She stated that if an individual wanted to approach the police with a complaint about organized crime they might have "serious doubts" as to whether or not the police were in fact connected to members of organized crime.
An 18 January 1998 report from the Press Association indicated that members of the Ukraine Organised Crime Department, were working in cooperation with West Midlands Police and the US Secret Service. Two British citizens were "arrested for allegedly trying to cash counterfeit cheques for £5 million in what is believed to be a heroin deal involving the Russian mafia," after being followed in Ukraine by members of the Ukraine Organised Crime Department (ibid.).
Four academic sources who have written on organized crime in the Russian Federation, all commented on state protection available to persons in fear of members of organized crime groups in the Russian Federation (see RUS31025.E of 4 February 1999) and indicated that their statements also reflected their understanding of conditions in Ukraine (25 Jan. 1999, 27 Jan. 1999 and 29 Jan. 1999). The sources are a Professor of Politics at Weslayan University; the Director of the North Pacific Centre of International Security Studies; a Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University; and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, who is also a member of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies and who has specialized in Soviet and post-Soviet government and law for the past thirty years. The professor at the University of Toronto stated that corruption in Ukraine is "slightly worse" than in the Russian Federation.
For general information on Ukranian political, legal, and criminal justice systems please see the attached pages from a document of the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems of the US Department of Justice (13 Feb. 1997).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Geneva. 27 January 1999. Telephone interview with a Legal Officer.
Michigan State University, East Lansing. 27 January 1999. Telephone interview with a Professor of Sociology.
North Pacific Centre of International Security Studies, Victoria. 25 January 1999. Telephone interview with the Director.
Press Association. 18 January 1998. Eileen Murphy. "Britons Held in £5M Fake Cheque' Swoop." (NEXIS)
University of Toronto. 29 January 1999. Telephone interview with a Professor of Political Science.
US Department of Justice, Washington, DC. 13 February 1997. Sergey S. Chapkey and Vladimir Tochiovsky. World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems, pages 1-10. [Internet]
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conneticut. 25 January 1999. Telephone interview with a Professor of Politics.
Attachment
US Department of Justice, Washington, DC. 13 February 1997. Sergey S. Chapkey and Vladimir Tochiovsky. World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems, pages 1-10. [Internet]