Volodymyr Chemerys ( uk, Володимир Володимирович Чемерис; born October 19, 1962 in

Konotop Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from Sumy, the oblast administrative center. It is host to Ko ...

) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

politician and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. Chemerys was a member of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

(parliament) of the second convocation (1994–1998), but he is mostly known as one of informal leaders of the

Ukraine without Kuchma Ukraine without Kuchma ( uk, Україна без Кучми; ''Ukrayina bez Kuchmy'', Russian: Украина без Кучмы, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President L ...

mass protest campaign of 2000–2001.

Early political career

Volodymyr Chemerys is a founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union—one of the first ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

'' organizations in Ukraine advocating renessaince of national culture and independence (now a

-advocating group) He also took part in the legendary 1991 student protests in Kyiv. Chemerys was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from a Frankivsky

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

#265 in the city of

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, after nominated and supported by the right-centrist

Ukrainian Republican Party The Ukrainian Republican Party ( uk, Українська Республіканська партія; ''Ukrajinska Respublikanska Partija'') was the first registered political party in Ukraine created on November 5, 1990

. Chemerys says he was mostly relying on people-to-people communications and small group of dedicated campaign volunteers so that the whole campaigning cost him and the party as low as U.S. $600. Later, Volodymyr Chemerys was also elected as the regional party leader in the city of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

UWK and other anti-Kuchma campaigns

In 2000, Volodymyr Chemerys co-founded the "Ukraine without Kuchma" campaign. A co-founder of the Ukraine Without Kuchma and a member of the NSF, Chemerys has been an effective public speaker and an active negotiator. For example, in an address to parliament, Chemerys described the disappearance of journalist

Georgiy Gongadze Georgiy Ruslanovych Gongadze ka, გიორგი რუსლანის ძე ღონღაძე, Giorgi Ruslanis dze Ghonghadze (21 May 1969 – 17 September 2000) was a Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and film director who was kidn ...

and the audio tapes presented by Socialist leader

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Morozrussian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Моро́з, translit=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice, ...

apparently implicating President Kuchma as "the last drop that filled the cup of distrust in the authorities. In addition, he was one of the representatives of the campaign received by their political enemy President Kuchma. Chemerys has also been active participant of subsequent protest campaigns started by the opposition against

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corrup ...

. During one protest in March 2001, Chemerys was hospitalized with a head injury along with

Andriy Shkil Andriy Shkil ( uk, Андрі́й Васи́льович Шкіль; ''Andriy Vasilovich Shkil'') is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician.UNA-UNSO party. While in the hospital, Chemerys learned that a warrant for his arrest had been issued.

Chemerys in the Orange Revolution

Unlike predominant majority of his UWK co-participants, Volodymyr Chemerys was sceptical to

Viktor Yuschenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

during the 2004 presidential election and even participated in the marginal "Ashamed to vote!" campaign (meaning "for any of the candidates").

Recent developments

In September 2006, Chemerys visited

Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957. History After the successful development of the Country Cl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on one stop on a three-week nationwide tour to witness and explore democracy in real life.Stites, Sara. (September 27, 2006) ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

''. "Prairie Village - Ukrainian delegation meets with municipal officials: Localdemocracy on display Stop is just one on the group's three-week, information-gathering tour of the U.S." Section: SM; page 1 Chemerys was presented to the city as a board member of the Institute for Social and Economic Studies and Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Despite his political start in a rightist party, Volodymyr Chemerys is now declaring leftist views. He is currently heading the "Respublica" Institute - a left-liberal

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. Its most known project is advocacy of the

freedom of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...

and oversight of

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

attitude towards participants of political rallies and mass events. Recently, Chemerys participated in a public investigation of a loud

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

scandal concerning clashes on a Ukrainian Football Cup-2007 final game held at the Olimpiysky Stadium.Футбол. Післямова
(''tr. "Football. Epilogue"'') ''www.pravda.com.ua'' In 2011 Volodymyr Chemerys and other civic activists have started a National Initiative “For Peaceful Protest!”, a voluntary coalition of independent NGOs from all over the country, which stand against attempts to limit the right to peaceful assembly in Ukraine (http://www.zmina.org.ua). Chemerys is also leading the continuous public campaign aimed to remembrance of Taras Protsiuk, Ukrainian TV-cameraman killed during

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

by U.S. tank fire, and proper investigation of the death. As part of the campaign, the activists conduct occasional protest vigils of the

embassy in

with a slogan "

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

, we remember that!".

References

External links

Volodymyr Chemerys profile on parliamentary web-site

''Glavred''
2006 interview on public control over police

''

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...