About us
Green Front is a social movement that sprang up spontaneously in Kharkiv on May 20th 2010, when the unlawful felling of the trees commenced in the Gorky Park. At first there were only two people who protested, then seven, later they became twenty. By the time of the butchery in the park on the early morning of June 2th 2010, when the encampment of proesters was demolished and when trees were sawn down right along with the activists on their top, about 200 tree defenders were present in the encampment simultaneously.
Now the Green Front proceeds with the fight against illegal felling in the urban bounds: judically, through numerous pickets and other activities, initialization of public hearings and referendums concerning the green lungs of our city.
The members of Green Front are common citizens of Kharkiv, of widely diverse political views, united by determination to protect the trees and greens of the native city from the abuse of authorities of any color. It is supported by civil organizations, mainly of human rights and environmental orientation, including
- Ecological group «Pechenigy»
- The intiative group against felling in Pyatikhatki
- Initiative group for human rights “Prorvemsya!” (We will break through!)
- Social organization “We are Kharkovians”
- Regional organization for the developement of civil society “Postup”
- Civil Council of Kharkiv region
- Youth Human Rights Movement – Kharkiv
- Foundation of Regional Initiatives
- Youth movement “Sprotyv” (Resistance)
- Association of Traffic Members
- Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
The demands of the Green Front are simple and are reduced to the following four articles, set forth in the Memorandum of May 22nd:
1. Revoke the disgraceful decisions on the destruction of parts of urban green spaces – the Gorky Central Park and the City Shevchenko Garden
2. Define unambiguously the borders of all green spaces of Kharkiv
3. Declare complete and permanent moratorium on the transfer of Kharkiv green spaces of any kind as well as their destruction under whatever pretext
4. Punish the guilty in the outrageous acts of violence against the park defenders.
The short-term program of Kharkov OOO «Green Front», adopted on 26.08.2010
- See original in Russian. docs: En, Ru.
Green Front Press-releases
- June 4th 2010: Gorky Park, the background.
A concise actual report on the defence of Kharkiv Gorky Park on May 19 – June 2, with brief introduction to the background (Read more…).
- See original in Russian. docs: En, Ru.
- June 7th 2010: Kharkov citizens against municipal authority and police,.
In Kharkov, almost 10 hectares of recreation zone are illegally destroyed. Protesters are illegally detained. Multiple facts of obstructing journalists’ work and violence of law-enforcement personnel against mass media representatives are recorded. People are injured (Read more…)
- See original in Russian. docs: En, Ru.
- June 10th 2010: A precedent of conviction for political reasons has been set in Ukraine
Denis Chernega and Andrey Yevarnitskiy, two activists of the “Green Front” social movement, have been sentenced to 15 days in prison on a charge of “malicious insubordination to police officers”… This may be the beginning of political repressions. (Read more…)
- See original in Russian. docs: En, Ru.
- July 4th 2010:. The Road of Death Forest park defendants found many human bones at the construction site. They called for the police and Sanitary and Epidemiological Service. Nevertheless, construction works were not stopped. (Read more…)
- See original in Russian. docs: En, Ru.
Human Rights Organizations Press-releases
- May 28th 2010, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union: UHHRU expresses concern over events in Kharkiv and treatment of protesters
The UHHRU has addressed an open appeal to the Prosecutor General, O. Medvedko, the Minister for the Environment, V. Boiko and the Minister for Regional Policy and Construction V. Yatsubi. It expresses concern over the practice of the bodies of local self-government in Kharkiv with regard to planning and building on city territory, this involving the destruction of green public areas and disregard for the public interest with regard to this area and human rights (Read more…)
- June 05th 2010, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union: The police are carrying out unlawful instructions
Recent events with the crushing of civic protest in Kharkiv demonstrate a serious worsening in the country’s human rights situation. They arouse great concern due to the wide-scale nature of unlawful actions by the local authorities and police which risk going unpunished (Read more…)
- June 18th 2010, Amnesty International Public Statement: Ukraine: Activists sentenced for a peaceful environmental protest
The organization considers that two activists, Andrei Yevarnitsky and Denis Chernega, are prisoners of conscience, who have been sentenced for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and has called for their immediate and unconditional release. Although their sentences were subsequently decreased, the organization still calls for the legality of the charges to be investigated and for them to be compensated for their ordeal. (Read more…)
Available also in other languages
Environmental Organizations Press-releases
- May 30th 2010, Committee on the Environmental Policy, Natural Resources Management and Chernobyl Disaster Remediation of the Supreme Council of Ukraine Resolution # 74/1: “On the compliance of the construction of the roadway and other objects in the Kharkiv Gorky Park with the environmental law requirements”
docs: En, Ukr (original); source: press-release #512 of Pechenigy ecogroup of July 01th 2010.
- July 05th 2010, Pechenigy ecogroup, press-release #514 : Open appeal on the violation of the current legal requirements taking place during the construction of the roadway in Kharkiv from Sumskaya street to Novgorodskaya street
docs: En, Ukr (original); source
- August 24th 2010, Pechenigy ecogroup, On violation of national ecologic legislation norms and provisions of Aarhus convention by Kharkiv city council during the road construction through Gorky park
docs: En, Ru; source;
in RussianLetters and Appeals to International Community
- The first letter to Mr. Platini, President of the UEFA, sent by individuals in the middle of May 2010, concerning the beginning of deforestation of Kharkov Gorky park under the pretext of preparations for Euro 2012: English, Russian, source.
- The second letter to Mr. Platini from Ihor Rassokha, dated June 30th 2010, on the continuing illegal felling in Gorky park in spite of the public protests and repeated brutal violations of human rights by the authorities: English, Russian, docs
- Appeal to Greenpeace, WWF, UNEP, SEU, Greencross Int, Greenwaves, REC and Greenhorizon, on the illegal tree-cutting and brutal attacks on the defenders of the park
- Open Appeal over the lawless actions of the Kharkiv authorities and Police to Thomas Hammerberg, Human Rights Commisionner of the Council of Europe, June 07th 2010: doc
- Letter to the citizens and authorities of Kharkov’s twin-town Nuremberg (Nurnberg), Germany, from Daryna Ariamnova, (in German): doc
- “Awarding the Guilty, Punishing the Innocent?”, the article by E. Zakharov, co-head of KhPG, on the felling in the Gorky Park, violations of human rights, falsification by the authorities of the public hearing concerning the green spaces of Kharkiv conducted on June 19th.
Published in the weekly newspaper “Zerkalo Nedeli” #26, 10–16 July 2010: in Russian, in Ukrainian.
- Letter to Mr. Mevlut CAVUSOGLU, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,from Kharkiv citizens, with regard to the Europe prize awarded to Kharkiv by the PACE Committee on the Environment,Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs in April 2010, dated July 2010.docs
- Letter to Mr. Mevlut CAVUSOGLU and officials of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, concerning the Europe prize 2010, on behalf of various organizations and individuals, July 2010. Original is here (in Ukrainian).
The letter of response by Mr. Cavusoglu is here (source)
The letter of response by Mr Axel Fischer is here
- Open Letter to Mr. Hans-Ulrich Shrader, director of the Ukraine’s Mission of the German National Union for the Care after the Military Burial Places, on the lasting violation of graves in the course of the road construction, July 28, 2010: German, Russian
(see also the Green Front press-release «The Road of Death» of July 4th).Media
- Detailed chronology of events in the Gorky Park from May 20th to June 2nd, supplemented with photo materials, in English (pdf, 8 mb);
See also the partner project «Gorky Park Chronology».
- CNN iReport project «FreeUkraine», with videos of the camp demolition of June 2nd and a piece on the falsification by the city authorities of the public hearing regarding the green spaces of Kharkiv.
The video of June 2nd events also available in German
- More video-clips on youtube channel GovoritUkraina
- Live video-clip «Welcome»
by Kharkiv group Pur:Pur, shot at the construction cite in the park (the text is here
- The Green Front photo-bank on picasaweb
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Victoriya Kravchenko, Chairman of the Coordinating Council of «Green Front»,
+38 063 863 07 36, v_kravchenko71-71@ukr.netOleg Peregon, vice Chairman of the Coordinating Council of «Green front»,
+38 050-22-88-236Andrey Tsukanov, activist of «Green Front»,
+38 063 044-29-45