Ukraine – Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 11 September 2013

Is there any COI on a political party in called Steppa Bandera, or similar? Is it banned? Aims, Objectives, leadership etc? Has it taken part in protest rallies in Kiev within the past 6 months? Arrests / kidnapping of members? Have members recently given interviews to local media?

The nearest match to the political party referred to in the above query is the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which was formerly led by Ukrainian nationalist .

An Interfax News Agency report states:

“Bandera, born on January 1, 1909, was a Ukrainian political activist who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which fought for Ukraine's independence from Polish, Russian and other foreign invaders. Bandera was killed by KGB agent Bohdan Stashynsky in on October 15, 1959. On January 20, 2010, third Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko conferred the Hero of Ukrainian title to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). On August 2, 2011 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine upheld a ruling of Circuit Court dated April 2, 2010 and a ruling of Donetsk Administrative Court of Appeals dated June 23, 2010 that declared illegal Yuschenko's decree dated January 20, 2010 conferring the Hero of Ukraine title to Bandera.” (Interfax News Agency (1 January 2013) Ukraine nationalists celebrate Bandera's birth anniversary )

An Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine entry on Stepan Bandera states:

“Revolutionary, politician, and ideologue of the Ukrainian nationalist movement. Born into a clerical family, Bandera took an active part in community affairs, joining the Plast Ukrainian Youth Association while in high school. As an agronomy student at the Polytechnical Institute, Bandera became a member of the Ukrainian Military Organization in 1927 and of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1929, in which he soon attained positions of authority. In 1931 he became chief of propaganda in the OUN national executive, in 1932–3 he was second-in-command, and in June 1933 he became head of the national executive in Galicia.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (undated) Stepan Bandera )

This entry also states:

“In the memory of his followers Bandera became a symbol of the revolutionary struggle for a Ukrainian state. His legacy has grown substantially since Ukrainian independence, particularly in Western Ukraine.” (ibid)

An article published by the British left-wing newspaper Morning Star states:

“Stepan Bandera, the political leader of OUN and an operative of nazi military intelligence the Abwehr was executed, allegedly by the KGB, in Munich in 1959. Ancient history you might say, but you'd be horribly wrong. Before the leader of the "orange" revolution, Ukraine's president Victor Yushchenko, left office in 2010 he issued a decree conferring on Bandera the highest state honour of Hero of Ukraine. Worse, the decree automatically extended the distinction to all former members of the OUN and UPA.” (Morning Star (25 July 2013) Ukraine's troubled past )

This article also states:

“The ultimate goal of the OUN and UPA has always been a racially pure Ukraine and they began, with their German paymasters' blessing, with the murder of Jews. The Poles were next in line. This year's official remembrance of the atrocities in Poland was a rather muted affair with the Ukrainian side conspicuous by their absence and organisations of survivors and relatives holding their own separate events in protest. Significantly, a decade ago the freshly anointed Polish neoliberal elites rather unwisely invested their entire political capital in the ‘orange’ movement and Yushchenko - the apologists of Bandera and supporters of his present-day followers.” (ibid)

A document published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, in a section titled “Introduction: Overview of the Extreme Right and Its Electoral Performance”, states:

“Ultra-right ideology in Ukraine draws on nationalist traditions in West Ukraine that evolved in the interwar period when the Ukrainians fought first Polish and then Bolshevik domination, led by the Ukrainian Armed Organisation and then, from 1929, the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).2 Both espoused terror, ethnocentrism, authoritarianism, fascism, bolshevism and what they called integral nationalism, professed by Dmytro Dontsov. In 1940 OUN split into a moderate (OUN-M, followers of Andriy Melnik) and a radical group (OUN-R, followers of Stepan Bandera). Their tactical collaboration with the Nazis led to the total rejection of their ideo-logy in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, even though at the time their armed wing, the Ukrainian Rebel Army (UPA), was fighting the Nazi occupiers and then the Soviets. During the Soviet era, emigré leaders of the OUN-R based in Munich softened their radicalism but continued lobbying for an independent Ukraine, and with the coming of independence supplied young people with erstwhile banned nationalist literature.” (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (October 2012) The Extreme Right in Ukraine, p.3)

A Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report states:

“Bandera and Shukhevych fought against the Nazis and the Soviet Army during World War II and for several years afterward. Considered heroes by many Ukrainians, others consider them traitors for fighting against Soviet soldiers. Opposition organizations expressed anger at the latest court decision and said they will appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Some supporters of Bandera and Shukhevych said that even though the two were stripped of official hero status, they will nevertheless be considered heroes by Ukrainians. The High Administrative Court's ruling was based on the argument that neither Bandera nor Shukhevych were Ukrainian citizens. Western Ukraine – where both Shukhevych and Bandera were active during World War II – was then part of Poland, hence the citizenship issue. About 100 supporters of Shukhevych and Bandera gathered in on August 2 in front of the court house to show their support for the two men to be allowed to maintain their official hero status.” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (3 August 2011) Ukrainian Court Rejects 'Hero' Status For Nationalist Leaders )

An ITAR-TASS News Agency report states:

“MP Vadim Kolesnichenko of the ruling Party of Regions, who registered the draft law, wrote in his blog on Wednesday, May 8, that ‘over the past five years the United Nations has been annually adopting resolutions denouncing the glorification of Nazi members and those who fought against the anti-Hitler coalition and collaborated with the Nazi by way of declaring them members of national liberation movements.’ ‘OUN-UPA not just fought against anti-Hitler coalition countries but was a sincere ideological supporter of Nazism and translated the atrocities of fascism into life,’ Kolesnichenko said. He said the ‘draft law will impose criminal penalties for glorification and rehabilitation’ of such associations as the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)…” (ITAR-TASS News Agency (8 May 2013) Bill punishing for glorification of OUN-UPA registered in Ukrainian parliament )

In a paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association, Ivan Katchanovski, a visiting scholar with the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, states:

“The question of the political rehabilitation of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) became one of the central political issues in post-Soviet Ukraine, especially after the ‘Orange Revolution.’ President , his bloc ‘Our Ukraine,’ other nationalist parties, and many mass media outlets pursued the complete political rehabilitation of the OUN and the UPA. They portrayed these organizations as a national liberation movement, which fought against both Nazi Germany and the for Ukrainian independence, and presented leaders of the OUN and the UPA as national heroes. For example, President Yushchenko awarded, posthumously, the ‘Hero of Ukraine’ titles to Roman Shukhevych, the Supreme Commander of the UPA, in October 2007, and to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the main faction of the OUN, in January 2010.” (Katchanovski, Ivan (3 June 2010) Terrorists or National Heroes? Politics of the OUN and the UPA in Ukraine , p.3)

This paper also states:

“The nationalist politicians and historians in Ukraine presented the OUN and the UPA as a Ukrainian national liberation movement, which started in Western Ukraine with a broad popular support and extended to many other regions of Ukraine. They argued that the OUN-B was forced to collaborate with Nazi Germany not for ideological reasons, but because it was in interest of the pro-independence struggle and that this collaboration effectively ended after the Nazi leadership refused to accept a declaration of the Ukrainian independence by OUN-B leaders in Lviv on June 30, 1941. These politicians and historians emphasized that many OUN-B leaders and ordinary members, including Stepan Bandera, were arrested, imprisoned in concentration camps, or executed by the Nazis.” (ibid, p.5)

With reference to the popularity of the OUN in Ukraine this paper states:

“Results of a 2008 audience voting for a popular TV show, entitled ‘Greatest Ukrainians’ were cited by Viktor Yushchenko and other nationalist politicians as evidence of rapidly growing popularity of the OUN-B and its leader after ‘the Orange Revolution.’ The TV voting put Stepan Bandera in the first place a few days before the end of the show, and he was finally voted into third place as the ‘greatest Ukrainian’ of all time, with 16% of the votes. However, these results are non-scientific and non-representative of the adult population of Ukraine because the voters were self-selected and they had the ability to vote an unlimited number of times for the same candidate. In contrast, a KIIS national poll in December 2007 showed that only 1% of the respondents regarded Stepan Bandera as the 'greatest Ukrainian.' The 2009 KIIS Survey, commissioned by the author for this study, shows that just 5% percent of the respondents expressed very positive and 8% expressed mostly positive attitudes towards the UPA. Conversely, 29% of Ukrainians had very negative and 16% mostly negative views of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army that was organized by the OUN-B. Quarter of the respondents (24%) held a neutral opinion of the UPA. Attitudes towards the Bandera faction of the OUN are similar.” (ibid, p.11)

In a paragraph headed “Conclusion” the author of this paper states:

“The issue of political rehabilitation and heroization of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army became one of the central political issues in Ukraine after the 'Orange Revolution.' It provoked major political controversies and debates among historians in Ukraine and other countries. President Yushchenko, nationalist parties, and many Ukrainian historians attempted to recast the OUN and the UPA as a popular national liberation movement, which fought both against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and to present OUN and UPA leaders as national heroes. They either denied or justified by its pro-independence struggle, the involvement of the OUN and the UPA in terrorism, the Nazi genocide, and the ethnic cleansing.” (ibid, p.15)

An Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine entry on the OUN states:

“The power and influence of the OUN factions have been declining steadily, because of assimilatory pressures, ideological incompatibility with the Western liberal-democratic ethos, and the increasing tendency of political groups in Ukraine to move away from integral nationalism.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (undated) Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists )

Referring to an incident in October 2012 an Interfax News Agency report states:

“Several private bus companies in Ukraine's Lviv region refused to provide buses for taking activists to Kyiv for participating in a planned nationalist procession on October 14, said the party that has organized the event. Several firms had earlier agreed to provide buses but refused later, pleading pressure from law enforcement and auditors, a statement from the regional branch of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union, organizer of the March of Fight, cited branch leader Iryna Sekh as saying. ‘They are being blackmailed and threatened with the annulment of their licenses, and the carriers are afraid to risk. We urge law enforcers to stop trying to prevent the peaceful assembly in Kyiv. The march will go ahead in any case," Sekh said.” (Interfax News Agency (15 October 2012) Bus firms allegedly blackmailed by authorities refuse to service Ukrainian nationalists )

See also Interfax News Agency report which states:

“About 40 representatives of Ukrainian national-patriotic parties and organizations are rallying outside the building of the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv on the occasion of Freedom Day celebrations in Minsk, during which Belarusian activists and three Ukrainian citizens were detained. An Interfax- Ukraine reporter said that activists of Svoboda, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (CUN) and UNA-UNSO had gathered near the building of the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv on Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Street. They are holding party flags and the state flags of Ukraine and Belarus. The activists are protesting against the detention of Ukrainians and Belarusian citizens during the celebration of Freedom Day in Minsk, and are demanding their release.” (Interfax News Agency (25 March 2013) Ukrainian nationalists rallying near Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv, demanding release of activists detained in Minsk )

An ITAR-TASS News Agency report states:

“Three monuments to Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera and several memorial plaques with his name were destroyed in the Lvov region over the weekend. In one of the towns unidentified persons destroyed a stele to the OUN-UPA nationalist movement heroes. Bandera's bust in front of the local school was destroyed in the village of Velikosilki.” (ITAR-TASS News Agency (8 April 2013) Monument to nationalist leader Bandera destroyed in Lvov region )

An Interfax News Agency report on a rally in May 2013 attended by OUN members states:

“Ukrainian nationalists, including veterans of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA) held a rally and procession in Ivano-Frankivsk on Sunday, May 26, marking Day of Heroes. ‘Today we are an independent state, but it is not independent in essence. We do have our flags, we do have the trident, but we don't have the historical truth. In the 71st year after the creation of UPA we are still not recognized as participants in World War II. The Bolshevik-Muscovite hallmark keeps harassing us,’ the chairman of the Carpathian Fraternity of OUN-UPA fighters, Fotiy Volodymyrsky, told the rally. After the meeting, its participants marched, to the strains of the municipal brass band, through Independence Street and Bandera Street in the city center to a memorial on Melnyk Street. During the procession, they laid wreaths and flowers at a monument to writer Ivan Franko and a plaque commemorating OUN leader Stepan Bandera.” (Interfax News Agency (27 May 2013) Ukrainian nationalists hold memorial events in Ivano-Frankivsk )

An Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on the sentencing of nationalists in June 2013 states:

“Kiev's Shevchenkivskyy district court has passed suspended sentences on five nationalists, the ‘destroyers’ of a Lenin statue in Kiev's Besarabska Square, the press service of the Freedom all-Ukrainian association has reported on Twitter.”The court found the destroyers of Lenin guilty. Four were sentenced to two years suspended for two years. Kokhanovskyy got three years suspended for two (years - Interfax-Ukraine)," reads the report. As already reported, on the night of 30 June 2009, five activists of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Trident organization named after Stepan Bandera broke the nose and the left hand of the Lenin statue.” (Interfax- Ukraine News Agency (19 June 2013) Ukrainian nationalists get suspended sentences for damaging Lenin statue )

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research and Information Unit 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. Please read in full all documents referred to.

References:

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (October 2012) The Extreme Right in Ukraine http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id-moe/09407.pdf (Accessed 11 September 2013)

Interfax-Ukraine News Agency (19 June 2013) Ukrainian nationalists get suspended sentences for damaging Lenin statue http://www.bbcmonitoringonline.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Interfax News Agency (27 May 2013) Ukrainian nationalists hold memorial events in Ivano-Frankivsk http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Interfax News Agency (25 March 2013) Ukrainian nationalists rallying near Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv, demanding release of activists detained in Minsk http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Interfax News Agency (1 January 2013) Ukraine nationalists celebrate Bandera's birth anniversary http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Interfax News Agency (15 October 2012) Bus firms allegedly blackmailed by authorities refuse to service Ukrainian nationalists http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (undated) Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/O/R/OrganizationofUkrainianNa tionalists.htm (Accessed 11 September 2013)

Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (undated) Stepan Bandera http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5 CA%5CBanderaStepan.htm (Accessed 11 September 2013)

ITAR-TASS News Agency (8 May 2013) Bill punishing for glorification of OUN-UPA registered in Ukrainian parliament http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

ITAR-TASS News Agency (8 April 2013) Monument to nationalist leader Bandera destroyed in Lvov region http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Katchanovski, Ivan (3 June 2010) Terrorists or National Heroes? Politics of the OUN and the UPA in Ukraine http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2010/Katchanovski.pdf (Accessed 11 September 2013)

Morning Star (25 July 2013) Ukraine's troubled past http://www.lexisnexis.com (Accessed 11 September 2013) This is a subscription database

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (3 August 2011) Ukrainian Court Rejects 'Hero' Status For Nationalist Leaders http://www.rferl.org/articleprintview/24285334.html (Accessed 11 September 2013)

Sources Consulted:

BBC Monitoring Electronic Immigration Network European Country of Origin Information Network Google Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine Lexis Nexis Refugee Documentation Centre Query Database UK Home Office UNHCR Refworld US Department of State