-- HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS --

AS JULY 20 DRAWS NEAR, READINESS FOR DIALOGUE INCREASES

On July 2, at a festive rally dedicated to the 55^th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazis, President Lukashenko announced that his "government is ready for a dialogue concerning further developments of democracy in the country." "Apart from the opposition extremists, I would like to invite the general public to participate in this dialogue," Lukashenko specified. "We should reach a comprehensive civic consensus with respect to the 2000-2001 elections," he stressed. Lukashenko urged opposition forces to stop "haunting the doorsteps of foreign states, vilifying the country and its present government."

"If opposition leaders really care about the Belarusian people, " the president added, "they should stop calling for imposing restrictions on their own country. A foreign uncle will not give them power on a platter. They must get it from the hands of their countrymen. If the opposition wants power, the 2000 parliamentary and 2001 presidential election will be an opportunity for a fair, democratic competition. I am ready for it. The authorities will talk to the opposition, including its most radical wing. And there is no need to go to France, Bucharest, or Poland. We are ready to negotiate at home, here in Minsk or any other Belarusian town the opposition chooses. Let’s come together and begin such dialogue," he said.

Commenting on the disappearances of Yuri Zakharenko and Tamara Vinikova, Lukashenko alleged they were linked to the criminal world. "When one borrows money from the mafia, one must pay it back. Otherwise, I am afraid, the worst possible thing might happen to those in default," he said. (Belapan, July 4)

FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS YES

Lukashenko's statement about his readiness for a dialogue with the opposition was re-confirmed by Ural Latypov, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, at a briefing on July 5. "All the matters concerning the legislation of Belarus, including the laws on election, as well as their possible amendments, may be discussed at the negotiations and consultations," said the Minister. (Belapan, July 6)

OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES SITUATION IN BELARUS

From July 6 to July 10, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held its eighth session in St. Petersburg, Russia. Belarus was represented by a delegation from the banned 13^th Supreme Soviet deputies, including Chairman Semyon Sharetsky, Anatoly Lebedko and Vladimir Nistuk. Lukashenko’s hand-picked parliamentary deputies also came to the OSCE PA session in their capacity as representatives of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, which has observer status at the OSCE PA. At the July 6 plenary session, Lord Russell-Johnston, Chairman of the Assembly, stressed that there has been no progress in Belarus since its special guest status in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly was suspended on January 13, 1997. He recalled that the November 1996 constitutional referendum in Belarus was held with a large number of irregularities, and that the local elections in April could not be considered free and fair either. On July 6, Knut Vollebaek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, had a short meeting with Anatoly Lebedko, chairman of the 13^th Supreme Soviet's Committee of the International Affairs. Lebedko handed Vollebaek a letter from Mikhail Chigir's wife calling on the OSCE to assist in releasing her husband from prison.

On July 7, the Assembly's Committee for Democracy, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Issues held a hearing on Belarus. In an address to the Committee, Anatoly Lebedko said that if the OSCE does not start playing a more active role in resolving the conflict in Belarus, there may be another Kosovo in a couple of years. He suggested that the OSCE should more persistent in pressing for a dialogue between the government and the opposition. The OSCE PA adopted a resolution on Belarus, urging the country's authorities and opposition to cooperate in organizing democratic parliamentary elections next year. "It is necessary to provide broadcast time on state radio and television for opposition parties and groups," noted the resolution.

The International League for Human Rights held a briefing in St. Petersburg with Anatoly Lebedko and other parliamentarians on July 9 during the OSCE PA. The speakers noted the difficulties in implementing freedom of association in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The League called on the OSCE not to send election observer missions to these countries or recognize the results of flawed elections until authorities legitimized civil society by registering NGOs, parties, and trade unions under international standards. Such registration is required for nominating candidates and for owning and operating independent media outlets, a vital component overlooked in the OSCE PA’s call to provide broadcast time on state radio and television. (Belapan, July 6; ILHR, July 9)

OSCE WILL SEND SPECIAL MISSION TO BELARUS

On July 8, Hanspeter Kleiner, deputy of the Belarusian OSCE AMG group, said that a mission from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will visit Belarus from July 14 to 19 to facilitate a government-opposition dialogue. The delegation will leave just before July 20. (Reuters, July 8)

U.S. ENVOY VISITS BELARUS

On July 8, Daniel Speckhard, U.S. Ambassador to Belarus, arrived in Minsk for a brief visit.

He will meet top Belarusian officials, opposition leaders, and OSCE observers. The Ambassador wants to know whether a government-opposition dialogue is possible. He will also inquire about the legality of keeping ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir in detention. (Interfax, July 7)

13^th SUPREME SOVIET TO OBSERVE LUKASHENKO'S FIVE YEARS IN OFFICE

On July 7, Semyon Sharetsky, chairman of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, told Belapan that the deputies of the 13^th Supreme Soviet plan to hold a session on July 21 in Minsk. Sharetsky expressed hope that Lukashenko "will change his position and resign as the head of state on July 21." (Belapan, July 7)

UCP CALLS ON LUKASHENKO TO ACCOUNT FOR HIS DEEDS

The United Civic Party suggested that Lukashenko should take part in a round-table live broadcast on TV on July 19 on the eve of the fifth anniversary of his presidency. Anatoly Lebedko, Deputy Chairman of the UCP, believes that it would be appropriate for Lukashenko to give the nation a public account of his activities during five years in office. "There have been plenty of unfulfilled pledges, promises, programs, and televised propaganda about the continuous fight against the enemies of the people, but meanwhile there has been no investment, and international isolation and widespread poverty," commented Lebedko on the results of Lukashenko's presidency. (Belapan, July 7)

FRONT CALLS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT

A group of Belarusian politicians have proposed the establishment of a provisional government in Belarus, which should start ruling after July 21 until a new Supreme Soviet is elected. "While Lukashenko and Yeltsin are hastily preparing an anti-constitutional and criminal plan to liquidate Belarus’s statehood, citizens of Belarus should realize their responsibility for the destiny of the Fatherland. Only an organized civil force can protect the country’s independence," reads an appeal, signed by Zyanon Paznyak, Yuri Belenky, both leaders of the Belarusian Popular Front, Oleg Trusov, chairman of the Belarusian Language Society, and others. "We advocate a civilized solution to this crisis situation. It is possible that the regime will have to agree to talks and round-table discussions under pressure from consolidated civil forces," says the appeal. (Belapan, July 6)

OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ACTIVIST INTERROGATED BY POLICE

Dmitry Abramovich, a member of the Borisov (Minsk region) branch of the Narodnaya Hramada, Belarusian Social- Democratic Party, has been interrogated by police about the details of his participating in the opposition-staged May presidential election. Abramovich, 27, was detained three times by police and once by the KGB agents and warned that his activities were illegal. The interrogation may mean that the authorities plan to bring criminal charges against active participants in the May presidential election campaign. (Belapan, July 6)

OPPOSITION COMMEMORATES SELF-IMMOLATION OF FILIPCHENKO

On July 8, activists in Novopolotsk commemorated the self-immolation committed by Aleksey Filipchenko, a lawyer and human rights advocate. In a desperate protesting against the injustice of the local judiciary, Filipchenko burned himself in front of the Novopolotsk Court House one year ago. He died on July 31. Local democratic parties and human rights activists were unable to secure permission to stage a picket at the place of his death. Nor were they allowed to organize a mourning procession along Novopolotsk streets toward the hospital, where Filipchenko died. (Charter 97, July 7)

THREE YOUTH FINED FOR DISGRACING STATE SYMBOLS

On July 8, a Vitebsk tribunal announced its ruling on the case of Sergei Laveikin, Oleg Koidanov, and Anatoly Bliznetsov, young men from the town of Polotsk in the Vitebsk region. They were charged with "malicious hooliganism" under Art. 201, par. 2 of the Belarusian Criminal Code for removing a national flag from the building of the Polotsk City Executive Committee on April 9, 1998 and April 10, 1999. During the investigation the youngsters said that the present flag does not correspond to our historic past, "they taught us at school to respect white-red-white flag as the only national flag of Belarus." The court agreed with the prosecutor and changed the accusation to "disgracing state symbols." Koidanov and Laveikin were fined 200m BR (about $450). Bliznetsov, as an accomplice, was fined 20m BR (about $45). (Spring 96, July 9)

KLIMOV’S CASE SUBMITTED TO COURT

On July 5, the case of Andrei Klimov, deputy of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, was finally submitted to the Leninski Regional Court in Minsk.(Charter 97, July 6)

UNITED CIVIC PARTY WILL RALLY IN VITEBSK

On July 5, the local branch of the United Civic Party applied to the Vitebsk City Council for permission to organize a "festive mass gathering" on July 21 to celebrate the expiration of Lukashenko's five-year term in the office. All the local political and public organizations are expected to participate. The UCP activists originally planned to stage the gatherings on July 21. The city authorities rejected their first application, saying that all possible venues will be occupied because the Slaviansky Bazaar festival will open that day. The organizers now argue that no Slaviansky Bazaar events have been scheduled to take place on July 21 in the park which they have chosen for their festivity. (Belapan, July 6)

ANTI-FASCIST CENTER OPENED IN GOMEL

On July 9, Gomel branches of the Belarusian Federation of Anarchists, the Union of Youth Social- Christians, and Narodnaya Hramada, or Belarusian Social-Democratic Party announced the opening of the Belarusian Anti-fascist Center. "The growing number of neo-fascists in Gomel, particularly the Russian National Unity, compels us to consolidate efforts to restrain the proliferation of fascism in Belarus," a center representative told Belapan. (Belapan, July 9)

ACTIVIST CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON "EXPORTED" WOMEN

Trafficking in women from the former Soviet Union amounts to a human rights violation worthy of hearings in the U.S. Congress, Tatiana Roshina, Chairwomen of the Russian Party in Defense of Women, told a press conference on July 2. (The U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe held hearings on trafficking in Washington, DC in July) . Roshina said that women and children fleeing to the West from the former Soviet Union have been subjected to egregious sexual abuses. In 1997 alone, some 100,000 women from ex-Soviet republics were recruited to work abroad, where they were subjected to sexual exploitation. The trafficking from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus has exploded to such proportions in recent years that international observers say that East European women now outnumber Asians in the international sex trade. Prostitution rings recruit young and poor women, many of them underage, through employment advertisements offering "lucrative work" in places like Turkey and Arabic countries. The women, who think they are going to find boyfriends or work as nannies, often find themselves in the hands of a pimp, stripped of their passports, and forced to sell their bodies to earn their way back. (Agence France Presse, July 2)

THREAT TO CLOSE NGO ACCOUNTS

A number of Belarusian banks have sent warnings to public organizations to submit documents confirming that they have been re-registered with the Belarusian Ministry of Justice. Otherwise, the organizations' transactions will be stopped. (Belapan, July 2)

--AT HOME IN BELARUS--

MINSK COMMEMORATES STAMPEDE VICTIMS

On July 8, 40 days passed since more than 50 people, mainly teenage girls, were trampled in a stampede at the Nyamiha subway station in Minsk. The monument has been opened at the tragedy site. Thousands of Minsker, including President Lukashenko, came with flowers to commemorate the victims of the tragedy. As of July 8, 15 wounded patients are still in hospitals, the condition of one girl is critical. (Charter 97, July 8)

WORKERS DEMAND RELEASE OF DIRECTOR ARRESTED IN GOVERNMENT PURGE

Thousands of workers from the Zhlobin iron and steel factory (BMZ), one of the largest plants in the region, demanded the release of Director Yuri Feoktistov, who was charged with embezzlement. They claim that Feoktistov is innocent. Responding to the workers protests, President Lukashenko wrote them a letter on June 30, in which he guaranteed an unbiased investigation of this criminal action. "I urge you to refrain from any actions, which may destabilize the situation at the factory. You know that I am a crime fighter and I cannot give it up. I will keep you informed of further developments," reads the letter. (Charter 97, July 9)

SCOUTS ATTACK

On June 30, members of the Siberia-based Berkut Adventure and Survival club held a paramilitary exercise, invading the village of Nikolayevka in eastern Belarus. The attackers, 125 lads aged 11-17 were led by 10 ex-servicemen, armed with tear gas, air guns, and replicas of assault rifles. They rounded up terrified, residents and brought them to a schoolyard. Those who resisted were beaten up and handcuffed. Representatives of the village administration were tied up and kept locked in their offices. The assailants blocked all roads to the village and detained passing motorists. Only two hours after the operation had ended, Anatoly Silivonchik, a Russian businessman and chair of the Berkut club, told villagers that they happened to become unwitting participants in the club training program." The group then tried to stage a similar, larger exercise in the military town of Kiselevichi but was arrested, regional police said. Some club members were then deported from Belarus. Police in Nikolayevka and Kiselevichi said that the club leaders had told them one day before the attack that they were planning to hold a training exercise, providing no details. Silivonchik, a Nikolayevka native, said that the exercise was meant to mark the 55^th anniversary of the liberation from the Nazi occupation. (Chicago Tribune, July 7)

AND ARE SUED

Anatoly Silivonchik was arrested and charged under Article 186 of the Belarusian Criminal Code (organization of a mass action violating the public order). The charge may entail up to three year in prison. He has reportedly filed complaints with the Procurator General Office of Belarus and the Russian Embassy in Minsk. He claims that all details of the military exercise in Nikolayevka were discussed with officials of the Belarusian State Committee on Youth Affairs and the Svetlogorsk District Executive Committee. Vera Stremkovskaya, a well-known Belarusian trial attorney, has agreed to represent Anatoly Silivonchik in the court. She believes that the local authorities should be held responsible for the assault on the villagers. According to Stremkovskaya, Silivonchik does not deny that the game exceeded the original scenario. He says that as soon as he noticed that "something wrong" was going on, he immediately ordered the game stopped, apologizing to village residents, and even presenting them with forty bottles of vodka. Stremkovskaya also pointed out that during his arrest in Bobruisk, Mogilev region, the forty-year-old Silivonchik was severely beaten by police. (Belapan, July 9)

--BELARUSIAN ECONOMY—

GAZPROM SLAMS BELARUS FOR DEBTS

Rem Vyakhirev, President of Russia’s Gazprom, the oil and gas magnate, irked by Belarus's growing debts for gas supplies, said that the ex-Soviet neighbor could not meet its obligations because of too much political interference with the economy. "The Belarusian economy is too politicized. Belarus has dragged us into politics, and now it will drown, taking its neighbors with it," he said in an interview with the Belaruskaya Gazeta weekly. Largely due to political considerations, gas prices for Belarus have already been lowered to $30 per 1,000 cubic meters from $50, but the country's debts for Russian natural gas have grown to $300 million from $100 million in January this year. (Belaruskaya Gazeta, July 7)

-- BROTHER SLAVS --

MOSCOW: UNION IS NEAR

After two years of much talk and little action, Russia suddenly appears serious about implementing Alexander Lukashenko's pet project: uniting the two countries. On July 9, after a meeting with President Boris Yeltsin, Sergei Stepashin, Russian Prime Minister, said that a treaty on forming a union with Belarus – with the Russian ruble as its national currency, an announcement characterized by many as a sensation – was almost ready. Stepashin added that details on how to implement the union treaty would be completed by August. "I have discussed the matter with President Lukashenko, and we have arrived at a mutual understanding," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. (Reuters, July 9)

LUKASHENKO SEEKS SUPPORT IN RUSSIAN PROVINCES

While Stepashin was announcing an imminent merger, Alexander Lukashenko toured Bashkiria and Orenburg, Russia's more separatist-minded provinces to drum up support for the union adventure. An admirer of the Soviet Union, Lukashenko told a crowd in the Ural Mountains city of Orenburg that a new union could be even better. "Unfortunately, it is impossible to rebuild the Soviet Union," Lukashenko said. "But an even more powerful association can and should be created, one the West will have to reckon with." (The Moscow Times, July 8)

U.S. SCEPTICAL OF BELARUS VOTE ON UNION WITH RUSSIA

On July 8, the United States expressed skepticism with respect to the ability of the Belarusian authorities to secure proper conditions for a free and fair vote on whether Belarus should unite with Russia. James Foley, State Department spokesman, said that unless Belarusians were able to decide the matter themselves, the United States would oppose the Union. "Absent the full restoration of democratic government in Belarus, it is hard to imagine that any referendum on in Belarus will be truly democratic and representative of the will of the people. The United States does not oppose integration among the newly independent states as long as such integration reflects the voluntary will of the people expressed through a democratic process, is mutually beneficial and does not erect barriers to integration with the wider community of nations," Foley said. (Federal News Service, July 8)

WILL YELTSIN BE UNION PRESIDENT?

Boris Yeltsin cannot be and will not be the first president of the Russia-Belarus Union, Leonid Drachevsky, Russian Minister for the CIS Affairs, told Itar-Tass on July 2. Drachevsky said that such discussions are nothing more than speculation. "The Russian and Belarusian sides agreed that the supreme leadership in the new union state will be exercised by the Supreme Council which will comprise two presidents, two premiers, heads of the chambers, parliaments, of the two countries," he said. The minister said that the draft treaty on forming the union stipulates that there will be a unified government and parliament of the Union state. Drachevsky said that the Russia-Belarus Union will be a union of two countries which will fully preserve their statehood. (Itar-Tass, July 9)

LUKASHENKO INSISTS ON LEADER'S POST IN RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION

Meanwhile, Alexander Lukashenko insists that the Union should have one leader. "It might not necessarily be a president, let’s call him something different. However, the union needs a strong executive branch," Lukashenko told journalists in Minsk on July 9. (Interfax, July 9)

RUSSIA-BELARUSN UNION ASSEMBLY APPROVES YUGOSLAV MEMBERSHIP

On July 2, the 12^th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Union approved the Yugoslav parliament's initiative on Yugoslavia joining the Union. (Itar-Tass, July 2)

--SPECIAL REPORT--

POLL FINDS BELARUSIANS DISSATISFIED

Two-thirds of Belarusians are dissatisfied with the domestic situation, 56 percent intend to vote for President Lukashenko in the next elections, nine in ten say the rights of private property, freedom of religion, and honest elections are important to them, and three in four say corruption is common.

ECONOMY DETERIORATES

-- Two-thirds of Belarusians are dissatisfied with the situation in the country today.

-- Those who are satisfied with the situation tend to live in villages and small towns and to be over 65 years of age.

-- A majority of those who are dissatisfied (57%) cited economic problems as the source of their dissatisfaction.

-- More people believe that the economic situation will worsen rather than improve in the coming year (37% to 19%); a quarter of the respondents predicts it will remain the same.

-- More people believe that their personal financial situation will worse rather than improve in the coming year (35% to 15%), and 28% of the population predict it will be the same.

-- 74% report that they do not have any savings, while 25% consider themselves poor;

-- More people say that a planned economy is better than a market economy (41% to 23%); and 19% have no preference.

-- Only 10% say they are owed back wages (all of them less than 6 months).

BUT LUKASHENKO IS STILL POPULAR

-- Four in ten say that President Lukashenko is the figure most likely to resolve the economic problems Belarus is facing next year.

-- 56% say they intend to vote for Lukashenko in the 2001 presidential elections, while 26% say they will not.

-- 53% are aware of the "illegal" May 1999 Presidential elections, but only 20% approve of them.

-- More people trust Lukashenko than the government, and many believe that the government is corrupt.

-- 68% do not believe that the government works in the interests of all the people.

-- 66% support the Lukashenko-backed Belarus-Russia Union, and 24% do not support it.

WHILE MANY FAVOR DEMOCRACY

-- 29% say Belarus is a democracy, 27% say it is not, and 21% say it is in between.

-- 58% say at least two parties are necessary in Belarus.

-- 9 in 10 say it is important for them that rights of private property, freedom of religion, and honest elections be respected in Belarus.

-- Three-quarters say the protection of private property is one of a citizen's most important rights.

-- 46% say NGOs are important for Belarus society.

-- 75% say they will vote in the 2001 presidential elections.

-- People in Minsk and Brest regions are more open to democracy and free market than people in other regions.

AND BROAD PARTICIPATION IN THE ELECTIONS

-- A majority say honest elections are very important;

-- 70% participated in the April 1999 local elections; and 46% said these elections were honest in general (37% gave no response).

-- 46% say that they had confidence in the election officials, 31% gave no answer.

-- 28% say "voting is their civic duty".

-- 60% of those who voted in April said the elections were well organized;

-- 9 in 10 said there were no problems during the April elections;

-- Over 50% had at least some information about the voting process, 33% did not have any information.

-- 56% are interested in political matters (16% very interested).

-- 76% say that people have no influence on what's going in Belarus.

-- 73% say politics is too complicated to be understood.

CORRUPTION IS MAJOR CONCERN

-- 3 in 4 say corruption is common (37% very common), and 68% consider it serious.

-- 64% regard the police as the most corrupt institution in Belarus.

-- The Church is seen as less corrupt (12%) than other institutions and is the institution in which the most number of respondents expressed the most confidence (72%).

-- The three most institutions most often reported to be corrupt are the police, local administrations, and the courts.

-- The three most trusted institutions are the Church, the Army, and the State Security Service.

ORT IS MORE POPULAR AND MORE OBJECTIVE THAN NATIONAL TV

-- More than half of all Belarusians said they do not have enough information about politics, economic events, the voting process, and candidates in the April 1999 elections.

-- The most widely known and chief source of information on politics and government is ORT (Public Russian Television) (98%). Belarus TV is the second most known and consulted source. However, ORT is rated to be the most objective source of information while Belarus TV is

considered more biased than ORT, NTV and RTR. Many in Belarus deem Belarusian TV an unreliable source of information.

-- Belarus radio is the most frequently listened to radio station in Belarus. Two-thirds of the respondents report listening to Belarus radio, and its objectivity is considered to be much higher than that of Belarus TV or any Belarus newspaper.

-- Although Sovetskaya Belarusiya is the most known newspaper among Belarusians (half of its readers, or almost 70% of all respondents mentioned this newspaper as their main source of information), more Belarusians judge Argumenty I Fakty to be objective than Sovetskaya

Belarusiya.

-- Overall, Belarusians deem Russian sources of mass information to be more reliable than Belarusian TV and newspapers.

-- A small number of Belarusians (less than one in five) know Radio Liberty, Voice of America, or the BBC; however, among the listeners more people say these sources are objective than not objective.

-- 28% say Belarus is isolated and 19% say that Belarus is partially isolated from the world community, 41% agree that isolation creates problems for Belarus. (IFES, July 1)