INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE

Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 2, No. 36

September 1999

IN THIS ISSUE:

-- HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS --

AUTHORITIES START TALKS WITH OPPOSITION

On September 3, the government and the opposition began consultations at the OSCE’s office in Minsk, Belapan reported. The talks focused on the opposition’s lack of access to the state media. (Charter 97- Belapan, September 3)

13TH SUPREME SOVIET CHAIRMAN ASSUMES PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES

On August 27, Stanislav Shushkevich, a speaker of the 12th Supreme Soviet, Ivonka Survilla, chair of the self-proclaimed government in exile, and Radim Goretsky, chair of the Batkawshchyna (The World Alliance of Belarusians), signed a declaration in Vilnius appointing Semyon Sharetski, chair of the disbanded 13th Supreme Soviet, the acting Belarusian president until a new head of state is elected. "Lukashenko’s regime continues to hold power and is making efforts to re-unite Belarus and Russia. To much regret, his actions are supported by numerous Russian politicians interested in restoring the empire," reads the declaration. "We appeal to the parliaments and governments of democratic states to support Belarusian independence, and to cease recognition of Lukashenko and the unconstitutional agencies established by him." At a news conference following the ceremony, Sharetski said that he had begun to form the government. The same day, Algirdas Saudargas, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, urged the Lukashenko government to enter into dialogue with the opposition and to hold democratic parliamentary elections next year. Commenting on the documents announced by representatives of the Belarusian opposition in Vilnius, Saudargas said that "they have once more exposed the country's ambiguous political situation, which can only be resolved through free and democratic elections." (BNS, August 27; Belapan, August 31)

WILL BELARUS HAVE A GOVERNMENT IN EXILE?

On August 30, during a meeting with Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE AMG in Belarus, Sharetski expressed his readiness to form a new alternative government and to organize new elections as long as Lukashenko is unwilling to negotiate. "The issue is how begin negotiations between Lukashenko and the opposition forces," Sharetski told reporters in Vilnius after meeting. "Lukashenko has given no sign that he is prepared to enter talks with the opposition," he added. Sharetski proposed that the 13th Supreme Soviet approve jailed ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir as the head of the alternate government. The negotiations were held behind closed doors at the Belarusian Cultural Center in Vilnius. On August 31, Belarusian TV reported that "the OSCE representative failed to find a common language with the chairman of the illegitimate Supreme Soviet." On August 31, at a meeting with the Czech ambassador to Lithuania, Sharetski said that he does not seek official recognition as the acting president of Belarus, but added that "the main thing is to convince the world community not to recognize Lukashenko’s government." On September 1, Ivonka Survilla met Andrius Kubilius, vice-Speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, in Vilnius and expressed gratitude for Lithuania's support of the Belarusian opposition, Baltic News Service reported. Survilla said that Sharetski is not planning to form a government in exile, adding that an alternative governing body should be established in Belarus. (Belapan, August 31; Interfax, August 31; BNS, September 1)

CHIGIR DECLINES TO HEAD ALTERNATE GOVERNMENT

On September 1, Mikhail Chigir declined Sharetski's proposal to head the alternate government, Belapan reported. "Thank you for your trust, but unfortunately it is not possible now. For obvious reasons, I cannot accept your proposal," Chigir replied through his lawyer. In an interview published on September 1 in the independent newspaper Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, Colonel Leonid Glukhovsky, deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in charge of Chigir’s case, said that "the investigation of the case is practically complete and it will be tried at the end of September." Glukhovsky defined the case as "purely criminal" and stressed that investigators have found "six or seven criminal episodes" in Chigir’s activities as the head of Belagroindustrialbank and as prime minister. Answering a question about Chigir’s possible release in connection with an opposition precondition to release all political prisoners before talks with the authorities, he commented that "there are currently no political prisoners in Belarus." (Belapan, Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, September 1)

YOUTH OPPOSITION LEADERS CALL FOR AUTUMN ATTACK ON DICTATOR

On August 31, seven youth opposition leaders representing different parties announced that they would pool efforts to return Belarus to the path of democracy. The agreement to work together was adopted at a clandestine meeting held in Minsk. The group intends to organize a series of protests in September, Nikolai Statkevich, leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party and a member of the group, said at a news conference in Minsk. The group also plans to gather about 100,000 people for the "Freedom March" on October 17 in Minsk. "The democratic forces have for the first time managed to reach such a degree of coordination. The former leaders of the opposition are being substituted by the leaders of a new wave," Statkevich said. Commenting on possible opposition-government talks, Vintsuk Vyachorka, deputy chair of the Belarusian Popular Front who is also a member of the group, said that "the dictatorial regimes yield to force only, that is why the talks facilitated by the OSCE will not succeed without simultaneous mass protests." He plans a 4-day visit to Belgrade to study the Yugoslav opposition's experience in organizing protests against the dictatorial regime of Slobodan Milosevic. (Reuters- Belapan, August 31)

DEMOCRATS NOMINATE TEAMS FOR TALKS WITH AUTHORITIES

The Belarusian Social Democratic Party has set up a working group for consultations with other political parties about talks with the authorities regarding the 2000 parliamentary elections. Nikolai Statkevich, chair of the BSDP will represent his party at the consultations. The Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party will also participate and will be represented by party chair Sergei Gaidukevich. The BLDP’s leadership has also agreed to take the main provisions of a joint platform of opposition parties as a basis for the expected talks. The party believes the opposition should be represented only by those parties which participated in earlier political consultations. The parties supporting the authorities may be part of a government delegation. (Belapan, August 27)

BELARUSIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE TO MONITOR FUTURE ELECTIONS

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee plans to monitor future elections in Belarus and send observers to the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda and all local electoral commissions, BHC Chair Tatyana Protko told Belapan. In her opinion, presidential and parliamentary elections may take place in Belarus "earlier than we think." Commenting on the promises given by the government to the UN Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in Geneva, Protko suggested that the government is just trying to avoid the implementation of international sanctions against Belarus. She hopes that international observers, whom official Minsk agreed to admit, will influence the Belarusian government. (Belapan, August 31)

OPPOSITION URGES UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT NOT TO MEET LUKASHENKO

Well-known Belarusian opposition leaders have denounced Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's intention to visit Lukashenko in Belarus as a political and moral mistake. The politicians appealed to Ukrainian parties, NGOs, and people, asking them to "remind their president that Lukashenko is no longer the president of Belarus… Everyone who meets Lukashenko as the Belarusian president becomes, in effect, an accomplice of his unconstitutional actions," warned the Belarusian opposition. The opposition speculated that prior to the forthcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, Kuchma wants to exploit his visit to Belarus to win support of those Ukrainians who admire Lukashenko. (Belapan, August 30)

PRO-LUKASHENKO FORCES STAGE RALLY OF SUPPORT

On August 27, about 150 representatives of the Belarusian Patriotic Party, Communist Party, Working People for Democracy, Social Progress and Justice, and a few veteran organizations held an authorized rally in Minsk in support of Lukashenko. They called on Belarusians "to endorse Lukashenko’s policy aimed at preventing a wild outburst of capitalism, stabilizing the situation in the country, and creating the Russia-Belarus Union." (Belapan, August 28)

SUPREME SOVIET DEPUTY: MY CONVICTION IS PREORDAINED

"I am sure I will be found guilty," said Andrei Klimov in the Minsk Leninsky District Court on August 30. Klimov, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet who was arrested on February 11, 1997, and has been held in a pretrial detention center since, was charged with large-scale embezzlement, unlicensed business activities, and providing false information on his business loan applications. Klimov has denied all these charges. He was an outspoken opponent of Lukashenko and signed an impeachment motion against the president in November 1996. The embezzlement charge, the heaviest one, carries up to 15 years imprisonment sentence as well as the confiscation of property. (Belapan, September 1)

WITNESS IN LEONOV CASE SAYS POLICE FORCED TESTIMONY

On August 30, the Belarusian Supreme Court started to interrogate witnesses on the case of Vasily Leonov, the former Minister of Agriculture. Leonov was arrested in November 1997 in connection with a high-profile case involving the privatization of the Rassvet collective farm headed by Valery Starovoitov, who was tried earlier this year. Starovoitov was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. Leonov was charged with a large-scale embezzlement, bribery, illegal gun possession, and abuse of power. Under the Belarusian Criminal Code, these crimes carry up to 15 years imprisonment. One of the witnesses, Mikhail Khren, denied the testimony he gave during the pretrial investigation. Initially, he told investigators that in 1995 he supervised the installation of heating, sewage, and water-supply systems in the defendant’s house on the basis of an order from the Rust-Invest company. On August 30, however, Khren denied that the Rust-Invest company had anything to do with the repairs at Leonov's house. Khren announced that his first testimony was a result of "intense psychological pressure from the investigators." In an interview to a Belapan correspondent, Leonov’s daughter Svetlana Vlasova, who is defending her father in the trial, called everything going on in the courtroom "a farce." She stressed there is no hope that "the justice will prevail." (Belapan, August 30)

ZAKHARENKO’S MOTHER WRITES TO LUKASHENKO

On August 31, Ulyana Zakharenko, the mother of Yuri Zakharenko, the former Minister of Internal Affairs who has been missing for several months, published an open letter to Lukashenko, asking him to "give back her son." "Alexander Grigorievich, you also have a mother who is worried about her son. I had a son, but then suddenly I lost him. I wish somebody would reassure me that my son has not been murdered or tortured to death. I cannot sleep, cannot live my life without him. Let him go," she wrote. (Charter 97, August 31)

UN WORKING GROUP CONSIDERS ZAKHARENKO’S CASE

On August 30 - September 3, the UN Working Group on Disappearances held its session in Geneva. The session considered its first Belarusian case – the disappearance of Yuri Zakharenko. The working group considered the data supplied by Belarusian and international human rights NGOs. On May 17, 1999 the Working Group called upon the Belarusian leadership to clarify the circumstances of Zakharenko’s abduction. However, the Belarusian government has yet to respond. (Charter 97, September 2)

OPPOSITION ACTIVIST REFUSES TO TESTIFY IN COURT

On August 31, Alexander Abramovich, the leader of the Borisov (Minsk region) branch of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, refused to testify in the Minsk Tsentralny District Court, claiming that the court was illegitimate. Abramovich was charged with participating in an unsanctioned demonstration in Minsk on August 21, which opposition forces staged to mark the end of Lukashenko's presidency. He was brought by police to the courtroom against his will. On August 8, social democrats from Borisov began a campaign of civic disobedience against "the illegitimate Belarusian authorities." On August 16, Abramovich refused to appear in the court on summons. The trial is postponed until September 2. (Belapan, August 31)

LECTURER WARNED BY ADMINISTRATION TO STOP POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

Sergei Malchik, chair of the Grodno branch of the Belarusian Popular Front and a teacher at the Grodno Medical Institute, was warned by the administration that his contract would not be renewed unless he gives up his political activities. Stanislav Klintsevich, an institute lecturer, as well as another employee of the institute have received similar warnings. (Spring 96, September 1)

LANGUAGE SOCIETY PROTESTS AGAINST RUSSIFICATION

On September 1, activists of the Zhodino and Smolevichy (Minsk region) branches of the Frantsysk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society and the Litsviny Belarusian youth organization staged authorized pickets to protest against forced russification in Belarus. The protest was held under the slogans: "Hands off Belarus!" "We are against Russification at Belarusian schools!" and "Stop Experimenting on Belarusian students!" The protesters demanded that the authorities open a Belarusian national university and collected signatures against the renaming of Minsk's Frantsysk Skaryna Avenue. (Belapan, September 1)

INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION MEMBERS DENIED BELARUSIAN VISAS

Several members of the Committee for the Rights of Parliamentarians of the Interparliamentary Union were denied entry visas to Belarus. Last year the Committee reviewed 13 cases of violations of rights of deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet. This spring the Committee decided to send a mission to Belarus to study the situation. The mission was initially scheduled for June. However, at the last moment the authorities refused to host the Committee members. Public hearings on violations of MPs’ rights in Belarus will instead be held in Berlin on October 11-16. (Charter 97, September 3)

--AT HOME IN BELARUS--

LAW ON STATUS OF MPs GOES INTO FORCE

On August 26, a new law "On the Status of Members of the House of Representatives and Council of the Republic" came into force in Belarus. To be elected to the House of Representatives a Belarusian citizen must be at least 21 years old and a resident of the country for five consecutive years. A member of the Council of the Republic (upper house of the National Assembly) must be at least 30 years old with the same residency and citizenship requirements. The responsibilities of National Assembly members include participation in plenary sessions, parliamentary hearings, standing committees, conference commissions, and working groups. They are authorized to inspect governmental agencies, enterprises, and organizations; file letters of inquiry with the executive authorities and form parliamentary associations, groups, and clubs. The National Assembly members enjoy immunity from prosecution. The law bans National Assembly members, except those who form the current National Assembly, from any other paid professional activity. (Belapan, August 27)

BELARUS WILL LINK ITS RUBLE TO EURO

On September 2, the Belarusian government, disappointed by the slow process of reunification with Russia, announced that it would gradually peg the Belarusian ruble to the Euro. The government and National Bank issued a statement underlying their agreement to peg the Belarusian ruble to the Euro as soon as the hard currency reserves allow for such a step. Just two months ago, the government announced that it was ready to adopt the Russian ruble according to a plan developed by the Russian Central Bank. The Belarusian National Bank now plans to introduce new banknotes and secure full convertibility of the Belarusian ruble in the coming two years. The statement also said that the National Bank was ready to ease tight market regulation by lowering the obligatory sale of hard currency earned by local exporters to 25 percent from 30 percent. (Reuters, September 2)

--INTERNATIONAL NEWS—

ELIZABETH SCHRODTER, SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR BELARUS

On September 1, at the session of the EU Committee for International Affairs, Elizabeth Schrodter, a member of the European Parliament, was unanimously elected to be the Special Rapporteur on Belarus for next 5 years. (Charter 97, September 2)

FINNISH AMBASSADOR TO CONTINUE CONSULTATIONS WITH SUPREME SOVIET

Rauno Viemero, Finland's ambassador to Lithuania and Belarus, plans to continue consultations with the 13th Supreme Soviet regarding talks between the Belarusian government and the opposition, the press office of the Belarusian Association of Young Politicians told Belapan. On August 26, Viemero held a meeting in Minsk with Anatoly Lebedko, deputy chair of the United Civic Party. During the meeting, Viemero reportedly expressed serious concern that the Belarusian government seemed to renounce the agreements reached at the talks between Lukashenko and Adrian Severin, chair of the Working Group of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE AMG in Belarus. (Belapan, August 31)

--BROTHER SLAVS—

"NO TROUSERS" DIPLOMACY

On September 2, Alexander Lukashenko, an ardent proponent of unification with Russia, said that a planned treaty with Moscow might not amount to a full union. "In the draft treaty there is not a union state, but rather what we and Russia can afford today," Lukashenko told reporters, adding that Belarus would accept this. He also pointed out that even such a modest treaty could only become possible after the Duma ratifies previous economic agreements. "There should be a foundation for the discussion of any political treaty, which means equal conditions under the law for economic agents and for citizens." Russia, dogged by its own economic and political problems, is now more realistic about the idea of union with Belarus, where reforms have been slow and democracy is limited. Lukashenko revealed that he had discussed integration with Yeltsin during a telephone conversation earlier this week, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to bring a detailed treaty draft to Belarus on September 8. Lukashenko insisted that any such meeting should yield concrete results. "We can meet without neckties, with neckties, or without trousers. but if we meet, something should happen," he said. (Reuters, September 2)

--CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS--

September 30 - The Federation of Trade Unions will hold a nationwide protest

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Belarus Update is a regular news bulletin of the Belarus Human Rights Support Project of the International League for Human Rights. The League, now in its 58th year, is a New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations and ILO.

The Belarus project is a part of Human Rights Defenders' Project, originally launched in 1982 to defend individuals and groups who suffer reprisals for promoting human rights in their societies. Among those the League defended were Andrei Sakharov, Kim Dae Jung and Jaime Castillo Velasco.

The Belarus project was established to support Belarusian citizens in making their cases before the U.S. government and public and international fora and intergovernmental organizations regarding President Alexander Lukashenko's wholesale assault on human rights and the rule of law in Belarus.

For more information e-mail belarus@ilhr.org or call (212) 684-1221 or fax (212) 684-1696 or visit our web site at www.ilhr.org.