March 30, 2001

Mr. Alexander Lukashenko
Republic of Belarus
VIA FAX

Dear Mr. Lukashenko,

The International League for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization with
special consultative status at the UN ECOSOC, is writing to express our grave
concern about your government's crackdown against peaceful demonstrators
in the last week.

On March 25, the traditional Freedom Day when the independence of Belarus is
celebrated, large numbers of police, riot troops, and security agents (about 500 as
estimated by observers) moved against demonstrators who convened peacefully
at two separate actions in the center of town. Previously, organizers had failed to
gain permits to conduct their rallies at central locations, and as usual, had been
told to move their action to Bangalore, a park on the outskirts of Minsk.

At about twelve noon on Sunday, March 25 , about 200 women, including many pensioners and activists in the Belarusian Liberation Movement and the Belarusian Popular Front Conservative Christian Party, assembled on Independence Square. Law-enforcement agents awaited them in underground passageways and also blocked off the metro station to pedestrians. Interior Minister Naumov and his deputy were personally present on the scene to supervise the police break-up of the assembly and sanctioned the excessive use of force against demonstrators.

Approximately an hour later, another demonstration began, organized by the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne and the United Civic Party. An estimated 5,000 people assembled peacefully, and once again, passageways and nearby metro stations were closed by police and Interior Ministry riot troops. Using police buses, jeeps, and cars, police pushed the crowd to disperse, and then ringed around the demonstrators in riot gear, deploying shields. Police agents then beat and kicked the demonstrators at random, pushing some of them into buses. Vladimir Shlapak, a photo journalist from the independent newspaper Nasha Svaboda, was beaten whil attempting to cover the event. Several dozen persons were seized and taken to the Central Police District in Minsk.

Vintsuk Viachorka, leader of the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzenne, a major democratic party, was detained and subsequently sentenced March 29 on charges under Art. 167-2 for allegedly "organizing rallies, demonstrations and pickets" by Judge Natalya Voitsekhovich of the Central District Court. The judge noted that Viachorka's name was included among the list of organizers who had applied to Minsk city authorities for a permit to held the Freedom Day rally. Viachorka denied any organizational role in the rally and refuted police testimony that he had allegedly used a microphone on the square to summon people to the assembly. His defense counsel filed two petitions protesting the unlawfulness of the refusal of city authorities to issue the demonstration permit for a central location, and also urging that other police officials be brought to the court as witnesses. Neither Viachorka or his lawyer were allowed to make final statements in the courtroom. Although often in such cases, defendants are not jailed until after the appeal of their sentence is heard, in this instance Viachorka was immediately taken from the court room under custody and is currently being held at the Okrestina Prison, where local human rights activists say he will be compelled to serve the entire sentence.

Page 2

Ludmilla Gryaznova, a deputy of the disbanded parliament and an activist of Charter 97, a civic group, was sentenced to approximately $100 in fines (20 minimum wages) for participating in the demonstration. Two other demonstrators, Maksim Kukso and Ellin Novik, were fined about $100 under Art. 167-1 for "disturbing the peace". Both Gryaznova and Novik, who was grabbed by her hair during the arrest by Interior Ministry agents, were kept in an airless cell. Gryaznova was denied permission to receive medications. Dmitry Shcheborenko, age 19, was sentenced to 10 days of jail for his participation in the action and was immediately taken to the lock-up. Several other detainees, Ales Beliatski, Pavel Severinets, Iosif Burko, and Maksim Kuzmitski, were also to face trial soon on similar charges.

On March 30, local human rights monitors reported that plainclothesmen were waiting in the entryways of the homes of a number of other opposition leaders who faced imminent arrest. On the basis of police photographs taken during the Freedom Day rally, cases under Art. 167, par. 1 and par. 2 have already been opened against opposition leaders Viktor Ivashkevich, Vyacheslav Sivchik, Aleksey Korol, Timofey Dranchuk, Vladimir Kishkurno, Pyotr Golosov, and Mikhnov (first name unavailable). All of the demonstrators could face at least 10 days in jail.

Dmitry Egorov, a correspondent from the Grodno-based newspaper Birzha informatsi, was also detained and beaten by police on March 25, and a number of other detentions took place in cities around Belarus.

The League deplores the Belarusian government's unlawful restriction of the internationally-recognized freedom of assembly and the unnecessary use of force against peaceful demonstrators, as well as the jailing and fining of demonstrators on unfounded charges. As a signatory to international human rights covenants, Belarus is obligated not to interfere with the peaceful assemblies of citizens who seek redress of grievances. In 1999, Belarus reaffirmed its commitment to allow peaceful assembly without restriction through the negotiated chair's statement at the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Sending demonstrators to Bangalore does not represent a good-faith effort to enforce the human right to assembly. International standards for democratic participation require that demonstrators be permitted to hold peaceful rallies in central, visible public locations near government offices. The government's decision to ban such rallies and persecute those who defy the bans indicates a further isolation of Belarus from the international community, despite its professed commitment to democratic principles.

We call on you to ensure that Vintsuk Viachorka and all other persons detained in connection with this rally be released immediately and unconditionally, that the charges against them be dropped, and that any fines or other penalties be rescinded. If opposition parties, civic groups, trade unions, and other concerned citizens' groups are not permitted to rally peacefully in the center of town, conditions for presidential democratic elections cannot be said to exist, and the legitimacy of the forthcoming electoral process will be called into question by the international community.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We await your response.

Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Executive Director