To: Alexander Lukashenko
Republic of Belarus
FAX: 011 375 172 26 06 10

August 17, 2001

Dear Mr. Lukashenko,

The International League for Human Rights, an international non-governmental human rights organization with consultative status at ECOSOC UN, is writing to express serious concern about the seizure of the special issue of independent newspaper Nasha Svaboda. The issue was dedicated to Vladimir Goncharik, the single democratic opposition candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.

On August 17, 2001, police from the Committee for Financial Investigation entered Magic publishing house, where Nasha Svaboda is published, confiscating all 300 thousand copies of the special issue. According to Pavel Zhuk, the newspaper's editor, this is the only one out of 15 special issues he has published that was confiscated. The Committee's representative claimed that the issue was confiscated due to "inaccuracies in Magic's financial accounts," without providing an explanation as to why Nasha Svaboda was targeted.

The League sees the confiscation of Nasha Svaboda as an attempt by your government to control information about the presidential candidate supported by Belarusian democratic forces and calls on you to use the power of your office to release the 300 thousand copies of Nasha Svaboda's special issue. Furthermore, we urge you to cease all harassment of the opposition and assure that it is able to conduct an unhindered election campaign. By doing so, you will be complying with OSCE's standards for elections, which your government has signed.

Thank you for your attention, we await your response.

Sincerely,

Catherine Fitzpatrick
Executive Director