INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 3, No. 13
March 2000

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS--

HUNDREDS DETAINED DURING DAY OF FREEDOM MARCH
On March 25, an estimated 500 to 700 demonstrators gathered on Yakub Kolas Square in Minsk for the Day of Freedom march to mark the founding of the Belarus People's Republic in 1918, which was crushed within months by the Bolsheviks. The short-lived republic is revered by the opposition as a prototype of independent Belarusian statehood. City authorities prohibited the march and took unprecedented measures to prevent it. Early in the morning reinforced military brigades, police, and plain-clothed agents appeared on Minsk streets, along with numerous fire engines, ambulances, and trucks with armed law-enforcers and empty buses for the potential detainees. By 11 a.m. Skaryna prospect was cordoned off by the riot police. No one was allowed even to approach Yakub Kolas Square. Policemen stood all along Krasnaya and Yakub Kolas streets - several mile long chain - at a distance of a stretched arm from one another. After repeated warnings to disperse, shortly after midday police waded into the crowd using clubs. Police arrested at least 200 demonstrators, including three Polish parliamentary observers, some 30 foreign journalists, who were released only after a few hours. Law enforcers destroyed video and audio tapes taken into custody. The police also detained but released shortly U.S. citizen Christopher Panico, an OSCE observer in Belarus. Dozens of activists of the Belarusian Popular Front and the United Civil Party were detained near the BPF headquarters. At 1 p.m. some of the demonstrators, who had survived the manhunt, headed toward Bangalore Square, where the meeting had been officially allowed. "By banning the march the authorities deliberately provoke civil disobedience, march organizers told a ten thousand strong crowd. Lukashenko had left that morning for the Arab Emirates. Read next week's Belarus Update for a full account of the march. (Itar-Tass- Charter 97, March 25)

DAY OF FREEDOM PROTEST MUST BE FREE FROM HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Belarus's opposition groups should not be subjected to ill-treatment or detention during March 25's peaceful Day of Freedom march in Minsk, Amnesty International said on March 23 in an appeal to the Belarusian government and law enforcement agencies. "The Freedom March II showed the international community that Belarusian authorities can allow demonstrations and respect the right to peaceful assembly," Amnesty International stated. The organization demanded from the Belarusian authorities to ensure that no one will be ill-treated or imprisoned by the police simply for their political beliefs and for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of assembly. Amnesty International will consider any demonstrators who are detained for their peaceful protests as prisoners of conscience. The Freedom March II on March 15 was exceptional in that it was the first large-scale demonstration in recent history in Belarus during which there were no reported arrests or allegations of police ill-treatment. (AI, March 23)

POLISH TRADE UNION LEADER SUPPORTS DAY OF FREEDOM MARCH
On March 24, Marian Kshaklevsky, one of the leaders of the Polish Independent Trade Union Solidarity, expressed his support to organizers of the Day of Freedom demonstration. "We very much take to our hearts the struggle of the Belarusian people against the dictatorial policy of their present government. Reiterating that the Belarusian nation has always been and will remain a European nation, Kshaklevsky in his letter expressed hope that he would soon be able to celebrate the anniversary of Belarus' independence in an independent Minsk. (Charter 97, March 24)

BELARUSIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON D.C. PICKETED
On March 25, members of the Belarusian diaspora picketed the Belarusian Embassy in Washington D.C. The pickets were held under the banners "Luka - get off the throne!"; "Stop political murders in Belarus"; "Free elections!", "No to Russian occupation of Belarus"; "Release political prisoners", "Luka - thief and murderer." (Charter 97, March 25)

U.S. CONDEMNS KLIMOV'S SENTENCE
The United States has condemned the Belarus government's conviction and sentencing on politically motivated charges of Andrei Klimov, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and businessman, calling his treatment "a travesty of justice" from the beginning (See Belarus Update Vol.3, No.12). In a statement issued on March 21, State Department Spokesman James Rubin said that Klimov's sentence -- as well as the "show trial" of former Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir and the government's ban on opposition rallies-- are evidence of the Belarusian authorities' "continued rejection of dialogue and unwillingness to establish a climate for free and fair elections that the government plans to hold in the fall." The following is the text of his statement:

"The U.S. condemns the conviction and sentencing on politically motivated charges of Andrei Klimov, a member of the Belarusian 13th Supreme Soviet and a prominent leader of the opposition to the Lukashenko regime's rule in Belarus. The regime's treatment of Klimov was from the beginning a travesty of justice. He was arrested in February 1998 and held for seventeen months without trial. He was brutally beaten by prison guards on December 12. Only after the intervention of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group and U.S. Ambassador Speckhard was Klimov allowed to receive appropriate medical treatment. This sentence, the continued show trial of former Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir, and the government's ban on further opposition demonstrations demonstrate the authorities' continued rejection of dialogue and unwillingness to establish a climate for free and fair elections that the government plans to hold in the fall. We again call on the Belarusian authorities to take meaningful steps toward genuine dialogue with the democratic opposition and to demonstrate greater respect for fundamental human rights. It will be particularly important for the authorities to respect the people's right to freedom of assembly and ensure that opposition marches planned for this spring are not hindered. Only through such actions can Belarus resolve the current constitutional and political impasse and end its self-imposed international isolation." (U.S. Department of State, March 21)

OSCE: KLIMOV'S CASE NEEDS TO BE RE-HEARD
On March 21, the OSCE AMG in Belarus strongly condemned the sentence of prisoner of conscience Andrei Klimov. "In the course of the trial proceedings, which resulted in 6 years of jail for Klimov," reads the AMG OSCE statement, "a lot of violations and shortcomings have been discovered." "Klimov's case is another in a range of politically motivated ones, which needs to be revisited. It proves one more time the fact that there is no independent judiciary in Belarus," the mission said in the statement. The OSCE representatives in Belarus believe that Klimov's sentence will substantially complicate the perspectives of the possible negotiations between the government and opposition. (Belapan 97, March 21)

ILHR: TRIAL AGAINST KLIMOV RETALIATION FOR HIS OPPOSITION TO REGIME
On March 20, in an open letter to Lukashenko, the International League for Human Rights expressed deep concern about the recent sentencing of Andrei Klimov, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, the only legitimate parliament of Belarus, to six years imprisonment and loss of property on charges of allegedly engaging in large-scale embezzlement and forgery. "The League believes that the trial against Mr. Klimov and his mistreatment while in detention have been in retaliation for his opposition to Alexander Lukashenko," said Executive Director Catherine Fitzpatrick in her letter. The League called on Lukashenko to use his good offices to initiate an investigation into wrongful arrest, to accept an appeal hearing, to ensure that Mr. Klimov is granted a free and fair trial, and to release Mr. Klimov from custody pending these proceedings. (ILHR, March 20)

LUKASHENKO BLASTS OPPOSITION FOR FREEDOM MARCH
Alexander Lukashenko dismissed March 15's demonstrators as people who had "grown rich on speculation" and feared his attempts to "clean up the economy." "People holding a grudge against the government, such as flea-market speculators, dominated in the March 15's demonstration ," the Belarusian leader told journalists on March 16, while visiting the Brest region. According to Lukashenko, no more than 30 per cent of the demonstrators were youths, "the rest wore mink coats." "Today, I received photos taken at close range by the police officers as they were counting up those people," continued Lukashenko. "They were very well-off people. They do not care a bit about Lebedko [chair of the Commission for International Affairs of the 13th Supreme Soviet and deputy chair of the United Civic Party ] or Chigir [former Prime Minister]. Chigir has one foot in jail and he goes to the march. Why did he go? I'll tell you. To say afterward that he was jailed for his political activity. The same with Statkevich [leader of the Social Democratic Party]. What brought them there? They would be better off sitting quietly at home and praying to God to stay out of jail. They already face a charge, don't they?" said Lukashenko. He disputed media reports that more that 20,000 people took part in the march. According to his own sources, the number of participants did not exceed 7,500. He acknowledged, however, that the demonstration was "more massive than usual." (Belapan, March 17)

OSCE CHAIRMAN: DIALOGUE MUST INVOLVE OPPOSITION
On March 23, Adrian Severin, chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, called on the government of Belarus to continue efforts toward creating an inclusive, democratic political system. "We have seen some steps forward recently -- including the peaceful Freedom March II and efforts to organize a dialogue on the future elections," said Severin, "but we want to avoid steps backward. Any dialogue needs to involve the opposition and needs to be able to amend the recently signed electoral legislation." The OSCE Parliamentary Working Group chairman expressed his concern that positive developments, such as the ability of the opposition to protest without official harassment, and the efforts to create a national dialogue, could be undermined by recent official statements. "Time to organize the up-coming elections is very limited, if they are to be internationally or domestically acceptable," said Severin. "The OSCE and other international organizations stand willing to assist in the process of democratization in Belarus, but it is the responsibility of the Government to make this process meaningful." (USIA, March 23)

PUBLIC DIALOGUE ORGANIZERS ADOPT LIST OF ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
On March 21, the government group arranging a broad civic dialogue on the instructions from Lukashenko adopted an "official" list of issues for the dialogue. The list consists of the following issues: the electoral code; ensuring the constitutional rights of Belarusian citizens to receive and disseminate information; social and economic development of Belarus; Belarus's sovereignty and foreign policy. The organizers of the dialogue said that 80 organizations have applied for participation, including 11 political parties. The parties that form the Consultative Council of Opposition Political Parties will participate in the dialogue "at the level of experts." (Belapan, March 22)

HELSINKI COMMITTEE WELCOMES DIALOGUE WITH GOVERNMENT
Tatyana Protska, chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee considers the dialogue a very important tool for resolving our society's problems. On March 18, in an interview to the Belarusian state TV, she said that the dialogue shows the government's readiness to improve the human rights situation in the country. Protska called on all Belarusian political forces to regard the dialogue as a very serious matter. "It is in the course of the dialogue that our government will win back the confidence of the international community," she added. "A compromise that the government and the opposition may reach would give us mutually acceptable electoral regulations. Elections held by such regulations would be recognized by the international community," concluded Protska. (Belapan, March 19)

OPPOSITION ACTIVIST RELEASED FROM JAIL
On March 21, Alexander Abramovich, chairman of the Borisov branch of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, was released from jail after serving a 35-day prison term. He was sentenced on administrative charges for a range of pickets staged in his hometown of Borisov, Minsk region. In addition, Abramovich spent seven days in jail for protesting against criminal procedures initiated by the Lukashenko regime against Mikhail Chigir, former Prime Minister and opposition leader. The opposition activist described the conditions of detention degrading and inhumane. It has been his 4th arrest this year. In total, he had spent 62 days in jail for administrative misdemeanors. (Charter 97, March 23)

ILHR URGES REGIME TO CEASE HARASSMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE
On March 24, in an open letter to Alexander Lukashenko, the International League for Human Rights, expressed its concern over continued harassment of Vera Stremkovskaya, a human rights lawyer in Minsk. At the end of January, Mr. Gambolevsky, the deputy chairman of the Minsk Collegium of Lawyers, together with Mr. Kartovitsky, the head of the Pervomaisky district legal consultation bureau, conducted an unlawful search and interrogation of Stremkovskaya, trying to find any evidence that might justify her disbarment. The League believes that these actions taken against Stremkovskaya are in retaliation for her legal defense of opposition figures and her public advocacy of human rights. The League urged Lukashenko to cease all harassment of Stremkovskaya and ensure that she is able to freely practice her profession without retaliation against her and her clients. (ILHR, March 24)

VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS ROSE IN 1999
Thirty-four journalists were killed last year because of their work, up from 24 in 1998, according to a new global survey released on March 23 by the Committee to Protect Journalists, New-York based human rights organization. The number of journalists imprisoned for their work at the end of 1999 was down to 87 from 118 a year earlier and 127 in 1997, said the 435-page report. But the report warned that dozens more journalists were detained but released before the year's end and that governments were using other tactics to attack the press. "Sophisticated despots are adopting more subtle methods to muzzle the press," Ann Cooper, CPJ executive director, said in a statement. "Some wily leaders understand that regimes can pay an international price for routinely jailing journalists. So instead, they drive independent media out of business by harassing them with tax laws, levying crippling fines, or cutting off access to state-controlled newsprint and printing presses." Such techniques were used in Algeria and Pakistan, and at alarming rates in Belarus, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, and other central and eastern European nations, the report said. (Agence France Presse, March 22)

NEW INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER STARTS COMING OUT IN BELARUS
The first issue of the Kuryer [Courier] independent newspaper has come out in Belarus. In an editorial, Igor Germenchuk, the Kuryer editor-in-chief and the former editor-in-chief of the Svaboda independent newspaper closed down by the Lukashenko regime in 1997, said that the periodical is intended for "professionally active, educated and energetic people, who are called the middle class in other countries." The Kuryer is expected to come out once a month at first and then later once a week. It is published in five thousand copies by the Novik private printing house in Minsk. The first issue contains visions of Belarus's future by prominent politicians and public figures. It also runs a political profile of Interior Minister Yury Sivakov, a review on the Belarusian political forces in opposition to the Lukashenko government, a survey of Belarus's economic situation in the world, articles about Chernobyl. (Belapan, March 21)

--RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS--

AUTHORITIES ORDER CATHOLIC PRIEST TO HALT "ILLEGAL" WORK
The Belarusian authorities have ordered a Roman Catholic priest who has been working in the country for the past nine years to halt his pastoral work on the grounds that it is illegal. Father Zbigniew Korolyak, a Polish citizen, has been given until March 15 to cease his activity as a parish priest in the church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Brest. On January 12, 2000, Boris Lepeshko, chairman of the Council for Religious and Ethnic Affairs of the Brest regional executive committee, wrote to the head of the Catholic Church in Belarus, Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, to remind the cardinal that on the recommendation of his office the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Minsk had not extended its permission for Father Korolyak to carry out religious activity to cover the years 1997-2000.

Lepeshko's letter came several weeks after a letter to the cardinal from Alexander Bilyk, chairman of the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Minsk, also warning him that the authorities found Father Korolyak unacceptable. "Given the view of the Brest regional executive committee," Bilyk wrote in his letter of December 17, 1999, "the State Committee has not given permission to Zbigniew Korolyak, a citizen of Poland, to conduct religious activity." Bilyk listed the names of 21 foreign Catholic priests who had received permission to conduct religious work in Belarus in 2000, 14 in the Brest region and 7 in the Gomel region. Under the country's law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations, the State Committee must give permission before any foreign citizens can conduct any religious work in Belarus.

On March 3,1999, the chair of the parish council Yadviga Terpilovskaya had written to V. N. Zakharchenko, deputy chairman of the Brest regional executive committee, asking that Father Korolyak receive registration to continue to work as the parish priest. The letter concluded: "We urgently beg you to bear in mind the 2,620 signatures of the faithful as indisputable confirmation of civic accord and our desire to see as parish priest of the church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross only the priest and dean, Zbigniew Korolyak." [The 1993 General Comment on Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights includes in its definition of the practice of religious belief the freedom [for religious groups] to choose their religious leaders, priests and teachers, while Article 16 of the Concluding Document of the 1989 OSCE Vienna Conference requires states to respect the right of religious communities to select, appoint and replace their personnel in accordance with their respective requirements and standards).]

In various letters both to the local authorities and to the State Committee, Cardinal Swiatek had urged them to grant Father Korolyak registration as a priest. He stressed that a case under Article 196 of the Criminal Code brought by the local authorities in Brest against Father Korolyak of illegally cutting trees next to the church in August 1995 had been dismissed and that the priest had complied with an order from the Brest city council to cease giving out free meals and medicines to the poor on church property.

On March 18, two law-enforcers entered the church and arrested Father Korolyak. As alleged by the witnesses of the scene, the policemen were very rude and twisted the priest's arms behind his back. The parishioners were deeply offended by this act of violence and forwarded their protest to the chief of the Leninski District police station in Brest. The priest was released shortly and returned to his duties.

Father Korolyak's difficulties reveal the extent of state approval required before foreign religious workers can officially work in Belarus and the extent of state interference in religious denominations' own choices of personnel to fill posts. It remains unclear why the Belarusian authorities have singled out Father Korolyak, although a number of Polish priests have in the past had problems obtaining and retaining permission to work as parish priests in Belarus. His case has been taken up by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Minsk, which has offered to defend him in court if needed. (Keston News Service, February 18- BHC, March 20)

--AT HOME IN BELARUS--

UNEASY BELARUS SEEKS BILATERAL ACCORD WITH NATO
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry signaled a slight warming in uneasy relations with NATO on March 23 by announcing that the Belarus wanted a bilateral cooperation agreement with the U.S.-led alliance. Valentin Rybakov, head of the ministry's international security department, told a news briefing that Belarus was seeking the accord to take account of NATO's expansion to embrace neighboring Poland and Hungary and the Czech Republic. "Belarus has landed in an uncertain 'gray zone' since both Ukraine and Russia have agreements with NATO, our Western neighbors are members and the Baltic states have very definite relationships with NATO," Rybakov said. Belarus has suggested signing a charter similar to that which Russia and Ukraine have with NATO. "We don't have an answer yet from the NATO leadership although we also have not had a definite 'no'." Rybakov said that Alexander Lukashenko had asked the ministry to complete a bilateral accord with the alliance as quickly as possible. The government had received no reply to a request to proceed with an agreement sent to NATO headquarters in Brussels some months ago. Belarus was the last ex-Soviet republic to join the NATO's Partnership for Peace cooperation program and participates on a limited basis. Like Russia, Belarus suspended contacts with NATO after the alliance launched its air campaign against Yugoslavia a year ago, but resumed them six months before Moscow did. Rybakov renewed Belarusian criticism of U.S. proposals to alter the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with the intention of building a new national anti-missile system. He said such a move would "lead to the breakdown of the entire system of international agreements on nuclear weaponry." Belarus, like Russia, rejected the U.S. argument that such a defensive shield would protect against a strike from a "rogue" state such as North Korea or Iran. (Agence France Presse, March 24)

BELARUS SETS EXCHANGE SESSIONS FOR FREE FOREX TRADE
On March 23, Pyotr Prokopovich, chairman of the Belarus' National bank, promised to allow banks to trade currency at free-market rates at a single exchange from March 27. The free market would be limited to a special session at the Belarus Currency and Stock Exchange, Prokopovich told a news conference. Under pressure from the IMF and World Bank, which have frozen loans to Belarus, the central bank has pledged to remove the current multiple-rate exchange mechanism and introduce a unified rate by the end of 2000. (Reuters, March 24)

RACKETEERS IN UNIFORM
The military circles are closing in on criminal groupings more and more in Belarus. Late in February, six cadets of the Interior Forces department of the Belarusian Military Academy were accused of abducting a businessman from Minsk with the intention of demanding a ransom valued at DM 60,000 and $2,000. It seems that the accusation will be upheld. A gang, that consisted of future Interior Forces officers had operated for over two years. Officers of the law enforcement agencies assert that the gang had committed at least six heinous crimes. In fall 1999, the gang kidnapped a businessman from Smolevichy. The abductors demanded that $40,000 be paid as a ransom. In order to prevent damage to the academy's prestige and to uphold the authority of the Interior Forces, the arrested have been expelled from the academy. A head of the course, in which the arrested had studied, was dismissed on a special order. (Belaruskaya delovaya gazeta, March 1-7)

BELARUS BUREAUCRATS' JOBS AT STAKE IN SYDNEY
On March 21, Alexander Lukashenko threatened to fire bureaucrats in charge of sports if Belarusian teams falter at the 2000 Olympics. "I want to warn you that after the Olympics, if they are not successful, you will all carefully pack up and find new jobs," Lukashenko, who also heads the Belarus's Olympic Committee, told officials at a meeting broadcast in part on state television. Lukashenko blamed Belarus's lack of medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics on biased judging and a Western "Mafia conspiracy." (Reuters, March 22)

--CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS-

April 26 - Opposition to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

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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 New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations and ILO.

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 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

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