INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 3, No. 18
April 2000

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS--

OPPOSITION HOLDS CHARNOBYLSKY SHLYAKH IN MINSK
The Charnobylsky Shlyakh 2000 rocked Minsk on April 26 when about 40,000 people gathered at Yakub Kolas Square to mark the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Charter 97 reported. It became the most massive opposition protest in recent years. Grim-faced marchers, many dressed in black, carried banned white-red-white Belarusian national flags, banners and icons and tolled a mourning bell. Most were young but there were some World War II veterans marching. Two banners "We are people!" and "We shall overcome!" were stretched across the square. About a hundred youths wearing Belarusian national dresses, headed by Gennady Grushevoi, president of the Children of Chernobyl Foundation, carried banners with the names of the regions they came from and the degree of radioactive contamination there. Activists of the Moscow Anti-fascist Alliance, who traditionally take part in the rally, carried a huge placard, which stated "Your regime is doomed!" In the middle of the procession, the marchers carried a huge 5x3 meter flag of the European Union. International observers, many prominent opposition leaders, and relatives of Belarusian political prisoners marched together with the crowd. People kept shouting "Long Live Belarus!" "Independence!" and similar slogans. Two TV groups, five newspaper correspondents and two MPs from Czech Republic were present.

Strong police cordons surrounded government buildings, the central television station, and Lukashenko's residence. The Minsk City Council originally banned the march but acquiesced after the opposition warned about the possibility of clashes, similar to those on the Day of Freedom, in which hundreds of people were beaten and arrested. On April 24, the U.S. Embassy in Belarus cautioned the Belarusian authorities that the ban on the Charnobylsky Shlyakh in Minsk could push it "further from the family of European democratic nations," the United Press International reported.

Protesters carrying placards denouncing Lukashenko's Moscow-leaning foreign policy left the square at 6.20 p.m. and marched to Bangalore Square without incident. But a couple of dozen members of the Belarusian Conservative Christian Party staged a sit-in on Yakub Kolas square and began singing folk songs, the Viasna'96 Human Rights Center reported. At 6.40 p.m. the interior ministry officers and riot police tried to disperse the gathering. Andrei Anufriev, Alexander Atroschenko, Dmitry Zhuravchik, and Andrei Satsupa, all minors, were detained. Those arrested were taken to the Soviet District police department in Minsk, where they were temporarily detained. Among the detainees were Ales Kavalets, Evgeny Laparsky, Lyavon Miranovich, Kastus Tomkovich, Arthur Lashkevich, and Vladimir Ryzhkov. By midnight all opposition members were released. No charges were filed against them.

The rally at Bangalore Square was held at 8 p.m. "Independent and free Belarus as part of the European community is capable of minimizing the Chernobyl consequences," read a resolution adopted at the meeting. "Instead of saving the people, the regime forces them to produce food in contaminated areas. Such a regime is criminal and has no right to exist." (Charter 97, Viasna, Belapan, April 26; United Press International, April 26)

LUKASHENKO CONDEMNS MARCHERS
While visiting villages affected by radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear blast, Lukashenko commented harshly on the opposition-staged Charnobylsky Shlyakh in Minsk. He accused the opposition of exploiting the disaster for political gain. "Today's Chernobyl march is reduced to chanting 'Belarus in Europe without Luka!' This is the only slogan they carry in the street," Lukashenko, dressed in military uniform, told residents of a contaminated village. "They are rambling there after having received Western help - for money they are marching in crowds to please their Western sponsors. Well, we will allow them to march, to make their protests, in short, to earn their money," Lukashenko said on national television while the demonstration was still in progress. "But if they violate public order, we will respond with sufficient force," the Belarusian leader warned. (BBC, April 28)

PICKETS OF SOLIDARITY HELD IN BRUSSELS, NEW YORK
Pickets of solidarity with the Minsk demonstration took place in Brussels and New York, Charter 97 reported. Picketers held signs with slogans such as "Lukashenko is a political Chernobyl", "Do not send students to polluted areas!", "No! to Russian nuclear arms on the territory of Belarus!" (Charter 97, April 27)

AZERBAIJAN DEMOCRATS SUPPORT BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION
The Congress of Democratic Parties of Azerbaijan expressed solidarity with the Belarusian opposition on the occasion of the Charnobylsky Shlyakh. "The Congress express its solidarity and support to the actions of protest and attempts by the Belarusian opposition to restore the rule of law in their country. The authoritarian Belarusian regime has a lot in common with the regime existing in Azerbaijan. It violates human rights, limits opposition's access to mass-media, harasses opposition leaders," wrote Azerbaijan democrats in a statement. The former Azerbaijani president Abulfaz Elchibey forwarded a letter of support to the BPF chairman Vintsuk Viachorka. (Belapan, April 27)

OPPOSITION ACTIVIST SENTENCED FOR TEARING LUKASHENKO'S PORTRAIT
On April 25, an authorized rally, marking the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, took place in Borisov (Minsk region). About 40 people marched through the city with white-red-white national flags and anti-Lukashenko banners. Alexander Abramovich, chairman of the Borisov branch of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and one of the key organizers of the action, was arrested on charges of "minor hooliganism" and sentenced to 5 days in jail for tearing down Lukashenko's picture. Abramovich was tried right at the police station by Judge Alexey Bolotov without lawyers and witnesses being present. Due to the fact that the judge failed to bring with him blank letterheads and seals to issue an official ruling, the opposition activist was released until the following morning. Local opposition calls Judge Bolotov "Abramovich's personal judge" -- since June 1999, he has tried the opposition leader five times and sentenced him to a total of 50 days in jail. (Belapan, April 26)

OPPOSITION TO STAGE MORE PROTESTS
On April 27, at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne, BPF chairman Vintsuk Viachorka told journalists that the Charnobylsky Shlyakh can be considered a victory of the united Belarusian opposition, the BPF press service reported. "The Shlyakh is the most successful action taken by the opposition in the framework of the Spring 2000 protest campaign," the opposition leader said. According to him, two more actions of protest are scheduled for May 9 and May 14. (BPF press service, April 27)

OPPOSITION TO MARK 1995 REFERENDUM
The Coordinating Council of the Congress of Democratic Forces plans to hold "festivities" on Oktyabrskaya Square in downtown Minsk on May 14 to mark the anniversary of a 1995 referendum. The referendum gave Alexander Lukashenko more power over the parliament, made Russian a state language, alongside with Belarusian, and replaced the white-red-white flag and the Pahonya [the Chase] State Emblem with the Soviet-style state symbols. The historically national white-red-white flag was used as the Belarusian state flag in the period between the breakup of the USSR and the ascendance of Lukashenko. "The festivities will not be a demonstration, so they do not require permission from the authorities," a Congress representative told Interfax. "On the anniversary of the shameful referendum, we will show that all attempts to eliminate the love for the native language and centuries-old national symbols from the hearts of our people have not been successful," concludes the statement. (Interfax, April 25)

MINSK AUTHORITIES BAN MAY 1 OPPOSITION RALLY
The Minsk city authorities have banned the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party and the Association of Independent Trade Unions from staging a demonstration on May 1 and issued a permit only to hold a rally at Bangalore Square, the press service of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party informed Interfax. The demonstrators planed to gather on Yakub Kolas Square and move along Skaryna Avenue toward Independence Square to stage a meeting under the slogan "Freedom, Justice, Solidarity, Independence!" The BSDP's leadership considers the ban another gross violation of human rights and announced their intention to participate in so-called "mayovki" [outdoor May 1 celebrations] organized by the Belarusian Federation of Trade Unions in the Minsk parks. "Fearing possible mass unrest, the Lukashenko regime resorted to an unprecedented step and decided not to hold the official celebrations on May 1 for the first time over the last seven decades," a BSDP representative told Interfax. An official from the Minsk City Council explained to Interfax that this year, the May 1 celebrations will be held separately in each of the city districts. "In connection with this, the opposition was denied the permission to stage a demonstration and was advised to join the district celebrations," the official said. (Interfax, April 25)

BELARUSIAN PARLIAMENT: DON'T INTERFERE IN OUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS
The Standing Committee on International Affairs and Relations with the CIS of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly has issued a statement in connection with the recent resolution on the situation in Belarus adopted by the U.S. Congress. "The Committee regards the resolution as interference in the internal affairs of Belarus and Russia," wrote Belarusian parliamentarians in the statement. "We demand that the Clinton administration and the U.S. Congress stop the political, economic, and moral pressure on Belarus." The deputies condemned "the constant striving by the U.S. for worldwide hegemony." They also expressed their discontent with "a number of extreme opposition forces in Belarus, which under the disguise of political reforms, pursue policies aimed at the destabilization of the internal political situation in the country." "Citizens who committed crimes and are held responsible for them in accordance with the law, are depicted by the West as political prisoners," reads the statement. The Belarusian lawmakers believe the public dialogue initiated by Lukashenko will consolidate society. They also supported the idea of holding free and democratic parliamentary elections this fall and presidential elections next year in accordance with the new Electoral Code. The parliamentarians stressed in the statement that the December 1999 signing of the Union Treaty by the Russian Federation and Alexander Lukashenko is "not a violation of Belarus's sovereignty, but the act aimed at strengthening peace, security, and cooperation in Europe and all over the world." (BBC, April 27)

BELARUSIAN AMBASSADOR: DON'T BULLY US
In response to the April 2 editorial "Bullied Belarus" in the Washington Post, talking about brutal police crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in Minsk on March 25, Valery Tsepkalo, the Belarusian Ambassador to the U.S., replied that "the authorities interfered only with those who attempted to stage an unauthorized march, which violated peace and order in the center of the city." "The reality is that the March 25 opposition rally in Minsk was sanctioned by the city authorities and allowed more than 10,000 participants to freely express their opinions. Only after repeated requests by law enforcement officers to disperse had been ignored were 200 of the most active participants of this illegal gathering detained. President Alexander Lukashenko criticized the excessive actions by some police and ordered an investigation. As a result, a number of officers were demoted and transferred to other positions. Most disturbing is the implication that the Belarusian authorities are somehow involved in the disappearances of political opponents. Deep concern for their safety is fully shared by my government. A thorough investigation into these matters is underway," the Ambassador wrote. He does not believe that the policy recommendations to the U.S. and European governments to step up pressure on Belarus would be productive. "We are convinced that only a balanced approach toward a real state of affairs in Belarus rather than a confrontation will help promote a political dialogue in the country," Tsepkalo wrote. (Washington Post, April 17)

INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS "FOR HEALTH REASONS"
On April 21, Yuri Sivakov, the Belarusian Interior Minister, resigned "for health reasons." Sivakov's deputy, Mikhail Udovikov, will replace him. Sivakov came under fire from Lukashenko after journalists and a representative of the OSCE were detained during an opposition demonstration on March 25, along with hundreds of demonstrators. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, April 26)

US OFFICIALS FIND CUBA IN EUROPE
Belarus may become a European Cuba, Mark Tissen, press-secretary of Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Ian Brzezinski, another Committee member, told a news conference at the end of their three-day visit to Belarus on April 22, Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported. U.S. officials said that their visit has been prompted by the latest wave of repression launched by the Lukashenko government, including its use of the Latin American model of abducting political opponents and brutal clashes with the police on the Day of Freedom. Brzezinsky expressed his deep discontent with the official refusal to let him meet political prisoners Andrei Klimov, Vladimir Koudinov, and Vasily Leonov. Tissen emphasized that the U.S. intends to thoroughly watch over the situation in Belarus in four major areas: disappearances of opposition leaders, political prisoners, politically motivated trials, and forthcoming parliamentary elections. The U.S. officials declared that the U.S. would recognize the elections as free and fair only in the case that the Belarusian opposition does so. They believe that Belarus has good chances to avoid international isolation and follow the path of democracy, because it has a powerful and united opposition, as well as a nascent civil society. During the visit, Tissen and Brzezinsky met with the leaders of NGOs, political parties, government officials, and families of the political prisoners. They said that during their talks with Sergei Martynov, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, it became clear that there was a radical difference in their views on the situation in Belarus. Tissen and Brzezinsky visited Kurapaty, the site of mass graves of thousands of victims of the Stalinist repression in the 1930s. (Nasha Svaboda, April 25)

OPPOSITION LEADERS STAND TRIAL IN MINSK
On April 24, Valery Shchukin, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, and Nikolai Statkevich, chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, stood trial in the Minsk City Court for allegedly organizing and actively participating in mass actions violating the public order during the October 17, 1999, Freedom March in Minsk (See Belarus Update No 42), reported the Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta independent newspaper. The opposition leaders face up to three years of imprisonment under Article 186, paragraph 3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code. Statkevich is also charged with the same accusation with respect to the July 27,1999 opposition protest in Minsk. The illness of the State Prosecutor initially assigned to the case [local observers believe that he refused to participate in a politically motivated trial] caused the delay in the court proceedings. In addition, Statkevich, who speaks Belarusian, demanded an interpreter from Russian to Belarusian during the hearing. Boris Zavodsky, a member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, and Vladimir Nistuk, deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and member of the BSDP, were allowed to join the defense team as public defenders. (BDG, April 25)

MIKHAIL CHIGIR FACES FIVE YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT
Mikhail Chigir, former Belarusian Prime Minister and leading political opponent of Lukashenko, is facing five years imprisonment. This punishment was demanded by State Prosecutor Victor Zhyngel at the Minsk City Court on April 26. He was accused of "criminal negligence" and "abuse of power resulting in serious damage for the state budget" under Articles 167-168 of the Belarusian Criminal Code. Chigir is charged with financing the construction of a bank office and issuing dubious loan to the BelOST, a private company, while heading the Belagroindustrialbank prior to becoming Prime Minister. Chigir said that the prosecution has failed to produce a single document signed by him to confirm the transfer of $1m for the construction of Belagroindustrialbank's office. He did not deny that his bank did pay $1m to a Canadian company in advance for building the office, but explained that the contract was cancelled by the new head of the bank shortly after he had become the prime minister. Chigir further argued that the loan had been given to the BelOST against a well-prepared business plan and sufficient insurance policies.

He is also accused of giving Piask, a private company [headed by a son of Stanislav Bogdankevich, another prominent opposition leader], an extension in paying customs duties while he was Prime Minister from 1994 to 1996. The prosecution claims that as Prime Minister, Chigir had no valid reasons to defer the collection of custom duties from Piask for vehicles that it had imported. The defense contests that the State Customs Committee's orders prove that it was the Committee that violated regulations by allowing Piask, which is now insolvent, to postpone paying customs duties without checking whether it had necessary bank guarantees. Attorney Gary Pogonyailo, a member of Chigir's defense team, said that investigators had deliberately failed to include regulations of granting customs duty deferments in the case. Chigir told journalists in Minsk that the charges are groundless and politically motivated and that he received confidential information, according to which the authorities had already decided on the verdict. "Even if I get sentenced, they will have to review it sooner or later," he said. Chigir's case has been in court since January 19, 2000. He was arrested in April 1999, and spent eight months in custody before being released pending conviction. (Belapan, April 25)

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE RE-REGISTERS BPF PARTY
The Ministry of Justice has re-registered the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne Party on April 25. According to the information provided by the Party managing board, it has now about 2,000 registered members. Vintsuk Viachorka was recently elected the Party's chairman. The major short-term goal of the BPF Adradzhenne is participation in forthcoming parliamentary elections provided they will be free and fair. The Adradzhenne Public Movement, the most numerous opposition movement in Belarus, was re-registered earlier this year. (Belapan, April 25)

LOCAL OPPOSITION ACTIVIST REPRIMANDED
On April 26, the Leninski District Court in Bobruisk, Minsk region, reprimanded Vyacheslav Svizorov, the director of the local Legal Aid Center, for organizing and actively participating in an unsanctioned March 25 Day of Freedom demonstration held on Victory Square in downtown Bobruisk. Svizorov pleaded not guilty. "We will keep staging unauthorized protests until we are allowed to demonstrate in the center of town, not at a stadium in the outskirts of the town which is inaccessible by public transportation," Svizorov said in court. (BPF press service, April 27)

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IN GRODNO DENIED REGISTRATION
The Grodno City Council has once again refused to register the Reporter independent newspaper, founded by a group of journalists. The city authorities explained their first refusal, citing a lack of proof that the founders were renting their office legally. When the journalists re-applied, the authorities referred to regulations banning individuals from having a legal entity's address. The letters of protest from the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian PEN Center, Russia's Glasnost Foundation, Svobodnye Novosti, Belarusian newspaper, and the Gazeta Wyborczha Polish newspaper, did not prevent the Council from rejecting the third application without any explanations. The journalists intend to appeal the Council's decision in court. (Belapan, April 24)

REGIME COMPOUNDS CHERNOBYL TRAGEDY
Just as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was responsible for Moscow's initial failure to respond properly to the Chernobyl nuclear accident, now the Lukashenko regime is to blame for Minsk's continuing failure to help those still suffering from its consequences. That was the message Stanislav Shushkevich, chairman of the 12th Supreme Soviet, delivered at the April 26 briefing at RFE/RL's Washington office on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident. "Had the Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian authorities followed the recommendations of scientists after the accident," Shushkevich said, "the consequences of the tragedy would have been much smaller." "But both then and now," he noted, "the leaders there are listening to people who know nothing about nuclear accidents and who just seek to exploit this accident in various ways to expand their personal power." (RFE/RL, April 27)

--AT HOME IN BELARUS--

TRADE UNIONS URGE GOVERNMENT TO STOP POVERTY
On April 20, the Belarusian Federation of Trade Unions adopted a resolution urging the government to stop the decline in living standards of the population. "The living conditions are deplorable because of the stagnant economy," reads the resolution. The resolution demands that the government repay all wage arrears by mid- May 2000, bring the purchasing power of wages up to the 1990 level, exempt low-income groups from paying income taxes, and take decisive steps to improve the financial and economic climate in the country. (Belapan, April 21)

PATRIOTIC YOUTH LEAGUE HOLDS CONGRESS IN MINSK
On April 25, the pro-Lukashenko Belarusian Patriotic Youth League organized along the lines of the Soviet Komsomol and popularly referred to as "Lukamol," held its 2nd National Congress in Minsk. The delegates arrived from all regions of the country to sum up the results of the organization's three years of existence. Thirty-nine foreign delegations have arrived to take part in the forum. They include representatives of youth organizations of Armenia, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia. The Youth League has now more than 180 thousand members who are engaged in work dealing with youth employment, leisure, and active participation in the country's political life. Speaking at the Congress, Vsevolod Yanchevsky, leader of the Youth League, said that "the Youth League will always live under the slogan 'Youth with a Young President'." A resolution in support of Lukashenko and his policy on unification with Russia was adopted. (Itar-Tass, April 25)

PARLIAMENT RATIFIES NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY
On April 26, the Belarusian Parliament ratified the international Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, six days after its union counterparts in Russia made the same move, Itar-Tass reported. The parliamentarians unanimously voted to ratify the treaty, making Belarus the 32nd of the 44 states whose ratification is required for the ban's enforcement. The CTBT bans all forms of nuclear testing. (Itar-Tass, April 26)

--BROTHER SLAVS--

MOSCOW HOSTS CONGRESS OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
The first congress of the Union Public Chamber, the international union of public organizations, was held in the Kremlin on April 26. The Union Public Chamber unites the different public organizations of Russia and Belarus. The main task of this organization is to promote integration processes between the two states in order to ensure the prompt establishment of a single union state. A number of public organizations from Ukraine, Armenia and Yugoslavia have applied for membership in the Union Public Chamber. The Congress was attended by members from over 100 public and political organizations, including a large group of deputies from the Russian State Duma and the Federation Council. The Congress adopted a statement condemning "the U.S. and NATO interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Yugoslavia." "The peacekeeping mission forced upon Yugoslavia has failed, and the growing tension is fraught with dangerous consequences for other Balkan countries as well," reads the statement said. The delegates to the congress demanded that "component bodies of Yugoslavia be given the right to restore order in their own home." (Itar-Tass, April 26)

AN UMBRELLA FOR LUKASHENKO
The Russian new military doctrine identifies Moscow's major military ally - Belarus, the Vremya Novostei Russian newspaper wrote on April 24. Russia is now implementing a common defense policy with Belarus, coordinating with it activities in the sphere of military construction, development of the armed forces, the use of military infrastructure, and taking other measures necessary to maintain the defense capacity of the Union. In other words, Lukashenko's warnings to all enemies are taking on tangible form. Moscow officially indicates who it will defend in case of a war "by all available means." Minsk's place under the Russian nuclear umbrella is now officially booked. The Military Doctrine 2000 also guarantees a place under the Russian umbrella to other post-Soviet countries, if they establish special relations with Moscow. Meanwhile, on April 21, President Vladimir Putin said that he did not favor the creation of a joint Russian-Belarusian armed forces, Itar-Tass reported. (Itar-Tass, April 21 - Vremya Novostei, April 24)

--CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS-
May 14- opposition to mark the anniversary of a 1995 referendum
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The 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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