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Belarus Updates, 2000
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BELARUS UPDATE

Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 3, No. 32 August 2000

IN THIS ISSUE:

- COE Decides not to Send Electoral Observers to Belarus
- Lukashenko Doesn't Care About International Recognition of Parliamentary Election
- 13th Supreme Soviet Keeps Working
- Zavadsky's Disappearance Still Mystery
- Opposition Celebrates "Old" Independence Day
- All-Belarusian Congress Held In Minsk
- Government Didn't Keep its Promises to UN
- Priest Harassed By Police In Grodno Region

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-- COUNCIL OF EUROPE URGED TO IGNORE ELECTION IN BELARUS
Belapan reported that from July 31 to August 4, a delegation from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly visited Belarus to evaluate the current political situation in the country, particularly, the progress made to put in place conditions necessary for holding democratic parliamentary elections. The delegation included Terry Davis, Chair of the Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, Wolfgang Behrendt, Political Affairs Committee Rapporteur on Belarus, and Cyril Svaboda, Human Rights and Legal Affairs Committee Rapporteur. The delegation met with representatives of democratic opposition, governmental officials, media, trade unions, and NGOs. On August 4, Terry Davis told a news conference that his committee would recommend not to send observers to monitor this fall parliamentary election in Belarus. Davis said he did not believe the planned election would be either free or fair. "We are very, very disappointed by the apparent lack of progress in creating adequate conditions necessary for holding free and fair elections in Belarus. The consequence of our disappointment is that we will not recommend to the Council of Europe to send its observers to the elections," he said. Davis added that a final decision whether to send observers would be taken on August 31 at a joint meeting of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union. "In the next 27 days we will watch Belarus really closely. We still want to see Belarus in the family of European countries," Davis said, "we are deeply concerned by reports of human rights violations and continued persecution and harassment for political reasons, including sentences and imprisonment of potential opposition candidates." (Belapan, August 4)

LUKASHENKO: WEST'S POSITION WON'T HAMPER POLLS
On July 28, Alexander Lukashenko said he would push ahead with the October 15 parliamentary election regardless of whether the West sent observers. Lukashenko said that any decisions concerning observers were irrelevant to his country. "If Europe sends its observers - thanks. If not, the election will take place anyway," Belarusian State Television broadcast Lukashenko telling his ministers and aides. "We are holding the election not for the West but for ourselves," the Belarusian leader added. (Belapan, July 29)

REGIME SEEKS GOOD RELATIONS WITH WEST
On August 3, at a meeting with a delegation from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Anatoly Malofeev, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly, said that Belarus is ready to hold open, free, and democratic parliamentary election this fall, reported Itar-Tass. Malofeev told the delegation that the Belarusian authorities are "sincerely interested in recognition by the European community of the elections which will be held in line with the Belarusian constitution." "We all, including the president, are striving to establish good relations with the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE," he added. Vladimir Yermoshin, Belarusian Prime Minister, said that the government will do everything for the parliamentary election to take place on a democratic basis and to be recognized by the international community. (Itar-Tass, August 2)

LUKASHENKO CALLS FOR CONGRESS OF SOVIETS
Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, an independent newspaper, reported on August 4 that Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree to convene a congress of soviets (local legislative councils) on September 29. The forum, which is expected to be attended by 2,500 people, is to provide "the further democratization" of the country and discuss the enhancement of the role of soviets in society. Lukashenko promised a broad coverage of the congress in the state media, including live radio and television broadcasts. Anatoly Malofeev, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly, and Mikhail Myasnikovich, chief of the Lukashenko administration, will co-chair a 25-member organizing committee. In an interview to Sovetskaya Belarusiya, a state-owned daily, Vasily Shynkarev, a high-rank official from the Presidential Administration, said that that the congress is needed to "secure nationwide support for the parliamentary election, to encourage sociopolitical activity by citizens, to implement the ideas of a socially-orientated state, and to deal with important state problems in the spirit of civil concord." The Belarusian Helsinki Committee called the congress an "apparent and cynical interference" in the parliamentary election campaign. "The congress's real aim is to promote those candidates for the House of Representatives whom the authorities want to see elected on October 15," the BHC said in a statement. (Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, BHC, August 4)

DISBANDED PARLIAMENT TO CONTINUE ITS WORK
On August 1, at a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Semyon Sharetsky, speaker of the Belarusian 13th Supreme Soviet illegally disbanded by Alexander Lukashenko in 1996, and opposition-appointed Acting President of Belarus, said that the 13th Supreme Soviet would continue its struggle with illegal regime of Lukashenko. "Under the Belarusian constitution, a Supreme Soviet stops working only if replaced by a democratically elected new parliament," Sharetsky said. Parliamentary election scheduled by illegal dictator for October 15 are not legitimate." In response to a question whether the opposition will call on the population to boycott the vote, Sharetsky said that Belarusians should decide themselves whether they will participate in the farce or not. (Interfax, August 1)

RADIO LINKS KGB TO DISAPPEARANCE OF RUSSIAN CAMERAMAN
Ekho Moskvy, Russia's radio station, reported on July 30 that there have been no reports so far on the fate of Dmitry Zavadsky, a Belarusian cameraman for ORT, Russia's television station, who has been missing since July 7, when he failed to appear as scheduled at the Minsk International Airport, about 24 miles from the city (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 28-31). Investigators are interrogating all people who had any, even accidental, contacts with Zavadsky before his disappearance. In unofficial conversations the investigators say that all traces lead to the Belarusian security services, particularly to Victor Sheiman, secretary of the Belarusian State Security Council, and Vladimir Naumov, chief of the Lukashenko administration's security service. (Ekho Moskvy, July 30)

OPPOSITION CELEBRATES UNOFFICIAL INDEPENDENCE DAY
On July 27, opposition activists in many Belarusian regions marked the 10th anniversary of the Declaration of Sovereignty adopted by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus in 1990, reported BPF Adradzhenne Press service. [Belarus used to celebrate its independence on July 27 but after the May 1996 referendum staged by Lukashenko, who discourages nationalism and favors strong ties with Russia, the date was changed to July 3, the day when Soviet troops liberated Minsk from the Nazis in 1944.- Ed.]. A group of activists of Malady Front, a youth NGO, marched through the downtown Minsk, making stops near public buildings for picketing. In the evening, a rock concert was organized at the outskirts of Minsk. In Mogilev, about one hundred marched through the city center, waving white-red-white flags. [The May 1996 referendum also resulted in the introduction of Soviet-style state symbols to replace the historic emblems, and the white-red-white flag became a symbol of opposition to the Lukashenko government and a symbol of street protests in the country.-Ed.]. No incidents with the police were reported. Opposition activists in Grodno commemorated the 10th anniversary of Belarus's declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union by several small demonstrations, a festive rally, and a concert. Opposition pickets were held in Novopolotsk, Vitebsk Region, Zaslavl, Minsk Region, Volkovysk, Voronovo, Grodno Region and Logoysk, Minsk Region. The authorities prohibited demonstrations in Brest, Baranavichy, Bereza, and Pinsk, Brest Region, Maryina Gorka, Molodechno, Minsk Region, and Buda-Koshelev, Gomel Region. The Baranavichy City Council motivated its refusal to permit a demonstration organized by the local branch of the BPF Adradzhenne by saying that it has already granted the permission to stage similar demonstration to the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front and suggested that the applicants should take part in the already permitted picket.

In Gomel, an unauthorized picket, organized by the local branch of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, was held near the building of the Gomel Regional Council. The picketers held placards saying "Congratulations with Independence Day" and "Stop fascism in Belarus." BSDP activists Ekaterina Gorovaya and Igor Romanov were detained by the police. During the detention, Romanov was thrown on the ground with his face down and handcuffed. On July 31, the activists stood trial and were found guilty of allegedly "organizing and actively participating in mass actions which violated public order," under Art. 168, para 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. Gorovaya was sentenced to five days and Romanov to seven days of administrative arrest.

In Molodechno, several people were detained by police for an attempt to hold a rally in a town's park. Ales Kapucki, chair of the local branch of the BPF Adradzhenne, and Syarhey Boskin, activist of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, were taken to the nearest police station, but were released soon. Yauhen Luhouski, who was arrested for holding a self-made white-red-white flag, was charged with using unregistered symbols. (BPF Press service, July 28, Viasna Human Rights Center, August 1)

ALL-BELARUSIAN CONGRESS HELD IN MINSK
Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported that on July 29, the All-Belarusian Congress held its first session in Minsk. About 1,500 delegates from all six Belarusian Regions and about 100 international guests attended the gathering. Czech President Vaclav Havel sent a welcoming address to the forum participants. Heads of the French, Polish, Ukrainian, and German diplomatic missions to Belarus attended the meeting, while the Russian Embassy in Minsk declined the invitation, reported Belapan. Before the meeting, the Belarusian Ministry of Justice warned political parties and organizations in opposition to the regime that resolutions of the Congress will not have any legal power. (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 26). Stanislav Shushkevich, former Chair of the Supreme Soviet, independent Belarus's first Head of State, said in his speech that the preservation of Belarusian independence, the salvation of the state sovereignty, the return to democracy and Belarus's re-entry into the European Home are the necessary conditions precedent for creating normal lifestyle for the 10 million Belarusians and for the security of Belarus's neighbors and Europe as a whole. "As long as Belarus remains under authoritarian rule of dubious legitimacy, the country will have difficulty modernizing its political and economic institutions. Lukashenko tries through establishing the union with Russia to solve difficult economic problems that he had created himself," said Mikhail Chigir, former Belarusian Prime Minister. The delegates unanimously passed the Act of Independence of the Republic of Belarus. "The breakdown of democracy has made a voluntary decision by the Belarusian people impossible; the Lukashenko regime long ago lost its democratic legitimacy and lacks the authority to commit Belarus to something that could diminish the country's sovereignty and independence," said the delegates in the document. "All steps taken by the Belarusian authorities aimed at limiting the republic's sovereignty must be recognized as illegal and criminal." The delegates regard the union as a community of two unequal partners into which Belarus was "dragged to play the role of Russia's defense shield as Moscow tries to counter NATO's expansion eastward." "We shall not allow our independence to be eliminated, our sovereignty to be restricted, and our country to be destroyed. Only independence and state sovereignty open the way for our country to the European and world democratic communities," said the delegates. The Congress called on all Belarusian citizens and all fellow compatriots abroad to unite around the ideas of this Act of Independence and to defend the Belarusian sovereignty. The delegates urged the parliaments and governments of democratic states, international organizations, and the world community at large to ensure the sovereignty of Belarus. (Nasha Svaboda, July 31- Belapan, July 29)

UN: BELARUS ESTABLISHED MIXED HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
On August 2, at the 52nd session of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, David Weissbrodt, a Subcommission Expert, said that Belarus had a mixed human rights record. Since a statement on Belarus was adopted by the Subcommission last year, the Belarusian government has made some progress to fulfil its promises. For example, the authorities invited the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers to visit the country in June. Yet, other promises mentioned in the statement have not materialized, including presentation of a progress report which the Government had agreed to submit to the Subcommission. In response, Victor Golovanov, Belarus's representative to the UN, said that the country had taken a series of steps since last year's session of the Subcommission to enhance its human-rights situation. He told the Subcommission that the Belarusian government had provided all necessary assistance to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and had granted the Rapporteur full freedom of action. He said that on July 20, 2000, Belarus lifted its reservation to Article 20 of the Convention against Torture. In his words, a dialogue with the Council of Europe had led to progress in the planning of free and fair parliamentary elections for October; the electoral code of the country had been termed highly effective for the holding of free and fair elections. Golovanov said that more than 100 political parties, that have been registered with the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, "represent the whole spectrum of political views of the country's population." He told the Subcommission that the Belarusian authorities continue to carry out a program "to provide effective protection for the rights and freedoms of citizens during the transition to the forming of a full civil society in the country." (UN, August 2)

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS PROTEST AGAINST SENTENCING OF THEIR LEADER
The Executive Committee of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party has issued a statement objecting to the repression against its chair Nikolai Statkevich, reported the Belarusian Association of Journalists. [On June 19, Statkevich was found guilty of allegedly "organizing and participating in mass actions violating public order" during the October 17, 1999, Freedom March in Minsk and the July 27, 1999, opposition protest in Minsk and sentenced to a two-year suspended term under Art. 168, para 3, of the Belarusian Criminal Code (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 26)]. The BSDP believes that the criminal case against Statkevich was initiated for purely political reasons. "The authorities' actions leave no doubt that the regime still relies on brutal force and suppression of fundamental political and civil freedoms. Under these circumstances, any negotiations with Lukashenko on settling the present political impasse make no sense and are counterproductive," reads the statement. The BSDP appealed to democratic parties, the governments of European countries, and international organizations for assistance in the campaign for supporting Nikolai Statkevich and all Belarusian political prisoners. (BAJ, August 1)

...AND ALLOWS ITS MEMBERS TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENT THIS FALL
Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, an independent newspaper, reported on August 4 that the Belarusian Social Democratic Party adopted a resolution allowing all its members, who was nominated by workers' collectives or other groups, to run for parliament individually "because it will not contradict the Party's by-laws." The BSDP along with other opposition parties, is going to boycott the fall parliamentary election unless Lukashenko meets their conditions for a fair contest. "The opposition enjoys only limited access to the media, the parliament has no 'meaningful functions,' and opposition leaders have been punished for organizing protests against Lukashenko, the BSDP said in the statement. The BSDP accused the Belarusian authorities of flagrantly violating the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's resolution on Belarus adopted in St. Petersburg last year and Paragraph 22 of the Istanbul Summit Declaration. The Party called on the international community not to send observers to the October 15 election, declare it undemocratic, and to consider the future Belarusian parliament illegitimate. (Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, August 4)

POLISH NGO HELPS ITS BELARUSIAN COUNTERPARTS
On July 31, in Warsaw, Jan Olszewski, chair of the Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland, and Zyanon Paznyak, chair of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, signed a declaration of cooperation between two public organizations. The agreement stipulates exchange of information about the political situation in two countries, organization of joint campaigns in support of democracy, and technical assistance to democratic and independence movement in Belarus and other republics of the former Soviet Union. (BBC, August 1)

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS- ORTHODOX PRIEST HARASSED BY POLICE IN GRODNO REGION
Yan Spasyuk, a priest of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (BAOC), from the village of Pogranichny, Berestavitsky District, Grodno Region, who sent a statement to the participants of the OSCE Istanbul Summit, drawing their attention to numerous violations of religious freedom in Belarus (See Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 47), continues to face harassment at the hands of the local authorities, reported BBC. On July 28, three policemen arrested the father, took his passport, and wanted to take him to Berestavitsa. Handcuffed, the priest managed to escape and went for help to the Polish Consulate in Grodno. Consul-General Sylvester Szostek refused to assist the priest on the pretext that Spasyuk is not a Polish citizen. After that, Spasyuk turned for help to local journalists, who did not allow the police to arrest the father. He told a news conference that on July 10, two KGB officers visited his home and proposed that he give up reviving of the BAOC in Belarus and instead "go to Minsk and work at the Moscow Patriarchy's foreign department." After the priest refused, they started blackmailing him with alleged financial irregularities. Spasyuk's lawyer inquired the Grodno Internal Affairs Directorate about his client's passport. In response, Spasyuk was told to come and pick it up himself. The priest has telephoned the US embassy in Minsk and the OSCE AMG in Belarus. Unlike many other national Autocephalous Orthodox churches, the Belarusian Autocephalous Church is decentralized, has no common head or distinct hierarchy, with parishes existing on their own. (BBC, August 2)
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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 59th 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) 661-0480 or fax (212) 684-1696 or visit our web site at www.ilhr.org

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