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Belarus Updates, 2000
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BELARUS UPDATE

Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 3, No. 38 September 2000

IN THIS ISSUE:
-U.S. Official: Harassment of Opposition Continues
- Authorities Assail Boycott Campaign
- 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy Refused Registration
- Opposition Criticizes OSCE
- U.S. Praises ODIHR
- Pro-Lukashenko Deputies Call for Alliance Against Opposition
- Central Electoral Commission Goes Democratic
- Authorities Bans Gay Festival and Independent Press Celebration
- Ministry of Justice Issues Warnings to UCP and Student Association

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-- U.S. OFFICIAL: HARASSMENT OF OPPOSITION CONTINUES IN BELARUS
On September 7, Andrew W. Steinfeld, U.S. Counselor to the OSCE, told the Permanent Council of the OSCE in Vienna that "harassment of the opposition continues in Belarus." Steinfeld's statement came in response to the charges made by Sergei Martynov, Belarusian deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, that David Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE, had misrepresented the situation in Belarus. In his August 31 statement to the Council, Amb. Johnson called jailed opposition figures in Belarus "political prisoners" (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 36). In support of the Amb. Johnson statement, Counselor Steinfeld cited a number of hard facts from the cases of Andrei Klimov and Vladimir Koudinov, deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet, and Vasily Leonov, a former Minister of Agriculture convicted of accepting bribes -- all of which are in jail. Following is the text of Steinfeld's statement:

"During a discussion on upcoming elections in Belarus, Mr. Martynov, Belarusian deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, raised a question regarding the accuracy of the facts Amb. Johnson had presented. The U.S. delegation would like to return to this discussion to ensure there are no misunderstandings. I would like to restate the following facts"

"First, opposition figures Klimov, Koudinov, and Leonov are in jail. Andrei Klimov and Vladimir Koudinov are both 13th Supreme Soviet Deputies and outspoken opponents of Lukashenko. Klimov was accused of an alleged financial malfeasance and sentenced to six years; his conviction was upheld by an appellate court on August 22. He was severely beaten in prison last December and then denied proper medical treatment. Koudinov was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment; his sentence was reduced last January to one year. Vasily Leonov, a former Minister of Agriculture, was arrested in late 1997, finally convicted on January 14, 2000 of accepting in-kind bribes of tomatoes, cucumbers, and fish, after having most charges against him dropped, and suffering two heart attacks in pre-trial detention."

"Second, a number of trials are [in effect] ongoing. While the Belarusian Supreme Court overturned the sentences of Messrs. Chigir, Statkevich, and Shchukin in August 2000, their cases have not been dismissed but remanded. Although they are able to run for this fall parliamentary election, the authority can schedule second trials at any time. In addition, Mrs. Chigir is currently 'under investigation.' Prosecutors have suggested she may face up to two years imprisonment if convicted."

"Third, as we noted last week, a number of prominent people have disappeared in Belarus. Yuri Zakharenko, former Minister of Interior, disappeared on his way home after calling his family on May 7, 1999. Witnesses maintain that he was pushed into a car by plainclothes police officers. The government only opened an investigation in September 1999 and has allegedly harassed his family ever since. Victor Gonchar, a 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy, and his acquaintance Anatoly Krasovsky disappeared on September 16, 1999, following a televised call by Lukashenko to crackdown on 'opposition scum.' Only broken glass and blood was found on the site of their disappearance. Dimitry Zavadsky, a cameraman for ORT-TV in Moscow, disappeared in Minsk on July 7, 2000, while waiting to meet a colleague arriving from Russia. The government has blamed the opposition. None of these people have come back and there is no indication that the Government of Belarus has taken serious steps to investigate their disappearances."

"Finally, the harassment of the opposition continues. Valery Shchukin was found guilty of libel and fined on September 1, 2000. On September 1-2, 2000, the police detained members of the Conservative Christian Party for collecting signatures on a petition defending the Belarusian independence. On September 4, 2000, the police arrested Alexander Kondukov, a university student, for passing out election boycott leaflets. On September 5, 2000, the authorities raided the Orsha office of the Belarusian Language Society." (USIA, September 8)

LUKASHENKO: OPPOSITION'S VICTORY WILL COST US OUR LIVES
On September 13, speaking live on the Belarusian TV, Lukashenko said that to "give up power to them [opposition leaders] means that after they have won the elections, they will have to pay with the fate of our children and our country." "They could be brought to power either by the West or the East. But they will have to pay for this with our oil refineries, pipelines, aircrafts, helicopters, and with our lives," elaborated Lukashenko. "I cannot allow this to happen," the Belarusian leader firmly promised to his compatriots.

AUTHORITIES THREATEN IMPRISONMENT OVER ELECTION BOYCOTT
On September 11, Mikhail Sukhinin, Head of the Department of Registration of Public Organizations at the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, told Reuters that any calls to boycott the October 15 parliamentary election can be regarded as an attempt to "hinder the right to vote guaranteed by the Belarusian constitution." "The law enforcement bodies, if they want, may qualify this as a criminal act," Sukhinin added. His aide said that under law such actions are punishable by up to two years in jail. The opposition responded that the authorities aim to intimidate the population by such statements. "We are confident that we are acting according to the law," Victor Ivashkevich, vice-president of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions and one of the organizers of the boycott campaign, told the news agency. Opposition activists visit apartments and houses, asking citizens to boycott the vote and distributing leaflets "No to Farce!" (Reuters, September 11)

SPECIAL ISSUE OF TRADE UNION NEWSPAPER CONFISCATED BY POLICE
Viasna Human Rights Center reported that on September 13, Minsk police raided the Magic, a private publishing house, without a warrant, confiscating 112,000 copies of a special issue of Rabochy (Worker), a newspaper of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, devoted to the opposition-staged boycott campaign of the October 15 election,. Victor Ivashkevich, Rabochy's editor-in-chief, Dmitry Kostukevich, Rabochy's general counsel, Yury Budko, Magic's general director, and Stepan Zhernosek, executive director of the publishing house, were detained and taken to the Pervomaisky District Department of Internal Affairs. Zhernosek was soon released. Ivashkevich, Kostukevich, and Budko were charged with "violation of the election legislation" under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, and taken to the Pervomaisky District Court. The activists dismissed the charges as groundless, saying that the Belarusian Electoral Code does not prohibit boycotting the election, and demanded a lawyer. The Judge postponed the hearing until September 18. (Viasna, September 13)

ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR DISTRIBUTING OPPOSITION LEAFLETS
The Belarusian Electoral Code currently in force does not prohibit campaigning for an election boycott (such appeals are explicitly prohibited only on the day of election). But the Belarusian authorities have found it easy to violate the law. Belapan reported on September 4 that Alexander Kondukov, a student of the Belarusian State University, was fined for passing out election boycott leaflets.

On September 8, opposition activists Alexsey Androsov and Gennady Prikhodko were detained by the police as they were placing "Boycott-2000" leaflets in the mailboxes of an apartment building, reported Viasna 96 Human Rights Center. The activists were brought to the nearest police station and accused of violating the rules of public sanitation under Art. 143, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code. A police report was filed on them.

On September 11, Igor Mahanek, a minor, was detained while pasting boycott leaflets to the wall of an apartment building. The youth was taken to the Zavodsky police station where he was forced to write a statement explaining his actions.

On the same day, Zoya Charopka was detained in Yanka Kupala park in Minsk, while collecting signatures required by law to initiate a nationwide referendum in support of the four requirements established by the OSCE for a free and democratic vote in Belarus. The opposition activist was charged with an administrative offense, taken to the Tsentralny police station, and released after two hours.

On September 14, Alexander Karizna, a pensioner who was at one time a victim of Stalin's repression, was detained while putting a special issue of Rabochy into the mail boxes of residents of the Vostok (East), residential area in Minsk, reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. He was attacked by three policemen, forced into their car and taken to the Pervomaisky District Department of Internal Affairs where he spent about half an hour.
On September 2-3, police detained about ten teenage boys for passing out election boycott leaflets. They were accused of violating the rules of public sanitation, brought to the police station, and released after two hours. The law-enforcers threatened the youth that they would be expelled from their schools and forced them to write in an explanatory note that they were allegedly paid for distributing the leaflets. (Belapan, Viasna 96, BPF, September 4-14)

13TH SUPREME SOVIET DEPUTY REFUSED REGISTRATION
Belapan reported on September 12 that Valery Shchukin, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and the editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Volya, an opposition newspaper, was refused registration by the Polotsk, Vitebsk Region, local electoral commission No. 28 on the pretext that 190 signatures out of 1,000, collected by the opposition leader in his support, are invalid and that he failed to submit a tax return. On August 11, the deputy was refused registration by the same commission on the grounds that the 13th Supreme Soviet, which the opposition leader indicated as his place of work, does not exist. Shchukin insists, however, that he had provided the electoral commission with a document indicating his income and intends to appeal to the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda. On June 19, he and Nikolai Statkevich, chair of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, were found guilty of "organizing and actively participating in mass actions which violated public order," during the October 17, 1999, Freedom March in Minsk (See Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 42). The Minsk City Court sentenced Statkevich to a two-year suspended term and Shchukin to one year under Art. 168, para 3, of the Belarusian Criminal Code. On August 25, the Belarusian Supreme Court heard an appeal filed by the opposition leaders and remanded the case to the Minsk City Court for retrial by a different judge (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 36). (Belapan, September 12)

AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO PROVIDE OPPOSITION WITH FACILITIES
On September 9, Anatoly Lebedko, chair of the United Civic Party, met with about 100 residents of Budo-Koshelevo, small town in Gomel Region, reported Charter 97. The local stadium, where the meeting took place, was cordoned off by the local police, which was reinforced by its Gomel colleagues. Despite the fact that the meeting was authorized by the Budo-Koshelevo City Council, the residents were counseled not to attend the gathering. No incidents with the police were reported. Same day, in Novopolotsk, Vitebsk Region, local branch of the BPF Adradzhenne held a seminar on election monitoring, reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. Despite the preliminary agreement, the city authorities refused to provide the organizers with facilities. The Baranavichy city authorities refused to provide the facilities for a meeting of leaders of the local branch of the BPF Adradzhenne with local voters scheduled for September 20, reported Viasna 96 Human Rights Center. (Viasna 96, Charter 97, BPF, September 8-10)

POLITICAL CRISIS CAN NOT BE OVERCOME THROUGH ELECTORAL FARCE
On September 13, the Consultative Council of the Belarusian Opposition Political Parties, which includes the leaders of the opposition as well as human rights groups, expressed its disagreement with the conclusions made by the third Technical Conference on Belarus, that "some progress has been made relating to the organization of democratic election. [The Technical Conference is the group of European institutions monitoring Belarus including the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the European Union--Ed.] Vintsuk Viachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, and current chair of the Consultative Council (the chair rotates each month) condemned the Lukashenko regime for its failure to meet even minimal international conditions for the upcoming election and improve the country's poor human rights record, to ensure a sufficient degree of transparency of the election process, to provide a fair access of political parties to the state-controlled media, to establish actual separation of powers, and to observe a "period of peace" in the run-up to the elections, meaning the lifting of restrictions against opposition figures and putting an end to harassment and persecution for political reasons. "The new wave of repression against opposition activists who participate in the boycott campaign and collect signatures to initiate a nationwide referendum in support of the four requirements established by the OSCE for a free and democratic vote in Belarus is a part of the longstanding pattern of Lukashenko's assault on democratic institutions and his campaign to stifle dissent in the country," the opposition said in the statement. "The constitutional controversy that arose in November 1996 can not be overcome through an electoral farce." The Belarusian opposition leaders expressed their hope that the limited technical assessment mission to be sent by OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will properly respond to the human rights violations in the country and will make an objective assessment of the fairness of the election process. (BPF Adradzhenne, September 14)

PAZNYAK: OSCE DECISION AGGRAVATED SITUATION IN BELARUS
On September 12, the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP BPF), led by Zyanon Paznyak, issued a statement condemning the decision adopted by the third Technical Conference on Belarus, held on August 31 in Vienna, to send a limited technical assessment mission to the country to monitor this fall's parliamentary election campaign (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 36). "The controversial final document adopted by the OSCE's technical conference in Vienna has worsened the state of political affairs in Belarus," wrote the party leadership in the statement. "The Lukashenko regime has perceived the document as an approval given by the OSCE to keep up its antidemocratic politics." The CCP BPF called on compatriots not to participate in any elections organized by Lukashenko and pledged support to the Act of Independence of the Republic of Belarus adopted on July 29 by the All-Belarusian Congress (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 32). (Belapan, September 12)

OSCE/ODIHR TO ASSESS CONDUCT OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN BELARUS
On September 14, the OSCE 's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) dispatched a Technical Assessment Mission to Belarus. A small team of election experts will evaluate conditions for next month's parliamentary elections with respect to the international election standards to which Belarus has committed. "This is not an election observation mission," said Elisabeth Rasmusson, head of the assessment team. "The Belarusian authorities have not made enough progress in the preparation for democratic elections to justify an observation mission," she added, referring to the decision of the third Technical Conference on Belarus, held on August 31 in Vienna (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 36). "The recent changes to the electoral framework, however, did justify the deployment of a limited technical assessment mission," said Rasmusson. Concentrating on the pre-election period, the technical assessment team will evaluate the election administration, the election campaign, and the media treatment of the election. "We will also pay close attention to the political and human rights situation in the run-up to the elections, with particular focus on fundamental freedoms such as freedom of association and freedom of expression," said Rasmusson. The technical assessment mission will work in close co-operation with the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus as well as with the Parliamentary Troika consisting of representatives of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, which will continue its consultative and monitoring functions during the parliamentary elections. (OSCE, September 15)

U.S. AMBASSADOR PRAISES OSCE HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE FOR ELECTIONS WORK
On September 7, David Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE, called the election observations and analysis of the ODIHR a "key to the effectiveness of the OSCE and to the public perception of what we attempt to do." Amb. Johnson's remarks came in a statement to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna in response to a report on the OSCE/ODIHR's scheduled activities in the upcoming months. The schedule includes observations or reports in Central Asia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Belarus. Following is a pertaining to Belarus excerpt from the Amb. Johnson's statement: "We agree with Amb. Stoudmann regarding the conclusions drawn by the third Technical Conference on the Elections in Belarus. The four criteria the international community established have not been met. Therefore, international observation is not warranted. A limited technical assessment, as described by Amb. Stoudmann, should be sufficient to document whatever progress, or lack thereof, is made by the Belarusian government. But that technical assessment should not be construed as an election observation. We also strongly agree with Amb. Stoudmann that the international community should speak with one voice in making its assessment of that election. ODIHR technical conclusions should play the leading role in that assessment." (USIA, September 8)

PRO-LUKASHENKO DEPUTIES CALL FOR ALLIANCE AGAINST OPPOSITION
On September 12, eleven deputies of the House of Representatives, lower chamber of the Lukashenko hand-picked Belarusian parliament, published a statement in Sovetskaya Belarusiya and Respublika, state-controlled dailies, pledging their loyalty to Alexander Lukashenko and accusing the opposition of illegal attempts to seize power. The deputies praised the Belarusian leader for "keeping the country stable and controllable under most difficult circumstances." They also supported the idea to create a "strong military equipped with modern weapons" and to maintain "well prepared law enforcement agencies." The pro-Lukashenko deputies called on the government to give a "proper response to the threat of NATO's expansion" and urged voters to make the right choice at the forthcoming election. The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has demanded from the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda to take action against the deputies, who are seeking re-election to the parliament, for violating electoral regulations. "The statement should be regarded as the deputies election platform. The use of the state media in the electoral campaign prior to the candidate registration deadline violates the principle of equal media access," wrote the BHC in a petition. (Sovetskaya Belarusiya, BHC, September 12-13)

CENTRAL COMMISSION REGULATES MEDIA COVERAGE OF ELECTION
Belapan reported on September 13 that the Belarusian Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda has made public the regulations concerning a media coverage of the forthcoming parliamentary election campaign. In accordance with the regulations, government-financed media as well as the media with a governmental agency among the founders [required for registration--Ed] must offer equal opportunities for all candidates to share their views with the population. The candidates will have the right to a free five-minute appearance on the Belarusian state TV and a free five-minute radio advertisement. Television broadcasts of candidates will take place every day from 6 to 7 p.m. and radio broadcasts from 5 to 6 p.m. The Commission requires private media to ensure free and equal access for all parliamentary candidates. If a private newspaper publishes a statement of a candidate or an interview with him, all the other candidates running in the district should be given the same opportunity. (Belapan, September 13)

...AND LIFTS RESTRICTIONS ON PARTIES' NOMINEES
Belapan reported on September 12 that the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda has permitted local electoral commissions to register candidates from political parties regardless of whether the parties have branches on the territory of a given constituency. Previously, each party's branch was allowed to nominate only one candidate, even if the district where it was registered was divided into several constituencies. "This is a state policy to encourage different political parties to participate in the October 15 election," Lydia Yarmoshyna, head of the Commission, told journalists. In late August, the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB) filed a complaint with the Belarusian Prosecutor's Office, protesting against local electoral commissions' refusals to register PCB's candidates under the pretext that the Party does not have a branch registered with the Belarusian Ministry of Justice on the territory of a constituency (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 37). The PCB's leadership, backed up by the Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP), believes that the Belarusian electoral code does not provide for such a restriction. (Belapan, September 12)

CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION PUTS IN ITS FAVORITES
Belapan reported on September 11 that Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree allowing the nine political parties whose candidates have been nominated to the parliamentary elections representation in the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda--but without the right to vote during the Commission's meetings. There is some evidence that the CEC is picking and chosing their preferred members. On September 12, Sergei Kalyakin, chair of the Belarusian Communist Party (BCP), expressed his disappointment that the CEC did not discuss with his party's leadership the person who was put in the Commission as the BCP's representative. "No one discussed with us the candidacy of the BCP's representative in the Central Commission for Elections, therefore, we had assumed that the party had no representative in it," Kalyakin told Belapan. (Belapan, September 12)

LOCAL OPPOSITION ACTIVIST FINED
On September 13, the Mogilev Central District Court accused Anatoly Fedorov, chair of the Mogilev branch of the BPF Adradzhenne [Popular Front], of allegedly "organizing and actively participating in mass actions which violated public order," and fined him 150 minimal wages (about $375) under Art. 168, para 1, of the Belarusian Administrative Code, reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. On September 8, during the celebration of the Day of Belarusian Martial Glory, at which the opposition activist was present as an observer from the local branch of Viasna Human Rights Center, he was arrested, searched, charged with an organizing an unauthorized march and brought to court. Judge Galina Tulyonok based her ruling on the inconsistent and biased testimony of about a dozen of police witnesses, some of whom testified in court without identifying themselves. Fedorov is to appeal the sentence in higher court. (BPF, September 14)

AUTHORITIES CANCEL GAY FESTIVAL
Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported that the Minsk City Council banned a gay and lesbian parade scheduled for September 7-10 in Minsk. On September 7, under pressure from the Lukashenko administration, the owners of the Aquarium night club, where the representatives of the Belarusian sexual minorities and their guests from Sweden, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia were supposed to start the celebration, turned off the electricity. All present were ordered to leave the premises. Outside the club they were met by heavy armed police. The Minsk authorities cut off telephone service to the sponsor's headquarters and forced the cancellation of some film screenings, and seminars at the European Humanitarian University. Eduard Tarletsky, chair of the Belarusian League for Freedom of Sexual Minorities and the key-organizer of the Belarusian Gay Pride 2000, commented that the officials in Belarus "do not know how to handle us." Tarletsky plans on taking the issue to court. The paper notes that Belarus has not traditionally been a leader in the cause for gay rights. It was only in 1993 that Art. 121, para 2 of the Belarusian criminal code was liberalized, to decriminalize homosexuality for those over the age of 18. The law had previously punishent open homosexuality by a prison sentence of up to five years. Gays and lesbians, however, are still automatically barred from army service. After being called to service, those who claim to be homosexuals must undergo humiliating psychiatric examinations. Recently, at a meeting with the chiefs of the FM radio-stations, Vladimir Zametalin, first deputy chief of the presidential administration, said that homosexuals are "not worth talking about publicly because they do not exist in Belarus." The radio stations were warned that if they support the gay parade, they will be closed. (Nasha Svaboda, September 12)

...AND BAN FESTIVAL OF INDEPENDENT PRESS
Continuing its pattern of suppression of the independent media, the authorities banned what was to be the first-ever Festival of the Belarusian Independent Press, which was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the International Day of Journalists's Solidarity, reported the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The event was to take place on September 8-9.(BAJ, September 4)

LOCAL AUTHORITIES BAN MUSIC CONCERT THEN RELENT AFTER PROTEST
Faithful to its commitment to curtail and belittle the Belarusian language, the Lukashenko regime continues to discriminate against people speaking their native Belarusian language. Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported on September 12 that the Gorky City Council banned the concert of the Zhivy Huk (Live Sound), a music group advertised in the Belarusian language, and ordered local police to swiftly remove the posters with information about the cultural event. But a strong disapproval of the authorities' decision was expressed by the city residents, caused the city authorities to overcome their intense hatred for the mother tongue and lift the ban. (Nasha Svaboda, September 12)

INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION LEADER REFUSED JOB
Mikhail Marinich, former leader of the Independent Trade Union of Steel Workers, who has been out of job for over five months after his term in office had finished, was refused a position with the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAP), Charter 97 reported. In such cases, the labor code mandates employers to provide a former employee with a new job similar to the one previously held before election to the position of a full-time trade union representative. On March 29, Marinich asked the human resources department for another position at the plant, but his application was rejected on the pretext that it was not completed properly (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 17). Claiming a violation of his labor rights, Marinich brought the case to the Zavodsky District Court in Minsk, which ruled in early September that the plant administration had to comply with the current regulations. On September 11, Marinich arrived to the MAP to obtain an identification card which would give him the right to enter the factory grounds to work, where he was informed that the plant's leadership didn't agree with the court's ruling and all of a sudden the same court passed an opposite verdict. (Charter 97, September 12)

OPPOSITION PARTY RECEIVES FIFTH WARNING FROM MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
Charter 97 reported on September 12 that the United Civic Party has received its fifth warning from the Belarusian Ministry of Justice. The first two warnings were issued for using unregistered symbols. The third warning was received for founding a branch at the Azot chemical plant in Grodno. The grounds for the fourth warning were the words "Republic of Belarus" on the UCP letterhead (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 37). The last warning was issued for the party's delayed response to the previous ones. In fact, the UCP leadership sent the answer in time, but, the Ministry demanded the written response not from the party's Political Council, but from its National Committee. According to the UCP's by-laws, however, the National Committee convenes only once in 6 months, and its last session was held only a few weeks ago. Commenting on the situation, Anatoly Lebedko, UCP' chair, said that the pressure exerted on the UCP is the result of the party's active involvement in the boycott campaign. The UCP is going to appeal the warnings in court. (Charter 97, September 12)

STUDENT ASSOCIATION VS. MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
On September 9, the Ministry of Justice issued a second warning to the Belarusian Student Association (BSA), cautioning that the color and size of the emblem on the organization's letter-head does not coincide with the registered one, which constitutes a violation of the Art. 12 of the Belarusian law "On Public Associations", reported Viasna Human Rights Center. In its response, the BSA explained that the organization's registered emblem is made in white and red colors, while the stationery of the organization is traditionally black-and-white, and intends to appeal against the warning in court. (Viasna, September 10)

GOMEL SOCIAL DEMOCRATS DEMAND AFFORDABLE PRICES ON BREAD On September 11, activists of the Gomel branch of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party held an unsanctioned picket in front of one of the local bakeries protesting against the government's decision to raise price on bread. No incidents with the police were reported. (Charter 97, September 13)
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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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