Belarus Project

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Belarus Updates, 2000
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BELARUS UPDATE Edited by Victor Cole Vol. 3, No. 46 November 2000 IN THIS ISSUE: - Communists mark 83rd anniversary of Bolshevik revolution - New crackdown on independent press - ILHR condemns recent attacks on independent press in Belarus - George Soros' Open Society Foundation sues Belarusian authorities - ORT airs documentary about disappearances in Belarus - More trials of opposition activists - Opposition gets ready for 2001 presidential election - Opposition youth organizations demand changes - Students of Art Academy protest in Minsk -Court rejects Polish Catholic priest's deportation appeal - Gaddafi, Lukashenko: leaders of "the same principles" --HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS "THIS IS MY PAST WHICH I SHALL NOT DISCARD" On November 7, a few hundred supporters of various Belarusian Communist parties laid flowers at a statue in Minsk of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, marking the 83rd anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution and lamenting the diminished political clout and loss of Soviet world power, reported Belapan. November 7, once among the most important holidays on the Soviet calendar, still remains an official holiday in Belarus. In Russia, it has been renamed by Boris Yeltsin as the Day of Accord and Reconciliation in Russia. In his address to fellow citizens, Alexander Lukashenko said that the Revolution "gave the Belarusian people the opportunity to obtain statehood, to retain and develop their national culture." The Belarusian leader said that the recently-held parliamentary election and the Congress of Soviets (local legislative councils) again showed the real priorities established by his government: "building a strong democratic state and improving the living standards of the Belarusian nation." Nevertheless, Minsk authorities refused to permit any marches along the central avenue. In an interview to RFE/RL, Elena Skrigan, Secretary of the Belarusian Communist Party, said that with 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line, the regime played down the celebrations, so as not to provoke criticism about its economic policies. [According to official statistics, the poverty threshold is at a minimal level of about $20 a month.- Ed]. In Gomel, several thousand people participated in an official rally organized by regional and city authorities, at which speakers praised the Soviet regime's achievements and warned NATO "to keep its hands off Belarus and its president." (Belapan, RFE/RL, November 7) OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER BURGLARIZED On November 5, three armed raiders burglarized the office of Shag [Step], an independent daily, in Baranovichi, Brest Region, reported Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, an independent newspaper. At 4:00 a.m., a security guard heard some suspicious noise and went outside to investigate. He found a man lying on the ground and begging for help. When the guard knelt by him, two unidentified men with a gun attacked him. They severely beat the guard, tied his hands and taped his mouth and eyes (during the fight, the guard caught a glimpse of one of the attacker's military pants and boots). Then, the robbers rushed into the office and broke the door. They took five computers, two printers, two scanners, and a device connecting the local computer network, thus effectively paralyzing the newspaper. Alexander Voitehovsky, Shag's Executive Director, and Alexander Lobkov, paper's editor-in chief, accused the regime of masterminding the robbery. "To get into Shag's office, the so-called burglars had to pass the headquarters and a warehouse of a few commercial firms that have much more valuable stuff to attract the greedy eyes of an ordinary criminal," they said, adding that to their surprise, the intruders ignored several new printer cartridges worth hundreds of dollars. "In order to muffle the independent press, the regime is not ashamed to break the law," the publishers said. (Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, November 9) INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER RECEIVES WARNING On November 1, Nasha Slova [Our Word], an independent newspaper, owned by the Francisk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society, was warned by the State Press Committee for "dissemination of information on behalf of an unregistered public organization." The Committee's letter, sent to the editorial board on October 25, notes the statement published by the newspaper on September 6, 2000, of the Grodno Association of Democratic Veterans of War and Labor and addressed "to the country's leadership and all people of good will." According to the letter, the newspaper has violated Art 5, part 1, para 9, of the Law On Press and Other Mass Media, since no such organization is registered by the Grodno Regional Council. Oleg Trusov, chair of Belarusian Language Society insists, however, that the Association has since successfully passed registration requirements and thus the paper has grounds to appeal the warning in court. Trusov attributes the warning to the general effort of the authorities to clamp down on advocates of Belarusian culture, who are active part of the opposition forces, thus apparently presenting a threat to the regime. (Viasna Human Rights Center, November 8) MEDIA WARNED FROM COVERING ACTIVITIES OF UNREGISTERED NGOs On November 9, Gennady Vorontsov, Belarusian Minister of Justice, reiterated the warning voiced two weeks earlier by Oleg Bozhelko, Belarusian Prosecutor General, and Mikhail Sukhinin, Head of the Department of Registration of Public Organizations at the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, that in accordance with the Article 5 of Belarus Law On Press and Other Mass Media, any newspaper that publishs information about any organization not registered with the Ministry, will receive a warning. "You should be cautious while dealing with 'nonexistent organizations'," Vorontsov told journalists in Minsk. As an example of such "ghost" organizations, the Minister mentioned Charter 97, the nationwide civic movement, the Coordinating Committee on Observation of Elections, chaired by Mechislav Grib, the Choice-2001 Committee, established by the Belarusian democratic opposition to promote opposition candidates who decide to run for the Belarusian presidency next year, and Civic Initiative, a Grodno-based NGO, promoting consolidation of democratic forces in the Region. (Interfax, November 9) ILHR CONDEMNS RECENT ATTACKS ON INDEPENDENT PRESS IN BELARUS The International League for Human Rights, an international non-governmental human rights organization with consultative status at ECOSOC UN, expressed serious concern about the continuing harassment of independent press in Belarus in view of the recently delivered warning to Nasha Slova [Our Word] and the attack on the office of Shag [Step]. "This and other warnings in the recent past, the re-registration of media outlets, the confiscations of copies of several independent newspapers, and attacks on newspaper offices are clearly an effort to further cripple the NGO sector and independent press in Belarus, particularly related to the country's political life, monitoring and publicizing human rights violations, advocacy on behalf of victims, and, as is the case with Nasha Slova, development of the Belarusian language and culture," wrote Catherine Fitzpatrick, League's Executive Director, in an open letter to Alexander Lukashenko. "We are particularly concerned that these attacks follow repeated assurances by the government of Belarus that they were serious about complying with OSCE standards for elections," she said, adding that "not only access to state media, but removal of unlawful restrictions on independent media outlets are vital for the development of democracy in Belarus." The League urged the Belarusian leader to ensure that these gross violations of the basic principles of freedom of press and association are ended immediately. (ILHR, November 8) OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION VS. LUKASHENKO On November 2, the New York-based Open Society Foundation, established by George Soros, prominent American financier and philanthropist, filed a law suit against the Lukashenko government over its seizure of the Foundation-owned printing equipment in Magic Publishing House, the only remaining private publishing house in Belarus, reported Belapan. [On October 11, the Lukashenko regime froze the bank accounts of the House and five days later, seized Magic's equipment (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 43).- Ed.]. In a statement, the Soros Foundation accused the Lukashenko regime of silencing the beleaguered free press in Belarus and having no respect for private property. "This is a serious warning to any potential investor to stay away," the Foundation said in the statement. It urged the Belarusian authorities to return the equipment to its owner and to cease the harassment of the independent press. (Belapan, November 6) ORT AIRS DOCUMENTARY ABOUT DISAPPEARANCES IN BELARUS Charter 97 reported that on November 8, ORT, Russia's public television station, aired a documentary titled Wild Manhunt produced by Pavel Sheremet, head of special projects at ORT, about Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT cameraman in Belarus, who has been missing since July 7, 2000, (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 28-31); Victor Gonchar and his associate, Anatoly Krasovsky, who vanished on September 16, 1999 (see Belarus Update No. 38-39); and Gen. Yury Zakharenko, former Minister of Interior Affairs, who was last seen on May 7, 1999, (See Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 19). [To date, the Belarusian government has not been able to establish the whereabouts of these individuals and have dismissed their disappearances as a provocation of the democratic opposition, claiming the individuals are in hiding in neighboring countries.- Ed.]. (Charter 97, November 9) HARASSMENT OF OPPOSITION CONTINUES On October 27, Vladimir Shchitko and his son Victor were fined by the Pervomaisky District Court of Bobruisk 10,000 BYB (about $9) each for alleged violation of the election legislation under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. On October 12, the activists were detained by the police while distributing a special issue of Rabochy, a newspaper of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, devoted to the opposition-staged boycott campaign of the parliamentary election and taken to the police station, were a protocol was filed against them. On November 3, the Sovetsky District Court of Minsk acquitted Vladimir Feoktistov, member of the Belarusian Free Trade Union, reported Charter 97. On March 29, 2000, Feoktistov, Nikolai Statkevich, chair of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, and Petr Potapenko, another opposition activist, were fined 44,000 BYB (about $50) each for violating street demonstration regulations, which is punishable under Art. 167 para 1 of the Administrative Offenses Code. All of them were arrested on March 25 during the Day of Freedom demonstration in Minsk (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 13-14). Feoktistov appealed the verdict insisting on re-examination of the inconsistent testimonies given by the police officers. Judge Ruslan Kozodoev found the activist no guilty and dismissed the case. (Charter 97, November 6) On November 9, Mikola Varona, and Petr Anisimov, two activists of the Grodno branch of the BPF Adradzhenne, stood trial for participation in November 1 unauthorized commemoration of the riot of liberation, led by Kastus Kalinovsky, Belarusian national hero, reported BPF press service. That day twenty three activists, including young girls and women, were arrested at the campus of the Grodno State University while laying flowers at the monument to Yanka Kupala, famous Belarusian poet (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 45). During the arrest, Varona, Anisimov, and Alexander Michalchik, elderly BPF member, were thrown on the muddy ground and severely beaten up. Judge Sergei Yaroshevich fined Varona one minimal wage and acquitted Anisimov. (Viasna Human Rights Center, November 6 - BPF press service, November 10) OPPOSITION GETS READY FOR NEXT YEAR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION On November 5, the BPF Adradzhenne held a conference in Minsk to discuss the political situation in the country, the Party's reparations for the next year presidential election, and a mechanism for nominating a single candidate for the Belarusian presidency from the united democratic opposition. According to Vintsuk Viachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, the parties in opposition to the regime will be able to reach consensus on a single nominee, adding that it must be a person "who really wants to see Belarus independent." (BPF Adradzhenne press service, November 6) LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SEEK TO REJOIN COUNCIL OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES On November 3, Sergei Gaidukevich, chair of the Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP), told a Belapan correspondent that his Party is ready to rejoin the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian Democratic Forces. The BLDP left the Council this summer in protest against the democratic opposition's plan to boycott the parliamentary elections. The Council presently unites the BPF Adradzhenne, United Civic Party, Belarusian Social Democratic Party, Viasna Human Rights Center, Charter 97, Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, Belarusian Labor Party, Nadzeya Belarusian Women's Party, and a number of other NGOs. (Belapan, November 3) COURT REJECTS POLISH CATHOLIC PRIEST'S DEPORTATION APPEAL On October 20, the Brest City Court rejected an appeal filed by Father Zbigniew Korolyak, a Roman Catholic priest from Poland, who was arrested in March 2000 by the regime for alleged violations of visa regulations after ministering in Belarus for 10 years and was deported from the country in early June 2000. (Belapan, November 3) INTERNATIONAL DELEGATES SUPPORT BELARUSIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES Delegates of the international conference organized in Vilnius by Democracy in Belarus, a Lithuanian-based NGO, called on the international community to support the united Belarusian opposition in its struggle for democracy, the rule of law, and development of a market economy in the country. "Belarus has become an authoritarian police state where human rights are routinely violated and the freedom of assembly, association and information are blatantly disregarded. Political opponents are either exiled, imprisoned, or made to disappear," wrote the delegates in the appeal. They condemned the politically-motivated arrests of dissidents and urged their immediate release. In an interview to BNS, Saulius Peceliunas, former Lithuanian deputy and the head of parliamentary liaison with the disbanded Belarusian 13th Supreme Soviet, said that the conference was organized to raise the international profile of this issue and to place pressure on the Belarusian government to hold free and fair presidential elections in 2001. (Baltic News Service, November 7) OPPOSITION YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS DEMAND CHANGES After the intervention of Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE AMG in Belarus, the Minsk City Council finally permitted an opposition youth organizations to stage an action called Changes, scheduled for November 12, reported Charter 97. The rally was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. in Minsk, near the Academy of Sciences and was to be continued in the Bangalore Park on the city outskirts. The organizers of the rally appealed to the members of the pro-Lukashenko Belarusian Patriotic Youth League organized in 1997 along the lines of the Soviet Komsomol and commonly referred to as "Lukamol," to burn their membership cards and join the action. (Charter 97, November 7) [Authorities cracked down on the march, and 100s were detained and beaten. A full story is available now at www.charter97.org and details will follow in our next bulletin.--Ed]. STUDENTS OF ACADEMY OF ART PROTEST IN MINSK On October 30, students of the Belarusian State Academy of Art staged an unsanctioned picket in Minsk demanding from the administration of the Academy to repair classrooms, provide them with art supplies, and raise their meager stipends. The police videotaped the action and warned the students that their activities are punishable under Art. 167, para 1 of the Belarusian Administrative Code. Richard Smolski, rector of the Academy, and officials of the Belarusian Ministry of Culture, promised the impoverished young artists "to study the issue." (Viasna Human Rights Center, November 3) US AMBASSADOR GIVES BELARUSIANS LESSON ON DEMOCRACY With considerable international speculation about the ultimate outcome of U.S. elections, still stalled in vote re-counts, on November 8, Amb. Michael G. Kozak, formerly chief of the US diplomatic mission to Cuba and now the new US envoy to Minsk, made a speech at the reception in the U.S. embassy in Minsk on the occasion of the U.S. presidential election. He mentioned five essential elements that make a presidential or the parliamentary election democratic: 1) the opponents as well as the supporters of the government in power have an equal opportunity to organize themselves to pursue peaceful political ends without fear of arrest or harassment; 2) all significant political groupings have equal opportunities to access all the news media in order to expose their views and proposals to the voting public; 3) the media is free to question and comment on the government and opposition candidates and political platforms alike; 4) the rules of the election are fair and do not unreasonably disqualify candidates from getting on the ballot; 5) the people charged with administering the system are either truly independent or represent a sufficient balance that they will have credibility with the population and the outside world when they make a ruling, and that all decisions and processes be open to public and international scrutiny." (Charter 97, November 9) UNICEF LAUNCHES NEW REPORT ON EAST EUROPEAN YOUTH The transition from communist systems to market economies has opened up social and economic opportunities for young people living in the CEE/CIS region but disease, school drop-ous, and unemployment are on the rise, according to a report issued on November 8 by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The report titled "Young People in Changing Societies," published by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center in Florence, Italy, looks for the first time at the situation of youth in the 27 countries of the CEE/CIS region. It examines what has happened to the 65 million 15 to 24-year-olds who are now putting the reforms of the last decade to the test as the first generation to complete their education, look for jobs, marry and have families, since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The annual UNICEF report monitoring the impact of transition in the CEE/CIS region, breaks new ground this year by including the voices of young people, gathered during group discussions in six transition countries. Their views are included on issues such as education, politics, health, work, and leisure. The Report finds that those countries that have progressed further in the transition agenda offer young people greater opportunities in education, business, and politics. But it warns that new freedoms have meant new risks, including hazards almost unknown to earlier generations: unemployment, drugs and other substance abuse, and HIV infection. The full text of the report can be found at: http://www.unicef-icdc.org/newsroom/ -AT HOME IN BELARUS- LUKASHENKO URGES COOPERATION WITH RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES On November 9, during a meeting with Sergei Lebedev, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Alexander Lukashenko urged more cooperation between Russian and Belarusian secret services, saying that together they could "outshine" the Soviet-era KGB, reported Belapan. "I am glad to recognize that in principle, the secret services didn't split up after the collapse of the Soviet Union," Lukashenko said, adding that "if we combine our forces, we could surpass the levels we had in the Soviet Union." The Belarusian leader thanked Lebedev for unspecified help during the parliamentary election last month. (Belapan, November 9) -INTERNATIONAL NEWS- GADDAFI, LUKASHENKO: LEADERS OF "THE SAME PRINCIPLES" From October 31 to November 1, Alexander Lukashenko visited Libya, labeled by the United States as a rogue state, at the invitation of its leader Muammar Gaddafi, reported Belapan. During a meeting with Lukashenko, Gaddafi, blamed by the West for backing international terrorism, said that the two countries could cooperate as both leaders have "the same principles." "There is no obstacle standing in the way of cooperation between our countries because the two enjoy a free will. We are free to decide what suits our interests and that makes cooperation between us safe and strong," Gaddafi said. The Belarusian leader, an unwelcome guest outside the CIS area, eagerly agreed. [Lukashenko's two previous foreign trips were to Fidel Castro (September 2000) and Slobodan Milosevic Yugoslavia (April 1999).- Ed.] The two sides signed agreements on mutual protection of investments, the creation of a joint trade and economic commission, and cooperation in education, science, and military sphere. Most of Libya's military equipment is Soviet-made, and Belarus could provide repair and maintenance services and spare parts as well as new weapons to Tripoli. (Belapan, November 3) -CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS- November 12- the opposition youth organizations to stage protests in many Belarusian Regions November 15 -- Belarus to be reviewed at UN's Committee Against Torture ********************************************************************** 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 Back**