INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 10
March 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

- OSCE: Belarus fails to make any progress in improving democracy
- U.S. continues to recognize 13th Supreme Soviet
- Regime should account for political disappearances!
- Prosecution of presidential candidate continues
- Two deputy CEOs punished for hosting Chigir meeting with voters
- Higher court affirms sentence of presidential candidate's wife
- Critical candidate refused TV air time
- Opposition youth organization slammed by state TV
- Editors of two local independent newspapers fined
- Mother of juvenile opposition activist fined
- U.S. denies charges of fanning inter-religious conflict in Belarus

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

TROIKA VISIT: BELARUS FAILS TO PROGRESS TOWARD DEMOCRACY;
SETS FOUR NEW CRITERIA FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

On March 5-7, the Parliamentary Troika visited Belarus, composed of members of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. During the visit, the delegation held several meetings with Belarusian government officials, potential candidates for the upcoming presidential election, deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet, members of human rights groups and NGOs, trade unions, women organizations as well as with relatives of disappeared persons. The Belarusian government has failed to make any progress on improving democracy, Adrian Severin, chair of the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus and delegation head, told a news conference in Minsk on March 7.

The delegation stressed that free and democratic conduct of this year's presidential election would be considered as a major progress in the process of democratization in Belarus, and would therefore contribute to ending the international isolation of the country. Regarding the forthcoming presidential election, the Troika cited four criteria required to consider the elections free and fair, which are summarized as follows: 1) the transparency of the electoral process, in particular regarding the process of registration of the candidates, the composition of the electoral commissions and the counting of the votes; 2) equal access to the mass media, particular electronic, and other possibilities for campaigning; 3) freedom from government harassment of candidates, their relatives, and supporters; and 4) freedom from interference with election observers.

These four criteria for the presidential elections represent a revision of the four criteria original stipulated for the parliamentary elections, which were 1) transparency of the electoral process, 2) access to the mass media, 3) meaningful powers for the new parliament and 4) the observance of a "peace period" i.e. end of persecution of the opposition. Regarding the October parliamentary elections and the new parliament, the troika's statemented noted that "insufficient progress had been achieved to satisfy the four criteria and that normal relations with the Parliamentary body resulting from these elections could therefore not be recommended).

"The organization of elections according to international standards is only part of the democratization process," the delegation added. The Parliamentary Troika expressed its continuing concern about the human rights situation and at the lack of progress in investigating the disappearances of political opponents. The full text of the statement is located at:http://www.osce.org/news/generate.php3?news_id=1526

The Lukashenko government accused the OSCE delegation of unfairly assessing the country's democratic processes, reported Belapan. "The European delegation should be more objective in its assessment of Belarus's internal affairs and the steps that have been taken to make its society democratic," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. (OSCE - Belapan, March 7)

U.S. CONTINUES TO RECOGNIZE 13TH SUPREME SOVIET

On March 1, Amb. David T. Johnson, U.S. representative to the OSCE, told the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna that the United States supports the decision of the Standing Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly not to recognize the National Assembly of Belarus, the newly elected Lukashenko hand-picked parliament. He pointed out that the October 2000 election, which created this body were neither free nor fair, and that the United States continues to recognize the 13th Supreme Soviet as the legitimate Belarusian parliament until free and fair elections can be held for a new parliament. "We believe it is in Belarus's own interest to be seen as a state that respects the rule of law," said Amb. Johnson. He urged the Belarusian authorities to abide by the four OSCE criteria in connection with the presidential election to ensure that it will be recognized as free and fair by the entire international community. (USIA, March 2)

REGIME SHOULD ACCOUNT FOR POLITICAL DISAPPEARANCES

On March 5, Andrei Petrov, Dmitry Abramovich, and Anton Telezhnikov, all members of Zubr (Bison), a new nationwide opposition movement, were arrested by police for staging an unauthorized picket near the Presidential Administration Building in downtown Minsk. The protest demanded an accounting by the regime for the whereabouts of disappeared political and opposition figures, reported Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper. The activists were taken to the Leninski District Internal Affairs Directorate and charged with "staging an unauthorized mass protest" under Art. 167 of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code. As usually, the law-enforcers failed to inform the detainees of their rights and conducted the interrogation without giving them an opportunity to be represented by counsel. On March 6, Petrov and Abramovich were fined 20 minimum wages each (about $100) each, and Telezhnikov was sentenced to 15 days' incarceration, reported Belapan. The activist will serve his term on the Okrestina detention center in Minsk.

Local human rights monitors present in the courtroom believe that Telezhnikov received a more harsh sentence because by that time, Judge Zhdanok received information about another unauthorized demonstration staged by Zubr members. On March 6, about 120 activists formed a human chain on Skaryna Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Minsk, from Oktyabrskaya Metro Station to the Independence Square, demanding authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the disappearance of Dmitry Zavadsky, cameraman for the Russian television network ORT, who has been missing since July 7, 2000, and to account for the whereabouts of Yuri Zakharenko, the former Minister of Internal Affairs, founder of an independent officers' organization critical of the Lukashenko government, who disappeared on May 7, 1999, and Victor Gonchar, a 13th Supreme Soviet deputy chair and a high profile antigovernment politician, who disappeared along with his business associate, Anatoly Krasovsky, on September 16, 1999. The activists held portraits of the vanished opposition politicians and distributed a special edition of Nasha Svaboda, dedicated to the political disappearances in the country. The action lasted for about half an hour, during which police repeatedly ordered the demonstrators to disperse. One demonstrator was arrested. On March 3, similar action took place in Vitebsk. No incidents with police were reported. (Nasha Svaboda, Belapan, March 7)

PROSECUTION OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CONTINUES

Charter 97 reported on March 5 that Mikhail Chigir was summoned to the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he learned that the his case files Minsk will be forwarded to the Minsk city tax inspection for investigation. The files are said to be related to the prosecution's claims that as Prime Minister, Chigir had no valid reasons to defer the collection of custom duties from Piask, a private company [headed by a son of Stanislav Bogdankevich, another prominent opposition leader--Ed], as well as to tax payments during his work as a representative of Geya, a German company. Chigir intends to appeal this decision in court because he believes that such an investigation should be performed by neutral experts. On May 19, 2000, Chigir was accused of exceeding his authority as Prime Minister and sentenced to a three-year prison term, suspended for two years. The court also ordered him to pay $220,000 in damages. The former prime minister called the sentence legally absurd and appealed it. In December 2000, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court ruling against Chigir, yet ordered further investigation. The OSCE and other legal observers noted that the judgement involved irregularities in judicial procedure and was designed to prevent Chigir from posing a challenge to the government in presidential elections scheduled for 2001. (Charter 97, March 6)

TWO CEO DEPUTIES PUNISHED FOR HOSTING CHIGIR'S MEETING WITH VOTERS

On March 6, Judge Andrei Bolotov of the city court of Borisov (Minsk region) reprimanded Victor Kopultsevich and Georgy Kiberman, both CEO deputies of one of the Borisov manufacturing plants, for the violation of Art. 167, par. 1 and par. 2 ("organization and participation in mass actions violating public order"), reported Charter 97. On February 19, at the plant's clubhouse, they hosted a meeting of Mikhail Chigir, former prime minister and a potential opposition candidate to challenge Lukashenko in the forthcoming presidential election, with plant's employees. The meeting was interrupted by the law-enforcers who broke into the building under the pretext of an alleged bomb warning. Kopultsevich and Kiberman pleaded not guilty and intend to appeal the verdict. They insist that there was no need to apply for the authority's permission to hold the meeting on the plant's premises. (Charter 97, March 7)

UPPER COURT AFFIRMS SENTENCE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE'S WIFE

On March 5, the Minsk City Court upheld the ruling of the Frunze District Court of Minsk that Julia Chigir, wife of Mikhail Chigir, is guilty of "interfering with the work of police" under Art. 187, par. 2, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, reported Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper. In October 2000, Mrs. Chigir received a two-year prison term, suspended for one year, for biting a policeman's ear, who grabbed her by the arms and handled her roughly, when on May 19, 2000, she tried to enter the Minsk City Courthouse to hear her husband's sentence. Despite the preponderance of evidence and testimonies of a number of domestic and international observers present at the courthouse that Mrs. Chigir was acting in self-defense, the Frunze District Court of Minsk sided with the policeman. The sentence effectively bars Mrs. Chigir from any political activity that could be construed as unlawful for one year, and failure to refrain from opposition activity could trigger the two-year sentence. Mrs. Chigir believes that she and her son Alexander has been persecuted in retaliation for her husband's political opposition. (Nasha Svaboda, March 7)

CRITICAL CANDIDATE REFUSED TV AIR TIME

Ignoring OSCE recommendations to provide all potential candidates with access to the mass media during their election campaigns, the heavily biased state-controlled media continue to limit the access of candidates, especially those opposed to the regime. On March 2, the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTR) canceled a five-minute address by Yury Voskresensky, chair of the Youth Democratic Initiative, who was registered by local electoral district No. 105 in Minsk as a candidate for a seat in the Belarusian parliament in a district where the October 15 votes were declared invalid because of low turnout. In an interview to Belapan, Voskresensky said that the cancellation did not come as a surprise to him since his speech was critical of the regime. (Belapan, March 4)

OPPOSITION YOUTH ORGANIZATION SLANDERED BY STATE TV

The Belarusian State TV (BTR) continues its unabashed propaganda campaign directed against the democratic opposition. Recently, Alexander Zimovsky, host of "Resonance," a notorious news commentary program broadcast by the BTR, repeatedly accused the Malady (Youth) Front, refused registration with the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, of engaging in activities that weaken Belarusian statehood and undermine socio-economic stability. On March 6, seven activists of the Malady Front held an unsanctioned action in Minsk titled "Thanks for the advertisement on BTR" and collected BYB288 (about $.20) as a token payment for Zimovsky's efforts to "promote" their organization. (Nasha Svaboda, March 7)

EDITORS OF TWO LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS FINED

Judge Vladimir Zhandarov of the Krichev District Court, Mogilev Region, announced his rulings on the administrative cases filed against editors of two local independent newspapers, reported Nasha Svaboda. Sergey Nerovny, editor-in-chief of Volny Gorod (Free City), and Nikolai Matorenko, editor-in-chief of Nash Volny Gorod (Our Free City), were accused of violating the Law on Press and Other Mass Media and allegedly participating in "illegal business activities" and fined 50 minimum wages (about $250) each. The court ordered all confiscated copies of both periodicals to be destroyed. Both editors believe that Judge Zhandarov was carrying out a political directive from the Lukashenko government and will appeal the decision to the Mogilev Regional Court. (Nasha Svaboda, March 7)

AUTHORITIES SEIZE OPPOSITION PRINTED MATERIALS

On March 2, Alexander Chakholsky, a member of the conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP), was detained for two hours and searched by customs officials who failed to identify themselves at the Polish-Belarusian border, reported the CCP press service. Agents seized 745 copies of Belaruskiye Vedamastsi, the party's information bulletin, and filed a police report claiming the printed materials "damage the economic and political interests of the Republic of Belarus." Chakholsky refused to sign it on the grounds that he does not understand the Russian language and asked for Belarusian translator. The officers responded to the request with verbal abuses. [As part of the Lukashenko regime's efforts to promote a union with Russia and to reduce the influence of opposition movements, the authorities have discouraged the promotion of the Belarusian language.--Ed.]. CCP leadership noted that in advance of the presidential election, the Lukashenko regime has taken severe measures to neutralize political opponents. Last month, the party called on exiled leader Zyanon Paznyak to run for the Belarusian presidency this fall.

The League notes that the Belarusian authorities have repeatedly discouraged the use and promotion of the Belarusian language in an effort to promote a nebulous union with Russia and to reduce the influence of opposition movements. As the opposition has turned to neighboring countries for their publishing activities, the regime has also sought to discourage the free flow of information across frontiers. In 1997 the Council of Ministers decreed restriction of the import and export of certain goods across customs borders, specifically including in the list of banned materials any print, audio, and video materials, or other information media containing critical reports on the Lukashenko government. Some bulletins affiliated with the opposition published outside of the country appeared to be targeted by the decree. (CCP press service, March 3; ILHR)

DISTRIBUTORS OF INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER DETAINED BY POLICE

On March 3, three teenagers, Pavel Ukhnevich, Andrei Bozhkov, and Yury Yemelianovich, were arrested by police near Institute of Culture metro station in Minsk, while distributing a special edition of Nasha Svaboda, devoted to the political disappearances in Belarus, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The youths were taken to the Oktyabrsky District Internal Affairs Directorate where they were detained for several hours. All three were verbally threatened and abused while in detention. The policemen confiscated 1,500 copies of the newspaper. On the same day, Alexander Streckach and Sergey Zhubila were detained near the Tsentralny bus station in Brest, while pasting Zubr stickers. The teenagers were taken to the Moskovsky District Internal Affairs Directorate and interrogated. The police wanted to know who heads the organization and how much the youths were paid. The activists were threatened with three years of imprisonment for refusal to cooperate with the security services. Their parents were summoned to the police station to sign the police report. (Viasna Human Rights Center, March 5)

MOTHER OF JUVENILE OPPOSITION ACTIVIST FINED

On February 28, the mother of Valery Matskevich, 17, a member of the Minsk branch of the Malady (Youth) Front, was fined one minimal wage (about $3), reported Viasna Human Rights Center. On February 8, her son and Denis Zeiko, 22, another Front member, were detained by the police while pasting "Zubr" and "Love Action" stickers [a reference to a St. Valentine's Day protest--Ed]. The activists were brought to the nearest police station and accused of violating public sanitation regulations under Art. 143, par. 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code. (Viasna Human Rights Center, March 1)

-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS-

U.S. DENIES CHARGES OF FANNING INTER-RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN BELARUS

On March 6, John Kunstadter, deputy head of the U.S. embassy in Minsk, vigorously rejected allegations made by Alexander Zimovsky in special feature of "Resonance," which was broadcast by BTR on February 28. In the program titled "KGB against CIA," Zimovsky alleged that American spies are deliberately fanning inter-religious conflict in Belarus (see Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 9). "For the Belarusian authorities to assert that the U.S. government is involved in any way in religious life in Belarus is a flagrant lie," Kunstadter told Keston. "In giving our assistance to Belarus we have acted fully within the framework of the 1996 bilateral agreement between our two governments," said Kunstadter, stressing that the U.S. government does not get involved in supporting religious groups as well as political parties. He pointed to the numerous violations of religious rights of Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Protestant denominations and others, which have been recently highlighted in the U.S. State Department human rights report on Belarus, issued two days before Zimovsky's broadcast. Ivan Yanovich, deputy chair of the Belarusian State Committee for Religious Affairs shrugged off all Keston's inquiries about whether his Committee shared Zimovsky's belief that U.S. agents are fomenting inter-religious conflict in Belarus. "We do not have such information on spies or on what they are doing," he told Keston. He referred all inquiries to the Interior Ministry and the KGB. (Keston News Service, March 7)

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For daily updates, visit our partners website, Charter 97, www.charter97.org with news in Belarusian, Russian, and English.

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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 60th year, is New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations.

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.

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