INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 11
March 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

- Lukashenko outlaws foreign donations to NGOs
- Unleashed propaganda war intensifies
- Regime launches new attack on OSCE
- Censorship by killing is blatant assault on freedom of expression
- Opposition fails to agree on single presidential candidate
- Opposition leader searched by police
- Three activists detained in Minsk for distributing greeting cards
- Two activists arrested during youth opposition protest
- State-owned television attacks Roman Catholic churches
- Majority of Russians want to restore former Soviet Empire

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

LUKASHENKO OUTLAWS DONATIONS TO NGOs FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

In a serious blow to civil society in Belarus, the Lukashenko regime, notorious for its intolerance of NGOs, imposed a new obstacle to carrying out their activities in the country. On March 14, the Belarusian authoritarian ruler signed a Decree "Several Measures on Improving Distribution and Use of Foreign Humanitarian Aid," which essentially banned foreign donations to local NGOs that are involved in any political activities or even election monitoring, reported Belapan. "Humanitarian aid from abroad cannot be used to support actions designed to change the constitution or to usurp state authority," a spokesman for the Lukashenko's press service said. Under the Decree, all donations to NGOs or political parties, which are not approved by Lukashenko or his government, and used to organize elections, referendums, rallies, street protests, demonstrations, pickets and strikes, or to prepare and disseminate printed materials of "subversive" nature, are banned. Even a single violation of the Decree may lead to the closure of a public organization and severe financial penalties. The Decree also provides for sanctions against foreign enterprises and international organizations operating in Belarus if they violate its provisions, including the termination of their activities in the country and the deportation of their representatives. The Decree will be submitted to the Lukashenko hand-picketed parliament for approval and will come into force four weeks after the first official publication. The move comes ahead of the forthcoming September presidential election and is viewed by local observers as designed to target the democratic opposition. "Lukashenko's latest move shows that he fears to lose the election," commented Vladimir Labkovich, member of the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne. "By cutting off the opposition from Western humanitarian aid, he himself is hoping to support his government with money from Moscow." (Belapan, March 14)

UNLEASHED PROPAGANDA WAR INTENSIFIES

On March 15, Alexander Lukashenko addressed the nation on the occasion of Constitution Day. "The 1996 constitution combines world democratic experience with the specific features of the Belarusian state and national culture," he proudly told the compatriots. "It guarantees protection of human rights, ensures successful formation of a civil society and dynamic economic and social development," Lukashenko continued. He added that the 1996 Constitution made it possible to carry out "successful democratic" parliamentary election and created conditions for holding "free and fair presidential vote."

Commenting on the date, the League noted that Lukashenko used a November 1996 referendum to amend the 1994 Constitution and disband the 13th Supreme Soviet, a democratically elected parliament, in order to broaden his powers and extend his term in office. He ignored a ruling by the Constitutional Court then in session that the Constitution could not be amended by referendum. As a result, the current political system is based on the 1996 Constitution, which was adopted in an unconstitutional manner, a position held by Western democracies and international human rights groups. Although the amended Constitution provides for a formal separation of powers, the President dominates all other branches of Government. The 1996 Constitution allows the President to issue decrees having the force of law in circumstances of "specific necessity and urgency," a provision that Lukashenko has interpreted broadly. (Belapan; ILHR March 15)

SUPREME SOVIET: RULE OF LAW IS STRONGER THAN LAW OF FORCE

The 13th Supreme Soviet, the parliament still recognized as the only legitimate legislature, addressed Belarusian citizens on Constitution Day, noting that their constituents' electoral choice had been limited by the Lukashenko's amendments to the country's 1994 democratic constitution. "In November 1996, the executive branch conducted a controversial constitutional referendum, which was neither free nor fair," the deputies said in a statement. As a result, fundamental principles on which the 1994 constitution was based were destroyed, precipitating a constitutional crisis and political impasse. "The rule of law is stronger than the law of force," concluded the deputies in the statement, adding that the time will come when Belarusians will live in a democratic society. (Belapan, March 15)

LUKASHENKO WANTS POLL OBSERVER RESTRICTIONS

On March 15, Alexander Lukashenko said that he would ban the training of election observers by non-Belarusian bodies, reported Belapan. "There will be no guerrillas in Belarus -- write that down and tell people," Lukashenko told reporters, while visiting a factory in Minsk. "We will allow [only] those things provided for by our constitution. It says that the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda trains observers," said the Belarusian strongman. "There will be no other president here and I am not kidding," he concluded. (Belapan, March 15)

REGIME LAUNCHES NEW ATTACK ON OSCE

To fortify their hold on power, the Lukashenko government has been maneuvering to blunt "Western influence" in Belarus. On March 12, on behalf of the Nationwide Coordination Council of Patriotic Forces, a coalition of about 30 pro-Lukashenko political parties and NGOs, Sergey Posokhov, Lukashenko's aide on political issues, said in an interview to Belarusian Television that OSCE's engagement in training 14,000 local monitors to be deployed during the forthcoming presidential election is an interference in the country's internal affairs and an attempt to carry out anti-constitutional and illegal activities. The Lukashenko official stressed that it is unlawful to start training observers for the forthcoming presidential election before an official announcement of the ballot. On March 13, the OSCE AMG in Minsk denied the allegations, saying that its March 9-12 training course was wrongly associated by the state TV with the presidential election and was in fact aimed at preparing observers to monitor the run-off of the October parliamentary election to be held on March 18 in Minsk, Vitebsk, Brest, and Baranovichi, Brest Region.

Last year, addressing the upper house of his rubber-stamp parliament, Lukashenko said that he would like to see the OSCE AMG leave Belarus and promised to keep an eye on the mission, which, in his opinion, "is preparing bands of collaborators." The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTR) called the AMG "an instrument of subversive activity against the Belarusian state," and its head Hans-Georg Wieck a "German spy." In January, 2001, the Belarusian leader accused the mission of colluding with the opposition. (Belapan, March 13)

CENSORSHIP BY KILLING IS BLATANT ASSAULT ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

On March 12, in a statement to the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in Vienna, Josiah B. Rosenblatt, the Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, emphasized U.S. concern regarding the killing of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze and the disappearance of Belarusian TV cameraman Dimitry Zavadsky. In particular, Rosenblatt said that "censorship by disappearance and killing represents the most blatant assault on freedom of expression," calling for an "expeditious and transparent resolution of these and other outstanding cases in other countries." Rosenblatt also urged the OSCE to pursue six issues central to freedom of expression and the media:
1) promote a supportive environment for independent journalists, in which just disappearances and killings could not take place;
2) eliminate criminal defamation statutes and insult laws, which can have a particularly chilling effect on freedom of expression in a society;
3) develop a set of standards for the editorial independence of state-owned media;
4) support the work of NGOs and professional organizations seeking to improve standards of journalism;
5) ensure non-discriminatory treatment in the enjoyment of linguistic rights;
6) support unrestricted access to the Internet. (USIA, March 13)

OPPOSITION FAILS TO AGREE ON SINGLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

On March 13, the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian Democratic Forces, the body of the united opposition, confirmed its intention to put forward a single candidate from the opposition for the presidency but so far it has failed to agree on one, BPF Adradzhenne press service announced. Viacheslav Sivchik, deputy chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, was asked to formulate a concept of the opposition representatives' work with local election commissions. Pavel Daneiko, deputy chair if the United Civil Party, is to prepare an election platform for the opposition's candidate. In the opinion of Vintsuk Viachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, it is vital for the democratic opposition to coordinate its activities ahead of the presidential vote and decide on a single candidate as soon as possible. The Council addressed Nikolai Statkevich, head of Narodnaya Hramada, or the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, asking him to comply with the Council's resolution to boycott the parliamentary election and reconsider his decision to participate in the run-offs for the parliament on March 18. (BPF Adradzhenne press service, March 13)

OPPOSITION LEADER SEARCHED BY POLICE

On March 11, Evgeny Lobanovich, head of the executive committee of the United Civil Party, was forced to leave the train departing Minsk for Moscow, reported Belapan. The opposition leader, who was heading for the Russian capital to meet Nikolai Nikolaev, host of "Independent Research," a program broadcast by NTV, Russia's independent television channel, as well as to participate in the press-conference on abduction of prominent Belarusian opposition politicians, was searched and taken to the police station. During the search, the policemen copied all the documents, mostly newspaper articles, about political disappearances in Belarus, including a copy of documentary titled "Wild Manhunt," produced by Pavel Sheremet, head of special projects at ORT, Russia's public television station. The materials also included an anonymous letter allegedly written by a former KGB officer, which said that a former officer of the Almaz Special-Assignment Police Force, five active and two retired officers from the presidential security service, and two Chechens confessed to killing Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT's cameraman in Belarus, last year. A dozen police officers who carried out the search called themselves members of the investigation crew on Zavadsky's case but refused to introduce themselves. To Lobanovich's surprise, he was released shortly and was not asked to sign a protocol about his detention. All the materials were returned to him. On March 13, Lobanovich and Nikolaev told journalists in Moscow that NTV is to launch an independent investigation into the disappearances of Zavadsky, Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenko. (Belapan, March 12)

THREE ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN MINSK FOR DISTRIBUTING GREETING CARDS

On March 8, Dmitry Kasperovich, Aleksei Tolstov, and Oleg Khrulyakovsky were detained at Komarovsky Rynok, outdoor food market in Minsk, and taken to the Sovetsky District Internal Affairs Directorate where they were detained for several hours for distributing greeting cards on the occasion of the International Women's Day, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The cards contained a reminder to Belarusians not to forget to congratulate Galina Lukashenko, wife of the current Belarusian leader who still lives in Shklov [Lukashenko's hometown, where he used to manage a Soviet collective farm], and make her a present - not to vote for her husband during the presidential election to enable him to return home to her. (Viasna Human Rights Center, March 12)

TWO ACTIVISTS ARRESTED DURING YOUTH OPPOSITION PROTEST

On March 15, two activists of the Malady Front, one of whom was under 18 years of age, were arrested in Minsk during a protest action called "Constitution 2001." The activists were distributing leaflets with ten provisions of a hypothetical "ideal 2001 Constitution" and carrying white-red-white flags and opposition signs and were taken to the Tsentralny District Internal Affairs Directorate where they were detained for several hours. (Viasna Human Rights Center, March 15)

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

WORLD BANK IS TO DEVELOP NEW STRATEGY OF ASSISTANCE

On March 12, the World Bank Group started a series of consultations in Minsk with the representatives of the Belarusian government, NGOs, community groups, media, professional associations, and religious groups working on social, health, and environmental issues to design a new strategy of assistance to the country, reported M2 Presswire. "The main goal of the Bank in Belarus is to assist the country in reaching the goals of poverty reduction and economic well-being," said Luca Barbone, World Bank Country Director for Ukraine and Belarus, who is currently in the country heading a team of Bank specialists hosting the consultations. The World Bank Group's activities in Belarus for the next three years will be described in a document called Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), which will contain the strategy that the Bank will follow in helping the country achieve these goals. One of the chief priorities of the new CAS will be to expand the Bank's cooperation with small and medium businesses through technical assistance and to help create an environment conducive to the development of the private sector in Belarus. (M2 Presswire, March 14)

-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS-

STATE-OWNED TELEVISION ATTACKS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

In an effort to protect the dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Lukashenko regime continues to impede the growth of minority religions. In February 2001, the Belarusian Television and Radio (BTR) aired a documentary by Yury Azaryonok entitled "Dushekhvaty" (Soul-Snatchers), which alleged that Catholics communities are eroding national-religious consciousness from Belarusians by urging them to deny the faith of their ancestors. Catholicism is a threat to the very existence of the Belarusian nation, its psychological health and security, claimed the author of the documentary and asked the government to take steps to protect Orthodoxy. Belapan reported on March 7 that a group of Belarusian scholars issued a statement saying that the film debases the Catholic Church, disgraces the Belarusian people, and incites religious hatred in the country. "The author tackles the subject without being familiar with either the history of the Catholic Church, or its soul-edifying activity," they said in the statement. "It is also not clear why the film includes scenes about NATO and Russian politicians Yegor Gaidar, Boris Yeltsin, and Mikhail Gorbachev, who have nothing to do with the church," they said. (Belapan, March 13)

-BROTHER SLAVS-

MAJORITY OF RUSSIANS WANT TO RESTORE FORMER SOVIET EMPIRE

More and more Russians appear to want to restore the former Soviet Union. According to a recent poll, about 55 percent of Russians believe that it is Russia's "historical mission" to pull together the peoples and lands that formed the pre-1917 Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, reported the Central European Review. Geographically, Minsk is much closer to Moscow than Belgrade, which makes it much easier for Russia to manipulate events in Belarus. With Lukashenko in power for the last six years, Russia has gained most of what it wanted in Belarus: a deniable proxy in the international arms trade, a forward base for radar and eavesdropping, an agreement for placing extra troops or missiles, free transit of troops and freight and economic leverage through the control of the energy supply. Many local observers believe that Moscow decides everything what happens in Belarus, including the fate of the current Belarusian leader. And as long as Russia sees an advantage in keeping Lukashenko in power, it will do so. On March 15, about 2,000 members of left-wing parties picketed the Ukrainian parliament demanding urging the deputies to hold a referendum on Ukraine's joining a "great Slavic union of Russia and Belarus," reported Itar-Tass. (Central European Review, March 12 - Itar-Tass, March 15)

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For daily updates, visit our partner's 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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