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INTERNATIONAL
LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
BELARUS
UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole
Vol.
4, No. 13
March 2001
IN
THIS ISSUE:
-
Police break up Freedom Day march in Minsk
- Popular Front leader jailed for 15 days; marchers
tried
-
Malady Front leader arrested
-
Freedom Day protesters detained in regional centers
- Malady Front leader arrested
- Local BPF Adradzhenne leader attacked
- Belarusian dictator maintains rule with iron fist
- KGB steps up monitoring of foreigners and diplomats
- Office of Belarusian Helsinki Committee burglarized
- Opposition activist to stand trial for anti-regime
graffiti
- Son of former Belarusian banker arrested
-
U.N.: Belarus continues to resist democratic tide of
human rights
-
Lukashenko appoints new Defense Minister
--HUMAN
RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-
POLICE
BREAK UP FREEDOM DAY MARCH IN MINSK
On
March 25, at about twelve noon, about 200 women, including
many pensioners and activists in the Belarusian Liberation
Movement and the Belarusian Popular Front Conservative
Christian Party, assembled on Independence Square, reported
press services of the BPF Adradzhenne and Viasna Human
Rights Center. Law-enforcement agents awaited them in
underground passageways and also blocked off the metro
station to pedestrians. Interior Minister Naumov and
his deputy were personally present on the scene to supervise
the police break-up of the assembly and sanctioned the
excessive use of force against demonstrators.
Approximately
an hour later, another demonstration began, organized
by the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne and the
United Civic Party. An estimated 5,000 people took to
the streets in Minsk to mark the 83rd anniversary of
the Belarusian National Republic (BNR), which was crushed
within months by the Bolsheviks, and demand free and
fair presidential election later this year The current
Belarusian government downplays the importance of BNR
in the country's history, as it does not fit the policies
of integration with Russia favored by Lukashenko. "If
we put up with the regime, if we do not vote in the
presidential election and do not have our say, then
we will face another five years of dictatorship,"
said Pavel Severinets, chair of the Malady (Youth) Front
and a former political prisoner, at a news conference
before the demonstration. City authorities prohibited
the march and took all possible measures to prevent
it. At about 2:00 p.m., Yubileynaya Square in downtown
Minsk, a place of the initial gathering, was cordoned
off by the riot police. No one was allowed even to approach
the square, all subway exits were blocked. Policemen
stood at a distance of a stretched arm from one another.
At about 2:40 p.m., the crowd, chanting "Long live
Belarus!", "Motherland! Freedom! Down with
the bastard Lukashenko!" and waving banned red-and-white
national flags and a blue flag of the European Union,
began heading toward Masherov Avenue, the road linking
Lukashenko's downtown headquarters to his suburb residence.
Representatives of some religious minorities unfurled
banners demanding religious freedom. Someone in the
crowd set afire the Russian national flag. [Later, the
United Civic Party and the BPF Adradzhenne condemned
the flag-burning action, calling it a "provocation"
and denying all allegations that it was coordinated
with the event organizers, reported Belapan.]. With
thousands of policemen and interior ministry soldiers
standing by in nearby streets, officers warned the crowd
that the demonstration had been banned and urged protesters
to disperse. Rows of helmeted police blocked the crowds
from entering the Masherov Avenue. The column tried
to turn to Freedom Square but police and special forces
blocked the way. The organizers asked the crowd to retreat
and re-gather in a brief rally at a World War II memorial
on a hill nearby.
Vintsuk
Viachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, and his deputy
Viacheslav Sivchik; Anatoly Lebedko, chair of the United
Civic Party; Aleksei Korol, deputy chair of the Belarusian
Social-Democratic Party; Pavel Znavets and Ludmila Gryaznova,
both deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet; Ales Beliatski,
chair of Viasna Human Rights Center; Pavel Severinets
addressed the demonstrators, expressing confidence that
next Freedom Day will be celebrated in a democratic
Belarus. When the rally was over, the police started
hunting down marchers and throwing them into waiting
police vehicles. Many protesters were brutally beaten
with truncheons and kicked by police with military boots.
About ten people were arrested. A representative of
the Belarusian Helsinki Committee reported that the
law-enforcers continued beatings of detainees inside
the police buses. Vladimir Shlapak, a photo correspondent
of Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, was severely
beaten although he identified himself as covering the
event on assignment. Police smashed his camera and destroyed
a video tape. Following these detentions, police units
rushed to the Freedom Square, where organizers planned
to hold an outdoor festival. Witnesses say that there
were 2-3 policemen per demonstrator. Ten protesters
were detained on Chervyakova Street. Some of them were
shortly released.
Police
officials say 13 opposition activists were detained.
Six of them, including Eugenia Pigul, a minor and the
granddaughter of Valery Schukin, a 13th Supreme Soviet
deputy and a reporter for Narodnaya Volya, an opposition
newspaper, were released the same evening without a
police report filed, reported Belapan. After about four
hours in detention, Vintsuk Viachorka and Nina Yarmolinskaya
received subpoenas to appear in court the next day and
were released. Seven activists, including Ales Beliatski,
Ludmila Gryaznova, Pavel Severinets, Ellyna Novik, Maxim
Kukso, and Dmitry Chubarenko spent the night in Okrestina
Prison. The policemen filed reports against them. Viacheslav
Alkhovsky was severely beaten while in detention. The
Belarusian Interior Minister arrived at the detention
center in person, apparently in an effort to provide
his subordinates with inspiration. Next day, the detainees
were taken to the Tsentralny District Dourt. (BPF Adradzhenne
press service, Viasna Human Rights Center, Belapan,
March 25)
POPULAR
FRONT LEADER JAILED FOR 15 DAYS; MARCHERS STAND TRIAL
IN MINSK
On
March 29, Vintsuk Viachorka was sentenced to 15 days'
jail for organizing the unauthorized rally. The BPF
leader pleaded not guilty. Judge Natalya Voitsekhovich
of the Tsentralny District Court noted that Viachorka's
name was included among the list of organizers who had
applied to Minsk city authorities for a permit to held
the Freedom Day rally. Viachorka denied any organizational
role in the rally and refuted police testimony that
he had allegedly used a microphone on the square to
summon people to the assembly. His defense counsel filed
two petitions protesting the unlawfulness of the refusal
of city authorities to issue the demonstration permit
for a central location, and also urging that other police
officials be brought to the court as witnesses. Neither
Viachorka nor his lawyer were allowed to make final
statements in the courtroom. Although often in such
cases, defendants are not jailed until after the appeal
of their sentence is heard, in this instance Viachorka
was immediately taken from the court room under custody
and is currently being held at the Okrestina Prison,
where local human rights activists say he will be compelled
to serve the entire sentence.
On
March 26, Ludmila Gryaznova, a deputy of the disbanded
parliament and an activist of Charter 97, a civic group,
was sentenced to approximately $100 in fines (20 minimum
wages) for participating in the demonstration.
The
next day, two other demonstrators, Maksim Kukso and
Ellyna Novik, were fined about $100 under Art. 167-1
for "disturbing the peace." Both Gryaznova
and Novik, who was grabbed by her hair during the arrest
by Interior Ministry agents, were kept in an airless
cell. Gryaznova was denied permission to receive medications.
Dmitry Shcheborenko, age 19, was sentenced to 10 days
of jail for his participation in the action and was
immediately taken to the lock-up. Victor Bekesh, 72,
was reprimanded.
On
March 28, Mikhail Valochko, 67, resident of Ratomka
village, Minsk Region, was fined 20 minimal wages. Several
other detainees, Ales Beliatski, Pavel Severinets, Iosif
Burko, and Maksim Kuzmitski, were also to face trial
soon on similar charges.
On
March 29, Vladimir Romanovsky, an activist of the United
Civic Party, received a summons to appear in court on
April 15 on charges related to the demonstration.
On
March 30, local human rights monitors reported that
plainclothesmen were waiting in the entryways of the
homes of a number of other opposition leaders who faced
imminent arrest. On the basis of police photographs
taken during the Freedom Day rally, cases under Art.
167, par. 1 and par. 2 have already been opened against
opposition leaders Viktor Ivashkevich, Vyacheslav Sivchik,
Aleksey Korol, Timofei Dranchuk, Vladimir Kishkurny,
Pyotr Golosov, and Sergei Mikhnov. All of the demonstrators
could face at least 10 days in jail.
The
League deplores the Belarusian government's unlawful
restriction of the internationally-recognized freedom
of assembly and the unnecessary use of force against
peaceful demonstrators, as well as the jailing and fining
of demonstrators on unfounded charges. As a signatory
to international human rights covenants, Belarus is
obligated not to interfere with the peaceful assemblies
of citizens who seek redress of grievances. In 1999,
Belarus reaffirmed its commitment to allow peaceful
assembly without restriction through the negotiated
chair's statement at the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights. Sending demonstrators
to Bangalore does not represent a good-faith effort
to enforce the human right to assembly. International
standards for democratic participation require that
demonstrators be permitted to hold peaceful rallies
in central, visible public locations near government
offices. The government's decision to ban such rallies
and persecute those who defy the bans indicates a further
isolation of Belarus from the international community,
despite its professed commitment to democratic principles.
The League called on Alexander Lukashenko to ensure
that all persons detained in connection with the rally
be released immediately and unconditionally, that the
charges against them be dropped, and that any fines
or other penalties be rescinded. (Viasna Human Rights
Center, Belapan - ILHR, March 26-30)
MALADY
FRONT LEADER ARRESTED
On
March 27, Pavel Severinets was arrested by the police
for organizing an unsanctioned picket outside the office
of the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTR)
on Makayonok Street in Minsk, reported Belapan. About
two dozen members of the Malady (Youth) Front, wearing
camouflage uniforms, demanded free air time for the
opposition on the state television and radio. After
about a half an hour, two buses of OMON, the Belarusian
riot police arrived and dispersed the picketers. Severinets
was taken to a police station, where a protocol was
filed against him and then brought to the Sovetsky District
court to stand trial on charges of violating street
demonstration regulations during the Freedom Day March.
The trial was postponed until April 5 after Severinets
demanded a lawyer. (Belapan, March 27)
FREEDOM
DAY PROTESTERS DETAINED IN REGIONAL CENTERS
Similar
rallies, marking the 1918 founding of the Belarusian
National Republic, took place in other cities across
the country - the largest in another regional center,
Grodno, where approximately 2,000 people took to the
streets. Svetlana Nekh, deputy chair of the local branch
of the Malady Front and Sergei Malchik, head of the
Grodno branch of the BPF Adradzhenne, were charged with
participation in mass actions which violated public
order under Art. 167, par. 1, of the Administrative
Offenses Code and will stand trial.
Before
the rally, Dmitry Yegorov, 17, photojournalist for Birzha
Informatsyi (Information Exchange), a Grodno-based non-state
newspaper, was arbitrary arrested and beaten by the
police, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. After taking
two photographs of the heavy presence of riot police
in the downtown area, he was seized and dragged into
a police bus in spite of his statement that he was a
journalist. His camera and dictaphone were broken. The
journalist was searched and severely beaten on the head
and chest. This was accompanied by threats such as:
"If there ever be a [newspaper] article [presumably
about this incident], we know where to find you!"
Requests to inform his family and work colleagues of
his detention were refused and were followed by more
beatings. The law-enforcers even threatened to unleash
a specially-trained dog against him, which was being
held in the bus. Yegorov was then taken to prison by
police and demonstratively shown the cells "where
non-state journalists ought to be kept" before
being released. The police returned his broken camera
and dictaphone to him. Yegorov is now in the hospital,
suffering from a severe concussion.
Art.
39 of the Belarusian Law on Press and Other Mass Media
states that journalists have the right to "be present
at meetings and demonstrations, at places of other public
important events, and to deliver [report] information
from them." The authorities should respect this
right in practice and should not in any way obstruct
journalists from carrying out their professional duty
to inform the public about such events. Furthermore,
such harassment and intimidation of journalists is in
clear violation of Belarus's international obligations
to guarantee freedom of expression under Art. 19 of
the International Convention on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR).
Six
demonstrators were detained during a similar protest
in Brest, reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. Evgeny
Belasin, chair of the Brest branch of the BPF Adradzhenne
and his under-age daughter, Victor Kuchinsky, another
BPF member, Valentin Lazarenko, lecturer of the Grodno
State University, and unknown young man were arrested
while distributing the invitations to take part in the
Freedom Day protest and charged with participating in
an unauthorized demonstration.
Anatoly
Poplavny, leader of the local branch of the BPF Adradzhenne,
was detained in Gomel while passing out the leaflets
calling on Belarusian citizens to celebrate the 83rd
anniversary of the Belarusian National Republic. He
was taken to the police station for interrogation where
a protocol was filed against him. (BPF Adradzhenne press
service, Viasna Human Rights Center, Belapan, March
25)
BELARUSIAN
DICTATOR CONTINUES RULING WITH IRON FIST
On
March 29, making an early start to his election campaign
in Grodno, Alexander Lukashenko warned that anyone seeking
to unseat him in the presidential election to be held
in September would be substituting his iron rule with
"anarchy," reported Belapan. "Either
we can follow a positive path of gradually adding value
through working really hard -- or we can return to political
adventurism, social cataclysms and the ultimate poverty
of the common people," Lukashenko said after the
inauguration of Grodno's new governor. "Yes, the
authorities are iron. Seven years ago, the only person
not kicking the authorities was the tramp on the street.
We took government out of the dirt, washed it and brushed
it up." Lukashenko made clear he did not expect
to change his style of government. "The country
needs a powerful government, not anarchy or chaos,"
he said. Lukashenko reiterated criticism of foreign
election observers who want to monitor the presidential
election. "I want to tell foreign well-wishers:
do not meddle in our affairs. We will not let anyone
speak the language of blackmail and threats," he
said. (Belapan, March 30)
KGB
TO INCREASE MONITORING OF FOREIGNERS AND DIPLOMATS IN
BELARUS
On
March 24, in an interview aired on the Belarusian Television,
Leonid Yerin, chief of the country's security police
(KGB), pledged to vigilantly guard the Belarusian society
from any foreign influence, even if it means watching
every foreign citizen living in the country. "We
are watching those foreigners present in our country,"
Yerin said. "The state is forced to do that to
defend its interests and prevent any possible violations
committed by foreigners." Yerin said that the activities
of the foreign organizations should be restricted in
Belarus as they stir up public mistrust in the authorities
under the guise of defending human rights and freedoms.
"Their activity is aimed at fomenting discontent
and distrust of the government and its policies,"
the KGB chief reasoned. "That shakes the state's
very foundations, and the state security service will
deal with such activity to defend our constitution,"
Yerin promised, adding that some foreigners and representatives
of certain international organizations may be deported.
He said that the KGB will do its best to implement the
Decree No. 8 "Several Measures on Improving Distribution
and Use of Foreign Humanitarian Aid," which banned
foreign donations to local NGOs that are involved in
any political activities or election monitoring (see
Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 11). (Belapan, March 25)
LOCAL
BPF ADRADZHENNE LEADER ATTACKED
On
the eve of the presidential election, the Belarusian
human rights defenders continue to be targeted. On March
22, Ales Pikula, chair of the Baranovichi branch of
the BPF Adradzhenne, was attacked at about 9:30 p.m.
by three unknown men and beaten unconscious, reported
Viasna Human Rights Center. Later, a woman, who was
walking her dog, found the activist and called the police.
After waiting in vain for the police to arrive, the
woman called Pikula's wife. (Viasna Human Rights Center,
March 26)
OFFICE
OF BELARUSIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE BURGLARIZED
On
March 28, the Minsk office of the Belarusian Helsinki
Committee (BHC), a Minsk-based NGO affiliated with the
International Helsinki Federation, was burglarized by
unknown persons who broke the door and entered the office
at night, reported Charter 97. Valuable computer equipment
and documents as well as a printer and files of two
issues of the human rights bulletin were stolen. So
far, there were no reports that authorities have made
credible efforts to investigate the incident. The robbery
is the latest in a string of such incidents involving
NGOs of various types, human rights groups, and independent
newspapers in the last year. (Charter 97, March 29)
DELEGATION
OF YOUTH OPPOSITION SEARCHED BY CUSTOMS OFFICIALS
On
March 26, members of the Malady Front and the Belarusian
Association of Young Politicians, who were en route
to the Czech Republic to attend a seminar on election
monitoring, were detained for four hours and searched
by customs officials who failed to identify themselves
at the Polish-Belarusian border, reported Charter 97.
Officials confiscated the stickers distributed by a
new nationwide opposition movement called Zubr [Bison],
and filed a report. (Charter 97, March 27)
OPPOSITION
ACTIVIST TO STAND TRIAL FOR ANTI-REGIME GRAFFITI
On
March 28, two Zubr [Bison] members were arrested in
Minsk for having written graffiti about political disappearances
in Belarus. One juvenile activist was released and another
was taken to a police station and charged with alleged
violation of rules of public sanitation under Art. 143,
par 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code. He is to
stand trial. (Charter 97, March 29)
SON
OF FORMER BELARUSIAN BANKER ARRESTED
On
March 21, the Belarusian state TV reported that Sergei
Vinnikov, 26, younger son of Tamara Vinnikova, was allegedly
found in possession of a controlled substance [heroin]
and placed in a temporary detention center of the Minsk
City Council. Vinnikova, who now lives in exile in Great
Britain, is the former chair of the Belarus National
Bank who escaped from house arrest in 1999 and took
shelter abroad. Sergei Vinnikov was placed in a temporary
detention center of the Minsk City Council. Two days
later, Vinnikov was charged with drug trafficking and
released from police custody after signing a written
pledge not to flee. He pled not guilty. Meanwhile, Gary
Pogonyailo, a prominent Belarusian human rights advocate
and Vinnikova's lawyer, told Nasha Svaboda, an independent
newspaper, that the KGB knew about Sergei's drug addiction
as early as when his mother was head of the National
Bank and used the knowledge to blackmail her. In an
interview to Nasha Svaboda, Vinnikova said that her
son's arrest was a deliberate retaliation for her allegations
that the Belarusian authorities had tried to kill her.
"We were warned that there will be provocations,
but I thought it would be against me personally,"
she said, adding that it is the KGB's revenge. "They
already tried to plant drugs in our apartment when I
was arrested, but my son saw it and told those who were
searching the rooms, so it never made it into the materials
of my case," Vinnikova said. Vinnikova was dismissed
on orders of Alexander Lukashenko in January 1997, accused
of corruption and abuse of power at the National Bank
of Belarus, which she had headed for a year. She was
detained until November 1997 and then moved to house
arrest. After 18 months she escaped and fled to Britain,
where she was recently granted political asylum. (Nasha
Svaboda, March 26)
U.N.:
BELARUS CONTINUES TO RESIST DEMOCRATIC TIDE OF HUMAN
RIGHTS
On March 30, Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, head of
U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
criticized the government of Belarus for continuing
to resist the democratic tide of human rights and fundamental
freedoms which swept across Central and Eastern Europe
more than a dozen years ago. Following are the excerpts
from her speech:
"The
parliamentary elections of this past October were neither
free nor fair. The opposition was denied access to the
media and most independent opposition candidates were
denied registration on trivial technicalities. Former
President Lukashenko, whose term ended in 1999, still
refuses to leave his office and continues to quash protest
and intimidate peaceful demonstrators. As recently as
March 25th, for example, riot police commanded personally
by the Minister of Internal Affairs attacked a demonstration
in Minsk, beating numerous participants. In addition,
a number of prominent opposition figures and journalists
have disappeared -- amid strong indications of government
involvement -- while others have been jailed. This is
an outrage. We call upon Belarus to uphold its commitments,
permit freedom of association and media coverage, and
create a climate that will facilitate free and fair
elections with full participation of all opposition
parties." (UN, March 30)
NATO
PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT BELARUS
On
March 25-27, a delegation of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, co-chaired by Markus Meckel, NATO PA Vice-President,
and Alice Mahon, chair of the Sub-Committee on Democratic
Governance, visited Minsk on a fact-finding mission,
reported Belapan. The delegation held extensive discussions
with Mikhail Khvostov, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister, Belarusian parliamentarians, members
of the political opposition not represented in the Lukashenko
hand-picked parliament, trade union leaders, potential
candidates in the forthcoming presidential election,
civic organizations, media representatives, and relatives
of disappeared political figures. The NATO PA delegation
voiced its concern that some recent developments, such
as Decree No. 8 submitting international aid to NGOs
and civic organizations to exacting government control,
are not conducive to the goal of democratization. It
considers that the conditions in which the presidential
election due later this year will be carried out shall
be a key test of the Belarusian Government's real commitment
to democracy. (Belapan, March 27)
-AT
HOME IN BELARUS-
LUKASHENKO
APPOINTS NEW DEFENSE MINISTER
Apparently
taking cues from his Russian counterpart, Alexander
Lukashenko dismissed Defense Minister Alexander Chumakov,
appointing Leonid Maltsev, deputy chief of the Security
Council, in his place, reported Belapan on March 28.
The Ministry of Defense announced that Chumakov, who
had held the post since 1997, had decided to resign,
but the Security Council described the move as part
of personnel changes. Until 1997, the position was held
by General Maltsev, who was sacked by Lukashenko for
appearing drunk at a public function. Chumakov's departure
came six weeks after Lukashenko sacked his chief of
staff and deputy defense minister Mikhail Kozlov. The
move came after the announcement in Moscow of the dismissal
of Marshall Igor Sergeev, Russian Defense Minister,
who was replaced by Sergei Ivanov, chief of the Russian
Security Council and one of President Putin's closest
aides. (Belapan, March 28)
************************************************************************
For daily updates, visit our partners website, Charter
97, www.charter97.org with news in Belarusian, Russian,
and English.
************************************************************************
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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