INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 21
May 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

- OSCE AMG under attack
- Former Minister of Agriculture creates new movement
- Opposition demands representation on electoral commissions
- Decree #8 approved by Parliament
- Campaign against opposition presidential candidates continues
- Mass detentions of opposition activists in Minsk; arrests elsewhere
- Zubr activists march in Minsk; seven detained in Borisov
- Independent media under attack; unavailable to majority of population
- Number of prisoners on death row increases

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS--

OSCE CALLS FOR CONTINUING DIALOGUE WITH BELARUS
Mircea Geoana, OSCE's chair-in-office and Romanian Foreign Minister, called for sustained continued efforts of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus toward improving the dialogue with the Belarusian authorities, other political forces and civil society in the country. On May 18, during a meeting with Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE mission in Minsk, Mircea Geoana confirmed his trust in the head of the AMG and his activities directed to the strengthening of the democratic process in Belarus. The chair-in-office stressed the need of continuing talks between the European institutions and the AMG with Belarusian authorities on improvements of the framework conditions for the forthcoming presidential elections. (OSCE, May 21)

OSCE AMG UNDER ATTACK FROM BOTH SIDES

Instead of extending to the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus its cooperation and support as a way to signal its determination to meet its OSCE commitments and to carry out truly democratic presidential election, the Lukashenko government once again accused the mission of putting itself above Belarusian law and international norms and destabilizing the country. On May 21, Leonid Yerin, chair of the Committee for State Security (KGB), told Amb. Wieck that if he continues to help Belarusian radical opposition that strives to overthrow the government, the Belarusian authorities would have to consider his expulsion, reported Radio Racyja, an independent Belarusian-language crossborder radio station. The day before, KGB spokesman Fyodor Kotov said in a interview to the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTR) that the KGB knows about every aspect of Wieck's activities in the country, in particular, about those "that he has tried to conceal from both the Belarusian authorities and the international community" and has "enough evidence to initiate legal proceedings against him." According to Kotov, the OSCE AMG head is a former German intelligence officer, who regularly holds "secret meetings" with the opposition representatives, contemplating plans to overthrow the Belarusian president.

Echoing the position of the Belarusian authorities, Gennady Seleznev, speaker of the Russian State Duma, told journalists on May 22 in Minsk that Amb. Wieck "should cool his head," reported Belapan. "Amb. Wieck holds a mandate from the OSCE to carry on quite a different kind of activity in Belarus, which "does not include nomination of a single opposition candidate," he added. In Seleznev's opinion, Russia should not "actively interfere" in Belarus's upcoming presidential elections.

Radio Racyja reported that Zyanon Paznyak, exiled chair of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP- BPF), issued a statement demanding from Amb. Wieck to leave Belarus on the grounds that his activities undermine the Belarusian sovereignty and do not promote the interests of the Belarusian nation. (Radio Racyja, Belapan, May 22-23)

OSCE REFUTES ALLEGATIONS BY KGB OFFICIALS

On May 22, the OSCE AMG issued a statement dismissing all allegations against it as discriminative and unjustified and targeted at discrediting the mission in the eyes of the Belarusian public ahead of the presidential election. In an interview to Interfax news agency, Amb. Wieck said that the AMG "does not use encrypted correspondence and has no intelligence functions" and that its work is "fully transparent." He reiterated that the mission provides invaluable assistance to the Belarusian authorities in helping to implement the requirements of the criteria established by the OSCE Troika with respect to the presidential election. The AMG has already laid a key cornerstone for democratic presidential election by training a team of domestic observers. (Interfax, May 22)

NEW MOVEMENT IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

On May 21, Vasily Leonov, former Minister of Agriculture, announced that a new civil-rights movement was launched for election of a new president, reported Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper. It will support Vladimir Goncharik, Semyon Domash, Sergey Kalyakin, Pavel Kozlovsky, and Mikhail Chigir, five prominent Belarusian politicians, who decided to challenge the authoritarian Belarusian ruler in this year's presidential election, and coordinate their efforts in order to increase their chances to win. The first meeting of the movement, which was held in a building of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) and attended by all five candidates, elected Vasily Leonov chair of its executive committee and Ivan Antashkevich his deputy. The organizers appealed to compatriots to overcome their fear of the regime, freely express their political opinions and support the new initiative. The regime did not wait too long to strike back at the news of creation of the opposition candidates' election headquarters: Ivan Antashkevich, was attacked by unknown individuals near his home and suffered numerous bruises. The original of an appeal signed by about hundred of famous Belarusians has been stolen from him. Apparently, the authorities wanted to know their enemies by name. [In October 2000, Vasily Leonov was released from jail after nearly 3 years imprisonment on charges of large-scale embezzlement and bribery. Leonov allegedly accepted bribes of furniture worth approximately $52 and foodstuffs worth $90. Legal experts and human rights monitors noted that his trial was rife with abuse of legal procedure, including the use of evidence taken under duress and later retracted, in violation of the Criminal Code.- Ed.].(Nasha Svaboda, May 23)

PARTIES DEMAND PARTICIPATION IN WORK OF ELECTORAL COMMISSIONS

On May 15, ten Belarusian political parties released a statement urging the authorities to include their representatives in the electoral commissions of all level to ensure free and democratic vote this fall when the country will choose its new president, reported Charter 97. The League notes that Section 1, art. 5 of the Belarusian Constitution states that "political parties and republic associations acting within the framework of the constitution and laws of the Republic of Belarus shall contribute toward ascertaining and expressing the political will of the citizens and participate in elections." Historically, the Belarusian parties never observed the elections. Now, with presidential elections looming on the horizon, they insist on the fulfillment of their legal rights. (ILHR, Charter 97, May 24)

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE APPROVES DECREE No. 8

On May 22, ignoring numerous protests of international community and domestic NGOs, the Committee On International Relations of the House of Representatives, lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament, approved Decree No. 8 "On Certain Measures of Regulation of the Procedure of Receipt and Use of the Foreign Charitable Aid," which imposes restrictions on foreign assistance to NGOs for democracy building and human rights, including election monitoring, reported Radio Racyja. The Decree was signed by Alexander Lukashenko on March 12, 2001, and viewed by local and international observers as designed to target the democratic opposition ahead of the forthcoming September presidential election. (Radio Racyja, May 23)

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE HARASSED BY STATE TV

Heavily biased state-controlled media continue an aggressive propaganda campaign against potential presidential candidates from the opposition. On May 19, Yury Azarenko, host of "Politics: Hidden Strings," an analytical program broadcast by the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company, showed the audience the portrait of Gen. Pavel Kozlovsky, former Defense Minister and a potential candidate for the Belarusian presidency, in black funeral frame with a huge question mark. Kozlovsky insists that the regime hints that he could share the fate of other politicians who have dared to challenge the authority of the authoritarian Belarusian ruler. (Belapan, May 23)

LOCAL AUTHORITIES REFUSED TO HOST VOTERS' MEETING WITH DOMASH

The Krichev Region Executive Committee refused to host a voters' meeting with Semyon Domash, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet [the disbanded parliament], chair of the Grodno Initiative and the Coordination Council of Belarusian Regions and a proposed opposition candidate in the 2001 presidential elections, on the pretext that it considers the gathering "inexpedient."(Nasha Svaboda, May 21)

MASS DETENTIONS OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS IN MINSK

On May 18, Alexander Nishchyk, Alexander Panteleev, Alexander Tarasov, Igor Kunitsa, and Maxim Azaronak, all members of the Malady (Youth) Front, were detained at approximately 3:40 p.m. for marching along Lenin street and Skaryna Avenue and held for until 7:00 p.m. in a hall of a nearby building, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. At about the same time, Pavel Severinets, leader of the Malady Front, youth wing of the Belarusian Popular Front, was arrested and taken to the Sovetsky District Internal Affairs Directorate. Later that day he was reprimanded by the Sovetsky District Court of Minsk for "using name of unregistered organization" under Art. 167, par. 10 of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code, reported Nasha Svaboda.

Timofei Atroschenko, Yana Sanko, Natalya Vasilevich, Natalya Karkhina, Oleg Sakhadin, Evgeny Permiakov, and Vladimir Horsa, was detained by plain-clothed agents near the Tsentralny supermarket in Minsk while preparing to do a skit on the occasion of Museum Day.
According to activists, the agents had shaved and heads were wearing T-shirts. On the request of
Vera Stremkovskaya, head of the Human Rights Center and a prominent Belarusian civil rights lawyer, and Valentin Stefanovich, Viasna' s legal adviser, to show their IDs, the law-enforcers laughed that they are volunteers and hockey-players and made derogatory remarks about opposition activists. Timofei Atroschenko received numerous body injuries. All detainees were forced into a bus and taken to the Tsentralny District Internal Affairs Directorate.

Vitaly Novikov, Gennady Seleznev, Alexander Streltsov, and Sergei Rabkevich were detained at Kastrychnitskaya metro station for holding a banner "We won't surrender Belarus!" According to witnesses, Alexander Streltsov was brutally beaten by eight people in plain clothes. This group of detainees was brought to the Leninski District Internal Affairs Directorate, accused of staging an unauthorized picket and summoned to appear in the Minsk City Police Department court on May 28.

Valery Schukin, deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and a journalist of Narodnaya Volya, an opposition newspaper, was detained and brutally beaten by the Minsk police during the opposition action called "The Chain of Those Who Care," dedicated to vanished opposition politicians and organized by the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front headed by Zyanon Paznyak, reported Radio Racyja. As a result of the police brutality, the deputy suffered arm injury and numerous bruises and required immediate hospitalization. The trial of Schukin had to be postponed due to his poor health. He intends to sue the riot policemen who abused him. Vladimir Yukho, one of the organizers of the action, was taken to hospital with a broken arm. In all, about thirty activists were arrested (See Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 20). At approximately 6:00 p.m., the police cordoned off for about an hour the headquarters of the BPF Adradzhenne on 8 Varvasheni Street in Minsk, searching everyone who was entering and leaving the office, reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. Six police cars were parked nearby.

Vera Stremkovskaya and Ales Belyatsky, chair of Viasna Human Rights Center, addressed the Belarusian Interior Ministry, urging to launch an investigation into the violent mass detentions of opposition activists and punish those responsible. (Viasna Human Rights Center, Nasha Svaboda, BPF Adradzhenne press service, Radio Racyja, May 18- 23)

OPPOSITION ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO TEN DAYS IMPRISONMENT

On May 21, the Partyzansky District Court of Minsk sentenced Valery Zherbin, member of the BPF Adradzhenne, to ten days imprisonment for "participation in mass actions that violated public order" under Art. 167, par. 1, of the Administrative Offenses Code. On April 21, Zherbin took part in an unauthorized anti-Lukashenko action, titled "Ultimate Diagnosis," in Gorky Park in Minsk (see Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 17), reported BPF Adradzhenne press service. During the action, he, along with thirty-eight other protesters, was detained and brought to the Partizanski District Internal Affairs Directorate. En route to the station, many of the demonstrators were physically and verbally abused. On the morning of April 22, Zherbin and fifteen other protesters were transferred to Okrestina Prison, where they were held for another three days. (BPF Adradzhenne press service, May 22)

OPPOSITION LEADER REPRIMANDED

On May 24, the Tsentralny District Court of Minsk reprimanded Sergei Popkov, deputy chair of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP-BPF), led by Zyanon Paznyak, reported CCP-BPF press service. On May 16, about fifteen policemen broke into Popkov's apartment, where he was holding a meeting with a few other Party's members, arrested the activists and conducted an unwarranted search of the apartment. During the arrest, the activists were physically and verbally abused. The policemen torn Popkov's shirt. The activists were taken to the Tsentralny District Internal Affairs Directorate, where Popkov was accused of organizing an anti-Lukashenko rally scheduled for May 18 in Minsk. However, the next day, the Tsentralny District Court of Minsk unexpectedly charged Popkov with illegally participating in Charnobylsky Shlyakh 2001 in Minsk on April 26, 2001, which marked the 15th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In the courtroom, the defendant testified that a few days prior to the May 18's rally he received a phone call from the police lieutenant-colonel Girel, who threatened him with legal prosecution for illegal participation in Charnobylsky Shlyakh if he organizers another demonstration on May 18, the day of opening of the Second All-Belarusian People's Assembly, a Soviet-style congress, in Minsk. During the trial police witnesses confirmed that on May 15 they were ordered to file a report about Popkov's participation in April 26's rally. (CCP-BPF press service, May 25)

THREE OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN MINSK

On May 24, Ales Kornienko, leader of the youth wing of the United Civil Party, was arrested by the police along with two other Party's members while passing out satirical flyers with calls to watch "the most objective" the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTR) near the Oktyabr (October) movie theatre in Minsk. The activists were taken to the police station and charged with alleged violation of rules of public sanitation under Art. 143, par. 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code and are to stand trial. (Charter 97, May 25)

ZUBR ACTIVISTS MARCH IN MINSK

On May 19, about 900 members of Zubr, a nation-wide youth opposition movement, marched along sidewalks in downtown Minsk to rehearse for a series of rallies ahead of the presidential elections and to demonstrate to the regime that if it is not register candidates for the presidency from the opposition, it will face a strong civil resistance, reported Nasha Svaboda. While security services maintained a strong presence, the event proceeded peacefully. Similar actions took place in several other Belarusian cities. No incidents with the police were reported. (Nasha Svaboda, May 23)

SEVEN ZUBR ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN BORISOV

On May 22, seven activists of Zubr were arrested by police during a soccer game in Borisov, Minsk Region for displaying a dozen of flags with Zubr (Bison), reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The activists were taken to the police station and charged with displaying unregistered symbols. The law-enforcers forced the activists to write in an explanatory notes and released them in about two hours. (Viasna Human Rights Center, May 23)

KGB PUTS PRESSURE ON INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST

On May 15, Pavel Mazheiko, journalist of Pahonya, an independent newspaper, was summoned for interrogation to the local KGB department for fighting terrorism in connection with in connection with an article titled "Integrators won't come to Grodno" he published in May 10 issue of the newspaper, reported the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The author, who cited in the article an excerpt from a statement of the so-called Council of Commanders of the Belarusian Popular Self-Defense, was accused of engaging in terrorist activities and ordered to disclose the source of the information about the organization. On the same day, the KGB interrogated Nikolai Markevich, Pahonya's editor-in-chief, and Aleksey Salei, another newspaper's employee. On May 18, Salei was interrogated again. KGB officer Boris Ragimov, who in 1998 investigated the case of Pavel Sheremet, head of special projects at ORT, expressed genuine interest in Pahonya's sponsors, publishers, and members of staff. On May 21, Ragimov charged Mazheiko and Markevich with concealment of a facsimile from the Council of Commanders of the Belarusian Popular Self-Defense, whose activities weaken Belarusian statehood and undermine the state system. Markevich accused the authorities of violating his rights as journalist and refused to provide the KGB with any further information. [Charter 97 reported that on May 25, Pavel Sheremet, was detained for a short period of time by Russian law-enforcers in Vnukovo airport in Moscow upon the request of the Belarusian side. On numerous occasion, Sheremet stated that the Belarusian authorities started legal proceedings against him in connection with disappearance of his colleague Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT cameraman. (BAJ, Charter 97, May 24- 25)

LOCAL AUTHORITIES SUPPRESS CITIZEN'S RIGHT TO RECEIVE INFORMATION

The Belarusian government continues its suppression of freedom of speech, as well as the freedom to receive, retain, and disseminate information, reported Radio Racyja. The authorities of Smorgon, Grodno Region have banned the local state agencies and organizations from subscribing to Novaya Gazeta Smorgoni (Smorgon's New Newspaper), local independent newspaper.

The League notes that both the 1994 and the operational Constitution of the Republic of Belarus adopted in 1996 guarantee freedom of media (Art. 33). The existing law "On Press and other Media," which came into the force in January 1995, was amended in June 1996, and in January 1998, and under revision right now, guarantees in Art. 3 "freedom of press and other media to citizens of the Republic of Belarus." The same article entitles Belarusians to "found media, own, use, and control them." Citizens are further "entitled to freely seek, obtain, use and circulate information with the help of press and other media, to freely express through them their ideas, views and convictions." Also, Belarus is a signatory of the Human Rights Charter and of the Convention of the CIS on "Human Rights and Basic Freedoms," adapted in May, 1995, which states in Art. 11: " Everyone has the right to freedom of expressing his/her opinion. This right includes freedom to stick to one's opinions, to receive and impart information and ideas through any legal media without interference." (Charter 97, ILHR, May 23)

ACTIVISTS STAND TRIAL FOR DISTRIBUTION OF UNREGISTERED BULLETIN

On May 22, Evgeny Klunak, Elena Vorobieva, and Elena Schastnaya were detained by the Minsk police while distributing Predprinimatel (Entrepreneur), bulletin of the Strike Committee of the Belarusian marketplace and street vendors, reported Nasha Svaboda. The activists were taken to the police station and accused of "illegal distribution of the printed materials of an unregistered outlet" under Art. 172, par. 3, of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code, an offence punishable by fine up to five minimal wages. [On May 25, they stood trial, but no information has yet been available about their sentences.- Ed.]. (Nasha Svaboda, May 25)

68% OF BELARUSIANS DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO UNBIASED NEWS SOURCES

According to a survey of the Belarusian public opinion conducted by the Minsk-based Independent Institute for Socioeconomic and Political Studies, 68% of Belarusians do not have an access to unbiased source of information about the political situation in the country, while 33% said they do. The study found that 39% of respondents believe that the Belarusian state television is a reliable news provider, while 34% said they do not. About 42% of Belarusians consider their motherland a totalitarian state; 53% of respondents believe that the country's human rights record is poor and worsened significantly in recent years. (Radio Racyja, May 23)

PROFESSORS FACE NINE YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT

On May 21, the trial of Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, ex-rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute and Professor Vladimir Revkov, his former deputy, who are charged with bribery, continued in Minsk. Prosecutor demanded for both of them a sentence of nine years in a hard-labor colony and confiscation of property. Their attorneys believe that such severe punishment can only be explained by the fact that the case is politically motivated and the sentences are predetermined by the Lukashenko high-ranking officials. The criminal case against the well-known scientists, who have been studying radiation problems, was initiated in July 1999. Although the prosecution has failed to produce any evidence, it claims the two took a total of $200,000 in bribes. Local observers fear that some of the testimony from students and parents may have been forced and that the charges against the scientists are in retaliation for their accusation of the Lukashenko government for neglecting and concealing the harmful impact of small radiation doses on people residing in contaminated areas. (Radio Racyja, May 22)

JULIA CHIGIR IS NOT ALLOWED TO REPRESENT HER SON IN COURT

The Belarusian Prosecutor Office has refused to allow Julia Chigir, wife of Mikhail Chigir, former prime minister and a potential candidate for the Belarusian presidency, to defend her younger son Alexander in court, reported Radio Racyja. Alexander, 24, was arrested at a car market on February 10, 2001, along with Sergei Koleda and Vasily Bykov on charges of selling spare parts from stolen vehicles [see Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 7-8.]. On February 19, 2001, he was officially charged with "large-scale larceny committed by a group" under Art. 205 par. 4 of the Belarusian Penal Code, an offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison. On March 6, his lawyer, Alexander Pylchenko, was attacked on the street by unknown individuals, beaten, and suffered a concussion and broken nose. Earlier, the judge had refused to allow Alexander's mother, Julia Chigir, to defend him in court. Alexander reported that during the detention he was beaten and denied adequate medical treatment. Human rights monitors reported that this case appears to be politically motivated because Alexander fell victim to a well-prepared provocation, carried out by the secret services to discredit his father. (Radio Racyja, May 23)

NUMBER OF PRISONERS ON DEATH ROW INCREASES

Despite the fact that the death penalty has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments and is brutalizing to all involved in its application, Belarus remains the only country in Europe, which continues to use it. Narodnaya Volya, an independent daily reported that 126 death row inmates have been executed over the past seven years. This year alone, 11 people were sentenced to death. [In November 2000, the UN's Committee against Torture (CAT), a panel of 10 independent experts who evaluate states' commitments to the UN's binding treaties, expressed their concern over the continuing use of the death penalty in Belarus with inadequate procedures for appeals, lack of transparency about those being held on death row, and the stubborn refusal to return the bodies of executed to their relatives, thus inhibiting any investigation into charges of torture or ill-treatment of them in prisons.-Ed.] (Narodnaya Volya,
May 23)

-CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS-

June 7- the United Civic Party to hold a series of pickets within in Minsk and thirty other Belarusian cities to protest against political disappearances in Belarus.

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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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