INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 35
August 2001

***VISIT www.belarusupdate.org for news and views on the election and accompanying human rights concerns. Be sure to click on the "Russian" pages for frequent updates.***

IN THIS ISSUE:

- U.S. Secretary of State Urges Belarusian Government to Return to Democracy
- U.S. Criticizes Belarus Election Process and Crackdown On Press
- Regime Lashes Out At U.S. Criticism, Promises Fair Election
- Election Authorities Warn Opposition Candidate Against Campaign Violations
- Opposition Candidate's Supporters Picket Electoral Commission
- Police Raids Opposition Candidate's Regional Headquarters
- Authorities Seize 39,5000 Copies of Rabochy
- Opposition Candidate Appeals To Russian President
- American Expelled From Belarus For Alleged Election Plotting
- Lukashenko - "Always-on" Ahead Of Election
- Belarusian Ambassador Admits that Elections Won't Be Entirely Fair
- OSCE Special Coordinator Concludes Visit To Belarus
- OSCE/ODIHR Director Cancels Visit To Belarus Citing Visa Denials
- NYT warns about Belarusian Bully
- Two Men Tie Death Of Foes To Belarusian Dictator
- Former Prison Warden Accuses Lukashenko Of Murdering Opposition Figures
- Regime Denounces Video on Disappearances
- Crackdown On Independent Media Continues
- Chronicle Of Arrests Of Opposition Activists
- Trial Opens Against Head Of U.S. Exchange Office In Belarus
- Lukashenko Holds Largest Military Maneuvers

-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS NEWS-

COLIN POWELL URGES BELARUSIAN GOVERNMENT TO RETURN TO DEMOCRACY

On August 25, in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State, accused Alexander Lukashenko of running an authoritarian regime and human rights violations. Following is the text of the statement:

"Belarus's August 25, 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union filled Americans with hope and admiration. We witnessed Belarus rapidly take its rightful place in Europe through ratification of the START Treaty, accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and removal of all former Soviet nuclear weapons; through its active membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace; and through its policy to help build a Europe of democratic, truly independent countries free of dividing lines. We were pleased to support the Belarusian people as they worked hard during those first years after 1991 to strengthen their independence, create a democratic political system and rule of law, revive their rich culture, undertake difficult market reforms, and foster an open society. Our support for Belarus and its people as they moved forward was reflected in the highest-level contacts between our two countries, including President Clinton's visit in January 1994."

"Material assistance in support of Belarus' transition to democracy was, and has continued to be, generous as well. Since the beginning of 1992 the United States has provided more than $560 million in a broad range of public and private assistance to the Belarusian people, including more than $24 million in the past year."

"Thus the commitment of the United States to the Belarusian people and to their desire for independence and democracy has remained vigorous and direct. We would welcome the opportunity to continue growing our bilateral relations in the same way. Regrettably, since 1996 the Belarusian regime has chosen to abandon the transition to democracy and the rule of law. The regime has harassed civil society. It has constantly violated human rights and other commitments and obligations which Belarus accepted as an OSCE participating state and signatory of the Vienna Convention. Its policies have led to retrogression in economic policy and performance, with attendant pauperization and decline in public health standards. It has tried- in vain- to stir up hostility toward Euro-Atlantic institutions. In short, the regime's policies have prevented the United States and other OSCE participating states from being able to develop bilateral relations fruitfully and normally. What will it take to put our bilateral relations back on a strong footing? The answer is simple, and one which we continue to state to the Belarusian authorities, to the citizens of Belarus, and in international fora. The United States is prepared to resume productive bilateral relations; to restart high-level contacts; and to encourage greater two-way political, trade, investment, and military contacts. However, we are prepared to do so only if the Belarusian authorities adhere to the standards Belarus accepted as an OSCE participating state and UN member state. Among others these standards include free, fair and democratic electoral processes; respect for civil society and human rights; and rule of law."

"The Belarusian authorities know the specific steps they need to take to meet their OSCE commitments and to have the results of the upcoming presidential election recognized as valid. The OSCE, United States, EU, and most recently the Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission have spelled out what the authorities need to do to bring their electoral process into conformity with OSCE standards."

"The Belarusian authorities' failure to take these steps in a timely, consequential, and serious way will not deter us from continuing to expand our contacts directly with the Belarusian people. But this failure will condemn the current regime to remain the lone outlaw in Europe. We thus express our hope that the Belarusian authorities will work with the citizenry of Belarus to return their country to the path it began to tread so resolutely on August 25, 1991."

Alexander Lukashenko labeled Powell's comments "unprecedented insolence." "With this statement, the U.S. Department of State simply insults the great Belarusian nation, which with the great Russian nation saved humanity from the 'Brown Plague'," Lukashenko said, referring to the key role the Soviet Union played in defeating the Nazi Germany in World War II. (Charter 97/Itar-Tass, August 27)

U.S. CRITICIZES BELARUS ELECTION PROCESS, CRACKDOWN ON PRESS

On August 28, Richard Boucher, U.S. State Department spokesman, raised doubts about the fairness of the election campaign in Belarus. He expressed concern over the recent seizure of a special edition of an opposition newspaper [Rabochy] and the closure of a printing house frequently used by non-state media. Following are excerpts from his statement:

"We've been very troubled by the situation that is developing in Belarus during the run-up to the September 9th presidential election. Although the connection between the disappearance of leading pro-democracy politicians over the last two years and government-run death squads has yet to be proven, we do take these charges seriously. We expect a full, independent and public investigations."

"We think that they [the Belarusian authorities] need to take certain steps to try to ensure that the election can be free and fair. First of all, to ensure access by all parties to state-run media on an equitable basis; second, to allow meaningful participation by all parties in electoral commissions at the national and local levels; third, to end the harassment of non-governmental organizations engaged in election- related civic education, and for it to allow effective election monitoring at all polling places by domestic and international observers for the full five days of polling and during the vote counting." (Federal News Service, August 28)

REGIME LASHES OUT AT U.S. CRITICISM, PROMISES FAIR ELECTIONS

On August 29, Mikhail Khvostov, Belarusian Foreign Minister, denounced the statements by the U.S. State Department accusing the Lukashenko government of obstructing the electoral process and questioning the fairness of the upcoming presidential elections. "It is a crude and direct interference in the internal affairs of Belarus," Khvostov said in his appearance on the state television. "We would like to confirm once again our readiness to conduct an open, fair, transparent and democratic election." Khvostov said, adding that Washington was supporting Lukashenko's challengers in the vote, and that Belarus was being bombarded with Western recommendations about how it should run the elections. Referring to the opposition, Khvostov further accused the U.S. of "offering political support to people who could not reach power on their own." (Belapan/Charter 97, August 29)

ELECTION AUTHORITIES WARN GONCHARIK AGAINST CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS

On August 27, Lydia Yermoshina, chair of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, privately warned Vladimir Goncharik, chair of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus and Lukashenko's main challenger in the Sept. 9 vote, for violating the country's electoral law during his presidential campaign. The opposition candidate was accused of distributing the printed materials of an unregistered outlet, posting his election leaflets in "unauthorized" places, and collaborating with "For New Belarus," an unregistered civil-rights movement for election of a new president, established by Vasily Leonov, the former Minister of Agriculture. [Leonov is also Goncharik's campaign manager. In October 2000, he was released from jail after spending nearly 3 years in prison on charges of large-scale embezzlement and bribery. He 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.]. Yermoshina charged that the free distribution of Nasha Svaboda, Rabochy, Belaruskaya Maladzyozhnaya, Den, and other opposition newspapers supporting Goncharik's election amounted to bribery, and warned that he could be removed from the ballot if further campaign violations were found. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, August 27)

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE'S SUPPORTERS PICKET ELECTORAL COMMISSION

On August 27, about a hundred supporters of Vladimir Goncharik submitted individual statements to the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, saying that Lukashenko's campaign was unethical. The proponents of the opposition candidate said they were facing harassment and persecution by the authorities, including police raids of regional electoral headquarters and the detention of campaigners, and demanded that the incumbent president's registration as a candidate in the upcoming ballot be annulled. "Not a single state-run newspaper which would not violate the law by campaigning for Lukashenko can be found. All of them present the unified candidate Goncharik in negative light. The flood of lies and slander in the television and radio's programs is growing every day," the Goncharik's supporters maintained.

They also complained that Goncharik was virtually deprived of a chance to meet with the voters during the short, 25-day campaign, since under the current law formal requests for such meetings have to be submitted 15 days in advance, while Lukashenko could freely hold such meetings. "Considering the facts of legal violations by the presidential candidate and members of his team," the election commission should cancel Lukashenko's registration, Goncharik supporters demanded. The group picketed the commission headquarters in Minsk with placards that read: "Honesty Is The Best Policy,"" and "The People And Not The Central Election Commission Must Choose!" Police demanded that the slogans be taken away and attempted to detain several of the participants, accusing them of holding an unsanctioned rally. (Nasha Svaboda/ Belapan, August 28)

POLICE RAIDS OPPOSITION CANDIDATE'S REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS

On August 25, a group of police officers led by Lt.-Colonel Alyonushkin, deputy chief of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Mogilev City Executive Committee, and Lt.-Colonel Yermakov, deputy chief of a district police department, raided regional electoral headquarters of Vladimir Goncharik in Mogilev, seizing election materials and briefly detaining Ivan Solonovich, the region's coordinator. The intruders failed to present a search warrant and explained that they just wanted to "take a look," reported Goncharik's press center. Three hours later the law-enforcers tried to break into the office again, but a group of about thirty activists blocked the entrance. Solonovich said several pro-Goncharik activists who distributed materials in support of their candidate were also detained the next day. "We've set up seven information points around the town. The office chiefs in five of them are regularly called in by the police for identity checks and kept for hours at a time," said Oxana Bernadskaya, Goncharik's campaign manager in Mogilev. Similar incident took place in Vitebsk. Authorities were also preventing Goncharik's election materials and independent opposition newspapers from reaching rural areas where support for Lukashenko is traditionally strong.

The Grodno City Executive Committee banned Goncharik from holding a rally on August 30 on the grounds that action organizers failed to apply for a permission. However, a representative of the regional campaign headquarters told Belapan that they had submitted the application in full accordance with existing legislation.

On August 27, about a dozen of riot police officers and plain-clothed agents, broke into the house of Mikhail Rudko, Goncharik's campaign coordinator in Brest. (Nasha Svaboda/ Charter 97/Belapan, August 26- 28)

AUTHORITIES SEIZE 39,5000 COPIES OF RABOCHY

On August 28, 39,500 copies of a special issue of Rabochy, a newspaper of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, printed by Magic publishing house, were seized by representatives of the Pervomaisky District Prosecutor's Office of Minsk, reported Belapan. The reason for confiscation was an article titled "Thief Must Go to Jail," which accuses the Belarusian strongman and his entourage of committing numerous economic crimes. The issue also contained the election platform of Vladimir Goncharik, and an interview with Semyon Domash, a former opposition candidate. Victor Ivashkevich, Rabochy's editor-in-chief, had asked Magic to print 400,000 copies of the edition. When first 39,500 copies were out of print on the evening of August 27, Vladimir Gloushakov, deputy head of the State Committee for Press, who had been temporarily appointed Magic's acting director, stopped the press, on the pretext that Rabochy had failed to make an advance payment on the order. On August 28, the money was transferred to the publishing house's account, but when Ivashkevich arrived to pick up the copies, he was met by the investigator Faleichik, who already confiscated them. Ivashkevich was notified about the launching of criminal proceedings for slandering the president under Art. 367, par. 2, of the Belarusian Penal Code, which is punishable by up to five year's imprisonment. On August 29, he was summoned to appear in the prosecutor's office for interrogation in capacity of witness. (Belapan, August 28)

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE APPEALS TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

On August 29, Vladimir Goncharik appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to help ensure a democratic vote in Belarus. Using the second of two free appearances allotted to each candidate on state-run television, Goncharik denounced the presidential campaign as a "parody," criticized the Belarusian government for rude violations of the electoral process, and warned that the election results might not be recognized by the international community. "We very much want to believe that you share the concern for the trustworthy results of elections in a neighboring and friendly country," Goncharik said, addressing his remarks directly to Putin. He called on the Russian president not to remain neutral but to "come forward for guarantees of fair and democratic elections." "The neutrality may only be welcomed if the election campaign were being carried out honestly, according to Belarusian law and international norms," Goncharik said in the 30-minute speech. "To many intelligent people, it's already clear that what is occurring in Belarus is not a campaign to elect the president, but a propaganda campaign for one person." Goncharik also pointed to a largely ceremonial union that Russia and Belarus have formed to foster cooperation between the Slavic nations. "Does Russia really want to build a union with this kind of outcast?" he asked, adding that "sooner or later the people, responsible for these crimes, will be called to answer for them." (Belapan/ Charter 97, August 30)

AMERICAN EXPELLED FROM BELARUS FOR ALLEGED ELECTION PLOTTING

On August 26, the Belarusian KGB released a statement, in which it accused Robert Fielding, an official at a U.S. labor union center in Minsk, of interfering in the country's internal affairs by campaigning for opposition candidate Vladimir Goncharik and informed that Fielding was deported. "The Committee for State Security has evidence that Fielding arrived in our country to coordinate preparations for a mobilization of opposition forces for an unconstitutional ousting of the current president," the statement said. KGB accused Fielding of drumming up support for Goncharik among trade union activists and telling them that world bodies such as the United Nations and the OSCE were against the Belarusian leadership. KGB said the acts amounted to "interference in the internal affairs of the republic" and had prompted Fielding's deportation. Fielding was detained on August 25 at a hotel in Grodno after he came out in support of Goncharik while addressing a meeting of local free unions and after about ten hours of interrogation was sent to neighboring Poland. He was denied access to either a lawyer or the Embassy. The Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BTR) showed blurred footage of a man with a suitcase boarding what looked like a train for Poland. Fielding was barred from entry into the country for five years, KGB said. The U.S. Embassy said it strongly disapproved of illegal expulsion of Robert Fielding. (Belapan/Nasha Svaboda, August 27-28)

LUKASHENKO "ALWAYS-ON" AHEAD OF ELECTION

Alexander Lukashenko seems to be so confident of being re-elected on September 9 that he has declined to put out election posters or to use the time allocated to him on national radio and television for electoral broadcasts. He is content, he says, to "limit [his] media presence to the coverage of [his] everyday business." This, however, is sufficient to ensure that the Belarusian strongman is always on. Accompanied as ever by a television camera crew, he takes time out to walk into shops and inquire about the prices, hauling officials over the coals if shortages are revealed, or to call in on the country's many collective farms, where he promises loyal workers that their taxes will be reduced and money provided to buy new machinery. He signed a decree offering free transport to pensioners, students and children in Minsk throughout September. Senior state officials have also been called into the line of duty. During a visit to the Gomel Region, Petr Prokopovich, chair of the National bank, informed regional bank managers that they were to let their clients know that an opposition victory would mean chaos. "The objective is a solid margin of victory [for Lukashenko] that western institutions cannot place in doubt," he told his audience. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta/ Radio Racija, August 28)

BELARUSIAN AMBASSADOR ADMITS THAT ELECTIONS WON'T BE ENTIRELY FAIR

On August 30, Valery Tsepkalo, Belarusian Ambassador to the United States, spoke at the National Press Club Afternoon Newsmaker Program about the political and socio-economic situation in Belarus ahead of the presidential elections. He admitted that Alexander Lukashenko "has more levers of influence" than his opponents and therefore could be considered to have an unfair advantage in the upcoming elections. "You can't say these elections are entirely fair," he told reporters. He agreed that the incumbent president "naturally receives more attention" from the media than his opponents, but added that this situation is not unique to Belarus. Tsepkalo said there will be about 1,000 international observers to monitor the election, including about 200 from the OSCE and expressed confidence that the vote count will be accurate because the Belarusian electoral law strictly prohibits electoral fraud. He urged the U.S. State Department not to take at face value the rumors of links between the government and the alleged death squad. "It is erroneous to say that the government knows whether the disappearances are of a political or criminal nature" the Belarusian Ambassador said. (Dow Jones Newswires, August 31)

OSCE SPECIAL COORDINATOR CONCLUDES VISIT TO BELARUS

On August 28-29, Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland MP), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President and the special coordinator for the OSCE election observation mission to Belarus, visited Minsk in order to study the pre-election situation and to discuss issues arising from it with the Belarusian authorities, presidential candidates, and representatives of civil society. The OSCE official held meetings with Mikhail Khvostov, deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Lydia Yermoshina, chair of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, presidential candidates Sergei Gaidukevich and Vladimir Goncharik, and representatives of the Domestic Election Observation Network, Belarusian think-tanks and human rights NGOs. Kiljunen expressed concerns over the procedures governing early and mobile voting, which present opportunities for electoral manipulation. He welcomed initiatives designed to enhance the transparency of the vote tabulation and aggregation stages of the electoral process. Kiljunen believes that any measure which enhances public confidence in the election result should be supported by the Belarusian authorities and civil society. The special coordinator expressed hope that the reported incidents of media harassment and human rights violations will stop, thus improving the environment necessary for a free and fair election. Kiljunen said he was surprised by the low level of voter interest in the elections.

Last week, Hrair Balian, head of the ODIHR Election Section, accused the Lukashenko government of preventing his observers from accurate monitoring of the elections and imposing "unprecedented" limitations on their work. For example, observers are not allowed to hold news conferences before the elections are complete, and may not approach the tables where votes are being distributed and counted. On September 7-10, Adrian Severin, parliamentary head of the OSCE pan-European security body, will travel to Belarus for the elections. (OSCE, August 28)

OSCE/ODIHR DIRECTOR CANCELS VISIT TO BELARUS CITING VISA DENIALS

On August 27, citing government obstruction, Amb. Gérard Stoudmann, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), cancelled a planned two-day visit to oversee OSCE preparations for the observation of the upcoming presidential election in Belarus. The trip was cancelled when two key aides - half of the travelling party - were refused visas. "This is yet another step in what has become systematic obstruction and interference with the observation," said Stoudmann. "Despite these limitations, our team remains in Minsk and continues to make every effort to cover all aspects of the election."

Belarusian authorities had previously delayed an invitation to the ODIHR observers by several weeks and then further delayed issuing visas to the initial members of the observation team. This prevented international observation of critical early phases of the election process. Consequently, the ODIHR was able to establish only a Limited Election Observation Mission, rather than its standard, in-depth operation. No satisfactory explanation was provided for the latest visa refusal. The two observers refused included the ODIHR's desk officer for the Belarus elections and another election expert who was to co-ordinate the work of all long-term observers.

"Although no one is disputing any state's sovereign right to control entry into the country, the ODIHR, in order to fulfil its mandate, needs to be able to choose the composition of its observation team. Visa denials without credible justification, such as in this case, together with the other obstacles created for this mission, constitute a clear interference with the independence of the observation mission. Never before has an OSCE participating State so actively interfered with an ODIHR election observation," commented Stoudmann.

NYT WARNS ABOUT BELARUSIAN BULLY

Nothing is more likely to drive a dictatorship to extremes of repression than the threat of a competitive election. That is exactly what is happening now in Belarus, Europe's last redoubt of Soviet-style tyranny, wrote the New York Times in an August 29 editorial. With the candidate of a unified opposition given a chance of winning an honestly conducted vote next month, Lukashenko seems determined to crush his critics, while lashing out at the West. It is up to the outside world, primarily the European Union, Russia and the United States, to insist on a free campaign and honest vote count.

The European Union needs to be particularly vigilant and vocal during this election period. As the political voice of Europe's democracies, the EU must come to the aid of those struggling under Europe's last dictatorship. The kind of coordinated American and European campaign that helped keep Slobodan Milosevic from stealing Yugoslavia's presidential election last year could be effective in Belarus next month. In particular, Brussels and Washington need to rally behind the plans by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to supervise thousands of election monitors in Belarus. Goncharik's candidacy offers Belarusians a realistic chance to rid themselves of the oppressive Lukashenko. He should not be allowed to rob them of that opportunity. The full article can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com

-HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

TWO MEN TIE DEATH OF FOES TO BELARUSIAN DICTATOR

The drumbeat of revelations timed to rattle Lukashenko and rouse the country's historically apathetic electorate as the election draws near, continues in Belarus. A new videotape released on August 27 added new weight to allegations that a government-sponsored death squad murdered Victor Gonchar and Anatoly Krasovsky in 1999. On the videotape, sent to most media outlets in Minsk, two men say that while they were investigating the disappearances of Gonchar and Krasovsky, they determined that a group of five agents of a special Interior Ministry troops brigade abducted them as they were leaving a sauna in September 1999, shot them in a forest and buried the bodies in the Jeep Cherokee in a sand-covered pit outside the brigade's base in the town of Begoml. The video, which is of poor resolution, shows a wooded area and a pit where the bodies and Gonchar's jeep were supposedly buried. One of the men identified himself as Gennady Uglyanitsa, an officer of the Department for Constitutional System Protection and Terrorism Prevention of the KGB Office for Minsk and the Minsk Region. The other introduced himself as Andrei Zhernosek. He was also identified in media reports as a KGB investigator, although his background is not clear. Charter 97 reported that he is a former member of the Malady Front, opposition youth organization, and an activist of Krai, a small Belarusian nationalist group. [On August 28, Radim Goretsky, a famous Belarusian scientist, confirmed that one of the officers on the tape is Gennady Uglyanitsa, his son-in-law. According to Goretsky, Gennady disappeared after leaving for work over the weekend. Goretsky complained that his daughter was under 24-hour government surveillance.-Ed.].

Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek say on the tape that they decided to independently investigate the disappearance of Gonchar and Krasovsky after an official inquiry produced no results. "Everyone seemed to be fine with the idea that these people vanished and the perpetrators could not be traced," said Uglyanitsa. According to Andrei Zhernosek, in September 1999, a group of five agents of a special Interior Ministry troops brigade in two cars (BMW 525 and Audi 200) left the base in the evening, abducted Gonchar and Krasovsky, shot them, and returned to their barracks at approximately 1:00 a.m. The next day, the soldiers dug a deep ditch, drove the jeep with bodies in and covered it with the sand. Among those allegedly involved, Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek named Vladimir Novatorsky, identified as the head of the "capture group," Alexander Mekiyanets, driver and a contract soldier, Yury Budko, Lieutenant Koklin, officer Murashko, and major Dmitry Pavlichenko. Zhernosek said he and Uglyanitsa, wearing camouflage and equipped with night-vision tools, located the pit with a metal detector. They made two test borings and hit upon metal at a depth of about 2 meters. "Nobody dug any further because the pit is located to close to the [SOBR] unit," they said.

The two men based their account on the testimony of Vitaly Metelsky, a driver for the military unit who witnessed the killings and has since gone into hiding. Uglyanitsa said that he personally participated in the questioning of Metelsky. He described the briefings as follows: "We talked to him several times. But only at the third or fourth talk, he gave us full evidence that concerned all circumstances of this case. He resides in Borisov, Minsk Region. He is a former [military] driver, served in Unit No. 3214. In September [1999], he served in the SOBR [the interior ministry's special rapid response unit] under [Dmitry] Pavlichenko. He chauffeured him several times personally. It has been a week and a half since the witness went into hiding."

The same day, the excerpts from the video were shown on Russia's NTV television, which is watched widely in Belarus. The two men said they were willing to testify about what they had seen, but only if some government could guarantee their safety. An English-language transcript of their remarks is posted on the Web site of Charter 97: www.charter97.org

REGIME DENOUNCES VIDEO ON DISAPPEARANCES

On August 28, Alexander Lukashenko and his top aides mounted an aggressive campaign to deny allegations that a government-sponsored death squad had murdered the opposition politicians. Lukashenko charged that the allegations stemmed from people trying to unseat him in the presidential elections, saying that the accusations were coming from people who had left Belarus and "taken Western money to flood Belarus and poison the people." "The opposition can tell that they are going to lose the election, and that is why filth is gushing from the media," he said. The Belarusian leader called the video tape another provocation masterminded by the opposition ahead of the elections, reported Itar-Tass. "I will tolerate that until September 9, and then I will put things in order," he warned, promising to "impose order, as in France or as is done in the United States or, if you wish, Russia." He has also promised to close down media that, during the campaign, do not provide what he deems to be "objective information." Betraying a certainty of victory that would not be possible in a democratic country, he told journalists, "you will have to live with this president." Lukashenko denounced NTV, Russian television network, telling a crowd in Minsk: "Yesterday's dirty release that was done through NTV. What have you achieved? You got your face in the mud. You ruined my mood."

The same day, Vladimir Naumov, Belarusian Interior Minister, and a group of specialists and hand-picked journalists traveled to Begoml, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Minsk, to the wooded site where Gonchar and Krasovsky were supposedly buried and declared there was no sign of bodies. The specialists examined the area with metal detectors and other devices, and determined the earth had not been disrupted and no bodies were buried there, Naumov said. "All these 'facts' outlined by these men were found to have no truth," Naumov said after the trip.

Fyodor Kotov, chief spokesman for the Belarusian KGB, also dismissed the video. "We can prove that the tape and all in it is a falsification with the aim of discrediting the acting authorities, which appeared only in connection with the upcoming presidential elections," he said in an interview to the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BTR). The KGB spokesman said there was someone called Uglyanitsa in the security agency but that the video quality was too poor to determine whether it was the same man. KGB chief Leonid Yerin said Uglyanitsa was indeed missing and that law enforcement agencies would begin a search for him, reported Interfax. He said Uglyanitsa did not say anything on the tape except for "a few incoherent remarks," while the man calling himself Zhernosek made all the accusations. Yerin described Uglyanitsa's behavior as "strange"" and said the video could be a fake. On August 30, Belarusian KGB chief Leonid Erin said his agency wants both Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek for questioning. (Nasha Svaboda/ Charter 97/Itar-Tass/ Interfax, August 27-30)

PRISON WARDEN ACCUSES LUKASHENKO OF MURDERING OPPOSITION FIGURES

On August 28, Col. Oleg Alkayev, who was in charge of Green Mile, the execution chamber, at a Minsk prison since 1996 and supervised 130 executions of criminals until he fled to Germany this summer (see Belarus Update Vol. 4, No. 29), said in an interview with Reuters that he believes that Lukashenko sanctioned and covered up the murder of his political opponents. "At first, I thought Lukashenko didn't know everything and that he would speed up the investigation. After he deliberately slow down the investigations, and got involved in the cover-up, I became convinced he knew it all," Alkayev said. He said he realized something was wrong when a senior Interior Ministry official twice asked him in 1999 to borrow his executioner's gun (6PB-9 army pistol equipped with a silencer) "for training purposes." "I thought it was strange, but I obeyed the orders," he said. Only later, did he realize that the gun had been checked out precisely during the periods when Gonchar and Zakharenko vanished. "This became a nagging issue for me because I understood that if a body was found with a bullet from my gun, it would show that I had committed the murder," Alkayev said. "Who would doubt that someone who had participated in so many executions would be involved in a pair of extra killings?" he said. Alkayev pressed for an inquiry into the use of the gun but was told to keep quiet. "Never before had I seen the government a participant in the murder of innocent people," said Alkayev. "I was punishing only guilty people and I know better then anyone the difference between the guilty and the innocent." (Reuters, August 30)

CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA CONTINUES

On August 29, police from the Moscovsky Department of the Committee for Financial Investigation entered editorial office of Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, and without providing any explanations confiscated a computer, which was sealed during the August 23' search. (Nasha Svaboda, August 31)

CHRONICLE OF ARRESTS OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS

On August 24, Dmitry Pechura, Goncharik's supporter from Vitebsk, was arrested in Minsk for delivering a package of T-shirts covered with anti-Lukashenko slogans. The activist was released next day with no police report filed on him.

On August 26, Vera Lipskaya, Victor Yakubov, Mikhail Orlov, Oleg Abiazov, and David Monko, citizen of Poland, were arrested in down town Novopolotsk, while pasting posters "Choose", "Fashion 2001" and giving out oranges to the passers-by. The activists were searched and taken to a police station, where the policemen checked their documents and threatened them with fine up to ten minimal wages. (Viasna Human Rights Center, August 27)

On August 26, Victor Kochan and Ekaterina L. (last name is unknown), both Goncharik's supporters, were detained by the police in downtown Bobruisk, Mogilev Region, for wearing T-shirts with the slogan "For New Belarus!" The activists were ordered to take off the T-shirts and illegally kept in detention for about thirteen hours, reported Viasna Human Rights Center.

Anatoly Fedorov, chair of the Mogilev branch of the BPF Adradzhenne and a member of Goncharik's campaign staff, and his friends were detained by the Minsk police for alleged possession of the illegal opposition printed materials dedicated to the forthcoming presidential elections. The law-enforcers failed to confiscate them because the driver managed to drove away. The activists were brought to a district police department, where they were ordered to write explanatory notes about the purpose of their trip.

On August 28, six Zubr activists, including five minors, were arrested for staging an unauthorized picket in Mogilev. The activists formed a human chain, holding portraits of the disappeared politicians. An adult protester was charged with violation of Art. 167, par. 1, of the Administrative Offenses Code (participation in mass actions that violate public order) and received summons to appear in court. http://www.zubr-belarus.com/

Dmitry Lupach and Dmitry Kurtsevich, both activists of Zubr, were detained in Glubokoe, Vitebsk Region, while distributing "Time to Clean Up!" stickers, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The policemen filed a report on boys, but confiscated only those stickers that pictured a person looking like Lukashenko, obviously for their private collections.

On August 30, three policemen searched the private apartment of Victor Romanishko, activist of Viasna Human Rights Center in Svetlogorsk, Gomel Region, on the pretext that a computer had been stolen from a local church. "This is not their first visit. They come several times a week and always make up a reason for it," commented Romanishko. The same day, the office of Rechitsa branch of the Gomel Initiative was searched. In this case, the police was looking for cans of spray-paint used for writing anti-Lukashenko graffiti. Paint was not found.

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

TRIAL OPENS AGAINST HEAD OF U.S. EXCHANGE OFFICE IN BELARUS

On August 28, Charles Perriello, the director of the Belarusian office of American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (ACCELS) went on trial in Minsk on narcotics charges. Perriello, 40, was arrested in June by the Belarusian KGB and has been held since in a KGB prison in Minsk. The trial opened in the Centralny District Court. No details of the proceedings were immediately available. ACCELS was established in the mid-1980s to administer U.S. government-funded exchange programs for scholars from the SU and Eastern Europe and for U.S. scholars. Perriello's case came in the wake of a case in Russia in which American Fulbright scholar John Tobin was sentenced on marijuana charges earlier this year. Tobin was freed on parole earlier this month. Tobin's case attracted wide attention after Russian security officials publicly accused the 24-year-old of being a spy in training. No espionage charges were filed, and Tobin said he was framed because he refused to become a spy for Russia. (Charter 97/Belapan, August 29)

LUKASHENKO HOLDS LARGEST MILITARY MANEUVERS

On August 26, in an attempt to demonstrate its military might, the Belarusian authorities launched the largest ever post-independence military maneuvers involving about 9,000 infantry, border and interior troops and emergency workers as well as 1,600 military vehicles, guns and armor. The scenario of the Neman 2001 exercise involves a military conflict between two imaginary nations, reported Itar-Tass. Alexander Lukashenko, who is also the country's commander-in-chief, is expected to oversee the exercise's largest phase on Aug. 30-Sept. 1 when troops will engage in mock combat activities on several training grounds. (Itar-Tass, August 27)

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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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tel. 212-661-0480
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The e-mail remains the same: belarus@ilhr.org

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