INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 44
November 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

LUKASHENKO ADMITS USE OF DEATH SQUAD AGAINST CRIMINALS

On October 23, during his trip to the Gomel Region, Alexander Lukashenko bragged that the Belarusian mafia is kept in check by a constant death threat. "About five years ago, I promised to outlaws to pull off their heads if they create a criminal situation in the country," he said. In Lukashenko's own view, being an "honest" leader and "not a thief" gives him unquestioned authority and helps to keep the country in order. "Do you remember Shavlik and others? Where are they now?" asked Lukashenko, referring to Vladimir Kleshch, a famous thief known, and other mafia kingpins who disappeared without trace last year.

Gary Pogonyaylo, a prominent Belarusian human rights lawyer and a member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, reports that Shavlik fell into disgrace in 1996, when he staged an extravagant birthday or wedding. The information about the festivities, attended by some Russian and Belarusian pop music stars, reached the press and allegedly infuriated Lukashenko, who ordered the Interior Minister to put an end to this "crying shame."

Dmitry Petrushkevich, a member of the investigation team of the Belarusian Prosecutor's General Office, and Oleg Sluchek, a former investigator, who fled the country, believe that a death squad, formed by the Lukashenko regime to murder its political opponents, is being the murder of Shavlik. He was the first crime figure to disappear. Then, the death squad was said to be responsible for the murder of another notorious criminal nicknamed "Mamontyonok," and other, lesser known underworld figures in Belarus. Later, according to Petrushkevich and Sluchek, high-ranking government officials who served as the death squad's cover ordered their assassins to abduct and murder Viktor Gonchar, a 13th Supreme Soviet deputy chair, his business associate Anatoly Krasovsky, Yuri Zakharenko, former Interior Minister, and Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT cameraman.

Apparently realizing he may have said too much, Lukashenko ordered his people to deny any allegations about his government's involvement in the physical elimination of the criminal leaders. In an interview with Nikolai Borisevich, correspondent of Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, Lukashenko's press-secretary insisted that Lukashenko had not mentioned any names and had talked about a decrease in crime in general. Mikhail Udovikov, deputy chair of the secretary of the Belarusian State Security Council, and Anatoly Mitskevich, KGB department head, claimed they simply "did not hear" Lukashenko's speech, aired by the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BTR) on October 28.

On October 30, during a round table on combating terrorism, Mikhail Medvedev, head of the Committee to Fight Organized Crime and Corruption t the Belarusian Interior Ministry, was also asked about the fate of the disappeared mafia leaders. "What could possibly have happened to them?! All criminals sooner or later end up in jail, or disappear without a trace, such as what happened to Shavlik," replied Medvedev, adding that the missing criminals deliberately went into hiding to avoid their criminal past. Medvedev did not rule out that Shavlik fell victim to an internal power struggle in the criminal world. "Why should we all be so concerned about the fate of outlaws who always look for trouble!" he concluded. (Nasha Svaboda/ Radio Racija/ Belapan/ Belarusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, October 30 - November 2)

MASS DETENTIONS OF MALADY FRONT ACTIVISTS IN MINSK

On October 26, at approximately 16:30 p.m., twenty five activists of the Malady (Youth) Front, gathered near the detention center on Volodarsky Street in Minsk to hold an unauthorized action "Youth Against Fascism." Holding lighted candles, flowers, and pictures of Kiril Trusov, Vladimir Shcherbatsevich, and Maria Bruskina, all members of the Minsk youth underground resistence organization who were executed by Nazi invaders on October 26, 1941, the activists planned to march toward the Minks Yeast Factory located on Kastrychnitskaya Street, where the patriots were shot. As soon as the column started moving, OMON, the Belarusian riot police, started detaining demonstrators. Pavel Severinets, the organization's chair, who had just been released from jail after serving his ten days' imprisonment on charges of violating Art. 167, par. 1, of the Administrative Offenses Code (participation in mass actions violating public order), was the first to be detained. He and twelve other organization's members were taken to the Moskovsky District Directorate of Internal Affairs. Boris Goretsky, Kastus Shidlovsky, and Irina Viatkina, all minors, were shortly set free.

Ten other detainees were transferred to the Okrestina detention center, where Elena Volynets, the only woman among the arrested, was soon released. Pavel Elovik was also allowed to go home because, according to one of the officers, he looked "like a cripple." Both of them received summons to appear in court on October 29. Pavel Severinets, Alexsey Shein, Alexsey Cherniyaev, Ales Panteleev, Maxim Vinyarsky, Ales Nischik, Oleg Lobaty, and Vladimir Pubinchik spent about 60 hours in detention until the morning of October 29. The activists reported physical and verbal abuses by law-enforcers. On October 29, Judge Antanovich of the Moskovsky District Court of Minsk reprimanded Volynets and sentenced Cherniyaev and Panteleev to three day imprisonment on charges of violating Art. 167, par. 1, of the Administrative Offenses Code (participation in mass actions violating public order). The case of Pavel Elovik was closed. The trial of other activists was postponed. (Nasha Svaboda/ Belarusskaya Delovaya Gazeta/ Malady Front press service, October 29-November 2)

ACTIVISTS STAND TRIAL FOR PARTICIPATION IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN

On October 30, Andrei Osmolovich was fined the equivalent of two minimal wages on charges of "petty hooliganism" under Art. 156 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, for participation in independent observation of the September presidential election. During the trial, the judge decided to ignore the fact that the police report was filed on October 18, that is, 11 days after the activist's detention, and later revised. Some of the policemen who were summoned to the court to testify against the defendant confessed that they were seeing him for the first time and could not provide any information about his "illegal" activities on October 7. http://www.zubr-belarus.com/

On October 30, Mechislav Giruts and Tadeush Gavin, chair of the Association of Belarusian Poles, were reprimanded by the Grodno District Court for holding an unauthorized meeting on September 7 in a school of Sapotskin, small town in the Grodno Region

In September, 2001, the Moskovski District Prosecutor's office of Minsk opened a criminal case against Sergei Mikhnov, a member of the Belarusian Language Society and an independent observer in the presidential elections, for violation of Art. 191 of the Belarusian Penal Code (creation of obstacles to the work of the electoral commission), an offence punishable by up to three years of imprisonment. The charges were brought after the activist submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor's office concerning the falsification of the voting results at the polling station No. 45 of the Moskovsky District of Minsk. (Viasna Public Association Human Rights Center/Nasha Svaboda, November 2)

ACTIVIST CHARGED WITH SLANDERING LUKASHENKO AWAITS TRIAL

Prosecutors have ended investigation into the criminal case of Natalya Brel, 27, activist of the United Civic Party from Rechitsa, Gomel Region, who is charged with slandering the Belarusian president under Art 368, par. 1, of the Belarusian Penal Code, which is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment. On August 30, Lukashenko's birthday, Natalya brought a noose and a piece of soap to the local electoral commission, asking officials to pass "the birthday present" to the Belarusian leader. The activist spent three days under arrest and was forced to sign a pledge not to flee. The prosecutor said that whether Natalya will stand the trial now depends on whether Lukashenko himself decides to press charges. (Radio Racija, October 31)

OPPOSITION VENERATES MEMORY OF EXECUTED SCIENTISTS

On October 30, about a hundred activists from democratic political parties and movements and famous Belarusian historians gathered at Kurapaty, the site of the mass graves of thousands of victims of the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s, to erect a wooden cross in the memory of Belarusian archeologists Sergei Dubinsky, Alexander Kovalenya and Alexander Lyavdansky, who were executed at Kurapaty on August 27, 1937. Money for the memorial were raised by the employees and students of the National Academy of Sciences, the Belarusian State University, the Belarusian Pedagogic University, and the National Museum of History and Culture. (Belapan, October 30)

OPPOSITION HOLDS TRADITIONAL DZYADY RALLY

On October 28, commemorating Dzyady, the ancestors' remembrance day, and marking the International Day of Memory of Victims of Political Repression, about 1,000 activists of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front carrying candles and ringing bells, marched from the Minsk city center to Kurapaty, the site of mass graves of thousands of victims of the Stalinist repressions in the 1930s. The six-mile walk to the Kurapaty burial site has become an annual tradition to honor the memory of those who were killed during Joseph Stalin's terror. Speaking at the rally, Yuri Belenki, the acting Party chair, and Oleg Trusov, chair of the Belarusian Language Society, said that the current Belarusian leadership follows in the steps of those who once shot innocent people in the back of the head. The marchers received a permit from Minsk city authorities. (Nasha Svaboda, October 29)

OSCE/ODIHR RELEASES FINAL REPORT ON BELARUSIAN ELECTIONS

On October 4, OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission released its revised version of the final report of the September 9 presidential elections in Belarus. Following are excerpts from the Executive Summary:

"Regrettably, the 2001 presidential election failed to meet the OSCE commitments for democratic elections formulated in the 1990 Copenhagen Document. Although the election process on September 9 was generally positive, violations committed against domestic observers and in some cases against international observers raised questions about the integrity of the process. These questions were further aggravated when combined with the high turnout during the permissive early voting process (14-19%), the mobile vote (4.5%), and the absence of transparency during the critical tabulation of the nationwide aggregated voting results."

"Nonetheless, election day proceedings were not the determining factor for concluding that the presidential election failed to meet the OSCE commitments for democratic elections. Already during the months leading to 9 September, conditions in Belarus were such that the presidential election could not meet the OSCE commitments for a free, fair, equal, transparent and accountable election. In a political culture unaccustomed to opposition and pluralistic political debate, with vertical State structures in control of not only all levels of government but also industry, agriculture, education and social services, and the great majority of the population dependent on these vertical structures for its livelihood, far from being conducive to a democratic election, the environment did not provide an equal opportunity for contestants nor the possibility for the public to be informed about the choices available."

"This legacy of pervasive control and intolerance must be overcome before remedies to the technical aspects of the electoral process can bear genuine results. Such fundamental changes cannot be promoted and fostered in a country in isolation. As such, the isolation of Belarus is not in the best interest of its people and is not conducive to strengthening democratic development."

"Thus, the OSCE/ODIHR stands ready to consider cooperation with and assistance to the authorities and civil society of Belarus in order:

To promote a constructive dialogue across the political and social spectrum of civil society, and between the government and civil society;

To facilitate the parallel processes of promoting the democratic transition of Belarus and its integration in European structures; and

To eventually remedy the technical shortcomings and to build on the strengths identified in this report.

In this context, the AMG has a critical role and the OSCE/ODIHR looks forward to continuing its full cooperation with the Group."

The full text of the final report can found at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/documents/reports/election_reports/by/bel_sep2001_efr.php3

AUTHORITIES ARE "READY FOR DIALOGUE," BUT NOT WITH OPPOSITION

Sergei Posokhov, Lukashenko's aide on political issues, told journalists in Minsk that in order to demonstrate their commitment to democracy and human rights improvements not only with promises, but with concrete implementation, the authorities are ready to take meaningful steps toward broad public dialogue as the first step to civic accord in society. Meanwhile, the Lukashenko official stressed, negotiations with the opposition are only possible on the condition that the political opponents recognize the incumbent president as legitimate. (Radio Racija, October 31)

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

AUTHORITIES BAN COMMUNISTS RALLY IN MINSK

Citing concerns about public safety, the Minsk City Executive Committee denied permission to the Party of Communists of Belarus to hold a rally and meeting in Minsk to mark the 84th Anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution on November 7, which was once the most important holiday on the Soviet calendar, and still remains an official holiday in Belarus. The communists will only be allowed to lay flowers at the Lenin monument on the Independence Square. (Nasha Svaboda, November 1)

SLAVNEFT AND IRAQI OIL MINISTRY SIGN OIL CONTRACT

Slavneft, the Russian-Belarusian joint oil company, and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have signed a contract for the development of the Lukheis oil field in the south of Iraq, reported Slavneft's press service. Slavneft, which won a tender for the development of the field, will drill 25 oil wells. Oil that will be produced from these wells will be exported via ports in the south of Iraq. In addition, the contract, which will become effective in the second half of 2002, provides for drilling 3,000-meter wells in the Nakh Umr and Zubeir oil fields. (RosBusinessConsulting Database, October 29)

-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM-

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DIMINISHES IN BELARUS

The International Religious Freedom Report for 2001, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor last month, provided additional information regarding international religious freedom. The 2001 Report covers the period from July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001, and includes 195 country reports. Following are excerpts from the Report's Executive Summary regarding Belarus:

"The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the regime restricts this right in practice. The status of respect for religious freedom continued to worsen during the period covered by this report. Head of State Alexander Lukashenko has pursued a policy of favoring the Russian Orthodox Church, currently the country's majority religion, and the authorities have increased harassment of other denominations and religions. Some of these, including many Protestant denominations, the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous Church (BOAC), and some eastern religions, repeatedly have been denied registration by the regime. Without registration, many of these groups find it difficult, if not impossible, to rent or purchase property to conduct religious services. The authorities continued to enforce a 1995 Cabinet of Ministers decree that restricts the activities of religious workers in an attempt to protect Russian Orthodoxy and curtail the growth of evangelical religions. Some Protestant denominations have been the subject of judicial action by the regime for allowing foreigners to preach in their churches. Despite continued harassment, some minority faiths have been able to function if they maintain a low profile."

"There are, for the most part, amicable relations among registered, traditional religious communities; however, societal anti-Semitism persisted, and sentiment critical of minority faiths increased. Officially-sanctioned state newspaper and state television attacks on minority faiths also rose in frequency."

"The U.S. Government discussed with the regime the poor human rights situation in the country and raised problems of religious freedom during such discussions. US Embassy officials also discussed specific cases with the Government."

The full text of the report can be found at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/index.cfm?docid=5560

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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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