INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 48
November 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

- US 'Selective Engagement' Policy to Continue
- OSCE Sees Active Role in Democratization
- Amb. Wieck Departs
- Two Pahonya Journalists Warned
- Sheremet Testifies on Zavadsky Disappearance
- Harassment of Independent Trade Unions Continues
- Lukashenko-Putin: Friendship Strengthens

***Special feature today re: Lukashenko and the West at www.belarusupdate.org, "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones"*** (http://www.belarusupdate.org/news/analyses/sticks_stones.htm)

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

US AMBASSADOR: WE'LL KEEP TIES WITH BELARUS AT CURRENT LEVEL

The United States will maintain its relations with both the Belarusian authorities and civil society at the current level says Amb. Michael Kozak, U.S. envoy to Belarus, on November 25. Washington does not want to sever relations with Minsk and wants to see Belarus becoming a prospering part of Europe, Kozak said at an international conference, "Belarus After the Elections: Need for Change," held within the framework of the Fifth Minsk Forum on November 23-25. A program to promote U.S.-Belarus relations has been worked out and a mechanism for its implementation has already been established, he added.

Noting some negative developments in bilateral ties, Kozak denied allegations that the U.S. seeks to isolate Belarus and refuses to talk with Belarusian officials while giving priority contacts to the opposition. He disagreed with the allegation that America is pursuing a Cold War policy towards Belarus. Rejecting the assertion that the U.S. has imposed an economic embargo against Belarus, Kozak said that the U.S. has been applying a so-called policy of selective engagement with Belarus since February 1997. The U.S. has never broken contacts with Belarussian citizens and has rendered aid worth about $600m to Belarus since 1992, he noted, while urging Minsk to resume economic and market reforms. (Interfax, November 26)

OSCE PA GROUP DISCUSSES ITS ROLE IN DEMOCRATIZATION OF BELARUS

On November 25-27, two members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ad hoc Working Group, Uta Zapf (MP, Germany), the newly appointed head of the Working Group, and Urban Ahlin (MP, Sweden) visited Belarus to assess the situation in the country and to discuss ways in which the Working Group could play a role in promoting democratization in the country.

The delegation took as its starting point the fact that the recent presidential elections in Belarus did not comply with international standards for free and fair elections, as concluded by the OSCE Limited Election Observation Mission. It was equally guided by the conclusions that isolation is not in the best interest of the Belarusian people and is not conducive to strengthening democratic development and that a dynamic civil society is developing in the country.

During the visit, the delegation met with Alexander Voitovich, speaker of the Council of the Republic, upper chamber of the National Assembly, Lukashenko rubber-stamp parliament; Vadim Popov, speaker of the House of Representatives, lower chamber of the National Assembly, as well as other parliamentarians from the two chambers of the National Assembly. The delegation also held meetings with Stanislav Knyazev, first deputy chief of the Presidential administration; Mikhail Podgainy, Minister of Information; representatives of the Advisory Council of Opposition Political Parties, Republican Coordinating Council of Political Parties, research institutes, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, as well as OSCE Ambassadors.

During the discussions, the delegation stressed that it would continue to work closely with the OSCE AMG and encourage the authorities to deepen its co-operation with the Group. Zapf and Ahlin also discussed priority areas of the Working Group's future work in Belarus, which include, inter alia, the powers of Parliament, the media situation and the electoral framework. It was noted that meaningful progress on these issues could help to resolve the problem of lack of representation of Belarus in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The delegation saw a positive sign in the plans by the Parliament to alter the electoral code within the framework of the recommendations of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly since such changes could address some of the legislative shortcomings which were mentioned in the final report of the OSCE Limited Election Observation Mission. The delegation also saw discussions on the media law as an opportunity to involve civil society in the legislative process and to ultimately pass a law which meets international standards.

However, the delegation was seriously concerned by repressive measures against certain opposition-oriented media outlets and certain political figures who played a role in the electoral campaigns of opposition candidates. The Working Group will continue to closely monitor these and other cases. (OSCE, November 27)

HEAD OF OSCE MISSION TO LEAVE BELARUS

On November 25, Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head the OSCE mission in Belarus, told journalists in Minsk that his term in office will expire by the end of this year and he intends to leave Belarus. He emphasized that his decision to leave has nothing to do with the Belarusian authorities' numerous accusations of his support of the opposition. Amb. Wieck noted that it is the work of the OSCE missions to consult with official authorities, political parties, and the opposition. The diplomat encouraged Alexander Lukashenko to promote the development of democracy in the country in line with OSCE standards. Commenting on the results of the presidential election in the country, Amb. Wieck said that the mission could not render a definitive opinion for not a single independent monitor has been allowed to observe the actual vote count.

Mikhail Khvostov, Belarus Foreign Minister, canceled a meeting with Uta Zapf (MP, Germany), the recently appointed Head of the Ad hoc Working Group, who arrived to Minsk, on the pretext that the presence of Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck at the meeting "would create unfavorable conditions for talks" and that the stance of the head of the AMG OSCE mission "does not contribute to the successful work of the group in Belarus." In accordance with international diplomatic norms, the Working Group has always been accompanied by the Head of the OSCE AMG during official visits. (Interfax, November 25)

TWO PAHONYA JOURNALISTS WARNED

On November 26, Judge Demchenko of the Leninski District Court of Grodno issued warnings to Andrei Pisalnik and Pavel Mazheiko, both journalists of Pahonya, local Belarusian-language weekly. The journalists were arrested along with Nikolai Markevich, Pahonya's editor, during an unauthorized action "Chain of People Who Care," which was held on November 20 in Grodno to protest against the Court decision to shut down Pahonya, the local Belarusian-language weekly, for alleged violations of the Law On Press and Other Media. Markevich went into hiding. (Nasha Svaboda, November 28)

COLLEAGUE OF MISSING JOURNALIST TESTIFIES IN COURT

On November 26, Pavel Sheremet a Belarusian who now works in Moscow for Russia's public television ORT, testified in the Minsk Region Court, at a closed-door hearing in the case of Valery Ignatovich, former officer of the Almaz Special-Assignment Police Force, and his accomplices, accused of committing seven premeditated murders, five armed assaults, two abductions, including kidnapping of journalists Dmitry Zavadsky, who worked as an ORT cameraman in Belarus and who was Sheremet's colleague. Zavadsky disappeared on July 7, 2000 at the Minsk National Airport, while waiting to pick up Sheremet upon arrival from Moscow. When Sheremet arrived, Zavadsky was missing, but his car was found locked in the airport parking area.

Sheremet was prohibited by the authorities to divulge any information about his testimony to the press. Citing anonymous sources in the courtroom, Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported that Sheremet retold the court his conversation with Oleg Bozhelko, former Prosecutor General, while he was hiding in one of the Russian monasteries.

During the interview, Bozhelko shared with Sheremet the details of the interrogation of Lt.-Col. Dmitry Pavlichenko, commander of the military unit # 3214 of the Interior Forces, who on November 20, 2000, was placed in the KGB's jail and personally interrogated by Bozhelko, then Prosecutor General. According to Sheremet, after the interrogation, Bozhelko concluded that Zavadsky had been murdered and his body, along with the bodies of Viktor Gonchar, a 13th Supreme Soviet deputy chair, his business associate Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenko, former Interior Minister, were buried in the Northern Cemetery in Minsk. Bozhelko planned to issue a warrant to arrest Viktor Sheiman, then the secretary of the Belarusian State Security Council (KGB). The next day, however, Pavluchenko was set free upon Sheiman's order. A couple of days later, Lukashenko replaced Bozhelko with Sheiman and fired Vladimir Matskevich, then chief of the State Security Council.

In an interview to BDG, Pavel Sheremet said that he does not believe that Ignatovich and other defendants could mastermind Zavadsky's abduction on their own. "I still insist that Zavadsky's kidnapping was ordered by the authorities," he said. "If I were a judge, I would summon to court Viktor Sheiman [current Prosecutor General]," Sheremet concluded.

On November 27, the court granted a petition of the public prosecutor Fedor Shvedov to summon Bozhelko as a witness.

Gennady Uglyanitsa, an officer of the KGB's Department for Constitutional System Protection and Terrorism Prevention for Minsk and the Minsk Region, and Andrei Zhernosek, an activist of Krai, a small Belarusian nationalist group, who fled Belarus and found shelter in Norway, claimed in a recent interview to RFE/RL that
Valery Ignatovich and his group has nothing to do with Zavadsky's murder. At the same time, Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek confirmed that the journalist was killed by officers of the SOBR [the Interior Ministry's special rapid response unit] under Lt.- Col. Dmitry Pavlichenko. According to Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek, Zavadsky traveled to Chechnya three times, not twice as it was believed. The journalist never shared with anyone the circumstances of his third trip, during which he was detained by Russian soldiers among whom he recognized some former Pavluchenko's officers, who had been hired by Russia to fight against Chechen rebels after the SOBR was disbanded in December 2000. Later, Zavadsky met those people during the celebrations held at the military unit # 3214 of the Interior Ministry. (Nasha Svaboda, Belarusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, November 28 - 30)

OPPOSITION POLITICIAN SUMMONED FOR INTERROGATION

Vladimir Lebedko, leader of the opposition United Civic Party, was summoned for interrogation by the Minsk Prosecutor's Office, after he gave an interview to DPA, the German news agency, about the Lukashenko regime's illegal arms trading with rogue states. The Lukashenko entourage is becoming visibly nervous that it can not stop information leakage about its perceived role as a principal arm suppliers to dictatorships as well as terrorist groups in Central Asia, the Middle East, South America, the Balkans, and Africa, commented Lebedko. The allegations have been made by the independent press in Belarus as well as some Western governments. (Charter 97, November 28)

HARASSMENT OF INDEPENDENT TRADE UNIONS CONTINUES

Vyacheslav Kozel, leader of the Free Trade Union of the Minsk Tractor Plant, informed RFE/RL that when he arrived at the office on November 27, he found that the entrance door had been broken and part of the office equipment and the union's documents disappeared. Kozel believes that the burglary was masterminded by the authorities who continue the harassment campaign against the independent trade unions.

Although the Belarusian Constitution upholds the right of workers, except state security and military personnel, to form and join independent unions on a voluntary basis and to carry out actions in defense of worker rights, the authorities do not respect those rights in practice. The authorities have taken numerous measures to suppress independent trade unions and continue to discourage employees at state-run enterprises from joining independent trade unions. The Lukashenko Administration on numerous occasion accused leaders of independent unions of engaging in political activities which cause direct damage to the labor movement and aggravates the socioeconomic problems of society. (RFE/RL, November 28)

- BROTHER SLAVS -

PUTIN, LUKASHENKO DISCUSS TIES, MUTUAL SUPPORT IN MOSCOW

On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his seventh meeting with his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, in the Kremlin. They discussed the implementation of the Russian-Belarus Union Treaty, the creation of a common economic zone and a single currency and the preparations for the upcoming summit of the CIS leaders. Putin urged a more intensive implementation of Russian-Belarus agreements and praised Lukashenko's commitment to further ties with Russia. Lukashenko in turn thanked Putin for his support during the controversial presidential poll held in Belarus in September. He has flatly rejected rumors about worsening relations between the two countries. "If any talk of cooling relations appeared in Russia or Belarus, its absolutely untrue," said Lukashenko. He has dismissed as "nonsense" the very possibility that he might do anything against positive development of relations with Russia, "even if he wished." "This contradicts my principles, the top priority is our policy towards Russia," the Belarusian leader said. "All of my political life has been devoted to it... Russia and Belarus are inseparable," he concluded.

"The talks were exclusively open and benevolent," Sergei Prikhodko, Russian deputy presidential chief of staff told the press. The two leader "did not try to evade sore points and diversities existing in trade economic cooperation," Prikhodko said, noting that they are not afraid of these facts, as the Russia-Belarus Union, "with all its progress, is still too young and only growing muscles, although its potential has already become irreversible."
He said Putin and Lukashenko agreed that the Supreme State Council of the Russia- Belarus Union will gather for a session in Moscow on December 26. The day before this session, the Council of ministers of the Union will hold a meeting, for which a number of documents in the economic, legislative, and cultural spheres are being prepared at the moment. Following the talks with Putin, Lukashenko also met Russian Premier Mikhail Kasyanov. (RIA-Novosti/ Interfax/ Itar-Tass, November 28)

LUKASHENKO SUSPICIOUS OF RUSSIA-NATO COOPERATION

On November 29, Alexander Lukashenko called on politicians not to make hasty conclusions about Russia-NATO cooperation. "Don't hurry. A couple of years should pass before we'll be able to see what NATO really wants," the Belarusian leader told reporters in Moscow. He recalled that there has been warming in Russia-NATO relations before. Lukashenko said he does not rule out that by establishing new relations with Russia, NATO is trying to achieve goals that are not related to combating terrorism. "The world needs several points of support. Now there is only one point: the U.S.," Lukashenko said. (Belapan, November 29)

CIS HEADS GATHER IN MOSCOW FOR 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT

On November 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the heads of 11 former Soviet republics to the Kremlin and called for closer integration among the CIS countries.
At a news conference after the main summit meetings, Putin said recent world events had demonstrated the need for forging strong international partnerships. "The tragic events of Sept. 11 showed how vulnerable a country is on its own - even a country that is very powerful, economically and militarily," he said. The CIS members have sought varied levels of cooperation, with some, such as Georgia and Uzbekistan, determined to stake out an independent course. At the other extreme is Belarus, which has formed a far-reaching, though largely symbolic, union with Russia. "We all have different understandings of integration," Lukashenko said at the news conference. "I am in favor of the highest degree of integration, which was developed in the Soviet Union." (Interfax, November 30)

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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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