INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 4, No. 49
December 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

- Powell Pledges Continued Support for Democracy In Belarus
- Belarus Foreign Minister: We Are Ready To Improve Relations With U.S.
- Supreme Court Closes Students Association
- Youth NGO Head Tried For Receiving Foreign Assistance
- New Developments In Case Of Missing Journalist
- Union Activist, Opposition Member Fired For Their Activities
- Kurapaty Defenders Face Trial
- Supporters Of Opposition Presidential Candidate Fined
- Activist Under Investigation For Slandering Lukashenko
- Parliament To Hold Hearings On Death Penalty
- Opposition Party Denied Air Time On State TV
- Refrigerator Plant Director Faces Up To Eight Years In Jail
- Conference On Belarus Held In Norway

COLIN POWELL PLEDGES TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN BELARUS

On December 4, in an address to the Ninth OSCE Ministerial Council, at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a result of the presidential elections conducted in a manner inconsistent with internationally accepted standards, Belarus's self-imposed isolation will only grow and relations with democratic countries, including the United States, will only deteriorate. He added that the U.S. will continue to support democratic developments in the country. Following are excerpts from his speech pertaining to Belarus:

"Despite OSCE's heroic efforts led by Ambassador Weick, the head of the OSCE Mission in Belarus, the Presidential elections in Belarus did not meet international standards. The Government of Belarus ignored the recommendations of the OSCE on what conditions would need to be established in order for free and fair elections to take place. It is unfortunate, indeed, that the government of Belarus continues to act in a manner that excludes Belarus from the mainstream of European political life. We will continue to work with our fellow OSCE states to support development of genuine democratic institutions and a strong civil society in Belarus." (for full text see http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/index.cfm?docid=6645).

Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head the OSCE mission in Belarus, who also attended the Council, said that the OSCE will keep promoting democratic reforms in Belarus. (OSCE, December 4)

BELARUS MINISTER: WE ARE READY TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH U.S.

The Belarusian government is eager to develop bilateral relations with the United States
and is prepared to work together in the spheres of economy, academia, culture, and education, said Mikhail Khvostov, Belarusian Foreign Minister, in a December 3 interview to Stolitsa Radio Station in Minsk. Khvostov said that the political situation in Belarus after the presidential elections is creating new possibilities for building healthy bilateral relations between the two countries. The Lukashenko official condemned "political and economic discrimination against Belarus forced by the U.S. State Department for political reasons."

Khvostov, who was also attending the Ninth OSCE Ministerial Council, suggested that the OSCE should adapt itself to new threats and challenges. He called on the organization to increase the efficiency of its field missions whose activities, he said, need a "review and reform." The Belarusian Foreign Minister said that the OSCE missions should strictly abide by their mandates and work in close coordination with the authorities of the hosting country. He also proposed to review the amount of his country's contributions to the OSCE budget. (RIA news agency/Belapan, December 6)

SUPREME COURT CLOSES STUDENTS ASSOCIATION

The Lukashenko government continues its pattern of retribution against groups and individuals who supported the single democratic candidate. On December 3, the Belarusian Supreme Court ruled to close the only independent student organization in Belarus, Zadzinochanne Belaruskih Studentov (Belarusian Student Association). The Ministry of Justice had issued five warnings to the organization [one of them was about an allegedly incorrect spelling of the organization's name on its mailing box; another warning was issued for alleged violation of visa regulations by one of the organization's guests from abroad] and filed a lawsuit to close it. The petty nature of the warnings did not stop Judge Bobkov from upholding four of them. Krystina Sidun, leader of the Association, said that the lawyers representing the Association were able to render powerless almost all of the arguments presented in the Justice Ministry's suit, with only one remaining: the Association held one of its conventions allegedly in violation of the Law on Assembly. This last argument is likewise untenable since this convention took place in 1995 and the Ministry of Justice has re-registered the Association twice since then.

Sidun said that the organization was closed for its active role in the election campaign of Vladimir Goncharik, the single democratic candidate. She plans to establish a new student organization and register it with the Ministry.

In an open letter, the International League for Human Rights called upon Alexander Lukashenko to respect basic human freedoms and cease the harassment of the Association and other NGOs. "Belarus can never be considered part of the democratic European community until the government takes appropriate measures to assure that the crucial freedoms of speech and assembly are protected and upheld," wrote Catherine Fitzpatrick, League's Executive Director. (ILHR, Nasha Svaboda, November 30-December 4)

YOUTH NGO HEAD STANDS TRIAL FOR RECEIVING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

On December 5, Sergei Odinets, chair of Gart, a Gomel-based youth center, stood trial for an alleged violation of presidential Decree No. 8 "Several Measures on Improving Distribution and Use of Foreign Humanitarian Aid," which banned foreign donations to NGOs that are involved in any political activities or election monitoring. Before the September 9 presidential elections, local KGB confiscated the organization's office equipment and found in the database information related to the election campaign of opposition candidate Vladimir Goncharik. The decree bans all donations to NGOs or political parties which are not pre-approved by the government, and which are used to organize elections, referendums, rallies, street protests, demonstrations, pickets and strikes, or to prepare and disseminate printed materials of an allegedly "subversive" nature. Even a single violation of the Decree may lead to the closure of a public organization and severe financial penalties.

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee issued a statement reiterating its concern about the regime's ongoing harassment of NGOs and raised the case of Sergei Odinets and the Belarusian Student Association. (Radio Racija, December 4)

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CASE OF MISSING JOURNALIST

Judge Alexander Simonov of the Minsk Region Court continued to examine key witnesses in the case of Valery Ignatovich and Maksim Malik, both former officers of the Almaz Special-Assignment Police Force, Aleksey Guz, former student of the Police Academy, and Sergei Savushkin, a former convict, who are accused of committing seven premeditated murders, five armed assaults, two abductions, including kidnapping of journalist Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT cameraman in Belarus. The court summoned someone with the last name Leonenko, a former officer of the presidential security service and now an officer in the Almaz Special-Assignment Police Force, who, according to Pavel Sheremet, colleague of the missing journalist, was seen near Zavadsky's apartment building on the morning when the journalist disappeared. Since the court is closed to the public, no information about the results of Leonenko's interrogation have been available.

Meanwhile, Nasha Svaboda published an interview given to RFE/RL correspondent Sergei Naumchik by Gennady Uglyanitsa, a former officer of the Department for Constitutional System Protection and Terrorism Prevention of the KGB Office for Minsk and the Minsk Region, and Andrei Zhernosek, an activist of Krai, a small Belarusian nationalist group, who fled Belarus. Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek believe that Ignatovich did not kill Zavadsky. According to Uglyanitsa, initially, the investigators did find any evidence of the crime while searching Ignatovich's car. He said that it is hard to believe that they could miss a shovel stained with Zavadsky's blood, which was allegedly found in the trunk during the second search. Uglyanitsa said that the only explanation he has is that the shovel was placed in Ignatovich's car clandestinely after it was sealed following the first examination by someone who wanted to frame Ignatovich.

Uglyanitsa and Zhernosek said Vladimir Budko, younger brother of Yury Budko, who served in the SOBR [the interior ministry's special rapid response unit] under Dmitry Pavlichenko, was the one who showed a place where Zavadsky's body was buried. Vladimir Budko was arrested by KGB officers on the roof of the Janka Kupala Museum in Minsk with a sniper rifle in his hands. According to Uglyanitsa, Budko was about to fulfil another order of his commander Pavluchenko. But the former investigator still does not know who Budko was ordered to kill this time. Vladimir Budko was tried by a military court and received a mild suspended sentence thanks to interference of his boss Pavlichenko. (Nasha Svaboda, December 3)

UNION ACTIVIST, OPPOSITION MEMBER FIRED FOR THEIR ACTIVITIES

Igor Maslovsky, chair of the Brest branch of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and active opposition activist, lost his job as a lecturer at the Department of Geography of the Brest State University after the academic council had voted not to award him tenure.

Valery Eromenchuk, leader of the Free Trade Union of the Saman-Plus Woodworking factory in Mosty, Mogilev Region, was fired due to "professional unfitness." Eromenchuk, an electrician of high qualification, believes that he was fired, without cause, for his union activities. (Viasna Human Rights Center, December 4-5)

KURAPATY DEFENDERS STAND TRIAL

The trials of opposition activists who on November 8--9 protested against expanding Minsk Beltway over the mass grave in Kurapaty continued in Minsk. The Sovetsky District charged Roman Kazakevich, activist of the Malady (Youth) Front, with violation of Art. 167, par. 1 (participation in mass actions violating public order) and fined him BYR100,000 (about $70). Sergei Popkov, deputy chair of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, and Yaroslav Steshik, activist of Zubr, a nation-wide youth opposition movement, were fined BYR50,000 (about $35) and BYR45,000 (about $30), respectively.(Charter 97, December 3-5)

SUPPORTERS OF OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FINED

Victor Yasukevich and Tamara Levskaya, both members of the initiative group of Vladimir Goncharik, an opposition presidential candidate, were fined five minimal wages (about $35) for alleged disobedience to the police. (Viasna Human Rights Center, December 7)

ACTIVIST UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR SLANDERING LUKASHENKO

Investigation into the criminal case of Natalya Brel, 27, activist of the United Civic Party from Rechitsa, Gomel Region, will continue for another couple of months, said in an interview to Belapan Natalya's lawyer Dmitry Ivanishko. Brel, a Ph.D. candidate at the History Department of the Belarusian Academy of Science, 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 rope 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. (Belapan, December 3)

PARLIAMENT TO HOLD HEARINGS ON DEATH PENALTY

The House of Representatives, lower chamber of the Belarus' National Assembly, is to hold hearings in spring on the death penalty, Ivan Pashkevich, head of the parliamentary Commission for Human Rights and Mass Media, informed Belapan. Pashkevich said that the idea of hearings is strongly supported by Ural Latypov, head of the Lukashenko Administration, and that representatives of European democratic institutions will have a chance to take part in them.

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. A referendum on the topic in 1996 had shown that the public supported the continued use of the death penalty, although the introduction of the sentence of life imprisonment had reduced the number of death sentences.

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, issued conclusions and recommendations on the third periodic report of Belarus, citing numerous continuing allegations of torture and other inhumane treatment or punishment committed by State officials or with their acquiescence. The Committee members expressed concern over a lack of independence of Belarusian prosecutors and the continuing use of the death penalty 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.

The parliament is also to consider establishment of an independent office of ombudsman with effective powers to investigate all complaints of human-rights violations. It is still unclear who will be given the authorities to appoint the ombudsman: Lukashenko or his rubber-stamp parliament. (Belapan, December 7)

OPPOSITION PARTY DENIED AIR TIME ON STATE TV

The authorities continue to deny access to the news media to the opposition. The United Civic Party, chaired by Anatoly Lebedko, was denied free air time on the state television to share with the audience its views on the perspectives of the country's economic developments summarized in the Program of Social-Economic Reforms in Belarus. (Charter 97, December 7)

NEW YOUTH ORGANIZATION ESTABLISHED IN BELARUS

On December 2, about 80 delegates from all Belarusian regions gathered in Minsk to take part in the constituent assembly of the Young Social-Democrats, a new civic organization and a former youth wing of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP), or Narodnaya Hramada, chaired by Nikolai Statkevich. Marina Azarenok was elected the organization's head. In the nearest future, the organization plans to apply for registration. (Belapan, December 4)

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

REFRIGERATOR PLANT DIRECTOR FACES UP TO EIGHT YEARS IN JAIL

Investigators of the Belarusian State Controlling Committee reported that Leonid Kalugin, CEO of Atlant, a Minsk-based refrigerator plant, arrested on November 21 on charges of large-scale embezzlement, is accused of violation Art. 424, par. 3 (abuse of power), Art. 225 (non-repatriation of hard currency proceeds from abroad), and Art. 233 (unlawful entrepreneurial activities) of the Belarusian Penal Code. Kalugin, who remains in custody, faces up to eight years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. This past August, he attempted and failed to collect the 100,000 signatures required for his registration as presidential candidate.

Apparently trying to prevent "destabilization of the state system" and putting up the struggle against "the corrupted opposition," the authorities also arrested Vladimir Aleinikov, director of Tractor stadium in Minsk, for allegedly accepting a bribe from an entrepreneur, and dismissed Viktor Rakhmanko, head of the Belarusian railways, for "numerous violations of law." Nikolai Busel, former director of the Borisov Motor and Tractor Plant, is facing criminal charges of a large-scale embezzlement and abuse of power. Alexander Serebryannikov, director of Zhadonovichi outdoor automarket, was arrested on bribery charges. "There will be no forgiveness for those who got fat on the people's money," promised Lukashenko and warned Prosecutor General Victor Sheiman and Anatol Tozik, chair of the State Control Committee, about their personal responsibility for establishing order in the country.

Fearing a new wave of arrests, executive directors of some state enterprises voluntarily left their positions. Local observes believe that another high-profile criminal prosecution campaign launched by the regime is aimed at intimidating management at all levels in order to make it slavish.

Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head the OSCE mission in Belarus, expressed his concern over criminal proceedings against top officers in the economic administration, who collaborated with the regime opponents in the presidential campaign, adding that it appears to be part of a pattern of harassment of the Lukashenko government's political opponents. (Nasha Svaboda, December 5)

- INTERNATIONAL NEWS-

CONFERENCE ON BELARUS HELD IN NORWAY

On November 30, a second international conference, titled "Belarus: What Now? Belarus After Presidential Election 2001" and organized by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norwegian Institute of International Research, and the Human Rights House Foundation, took place in Oslo, Norway. The Belarusian delegation consisted of Amb. Andrei Sannikov, international coordinate of Charter 97, civic movement; Zhanna Litvina, chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Ales Belyatski, head of Viasna Human Rights Center; Ina Kulei, chair of Vezha [Tower], Brest-based information center; Lyavon Barshchewski, a leader of the Belarusian Popular Front; and Alexander Milenkevich, former election campaign manager of opposition candidate Semyon Domash. The Belarusians discussed the political situation in the country after the presidential elections with representatives of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), researchers, journalists, and members of both governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Representative of Belarusian Embassy in Sweden and Norway were also invited. (Viasna Human Rights Center, December 3)

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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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