INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 5, No. 1
January 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

- Belarus Said to Be Terrorists' Arms Depot
- Parents Hold KGB Accountable For Their Son's Death
- Tortured Detainees Report Police Brutality
- In 2001 Regimes Took Tougher Measures To Stifle Press Freedom
- Independent Journalist Summoned For Interrogation in Grodno
- TV Producer Beaten By Police, Placed In Mental Institution
- Four Freedom March Protesters Sentenced In Absentia
- Another Professor Arrested In Gomel On Bribery Charges
- Opposition Commemorates 50th Birthday Of Its Vanished Leader
- Curfew To Control Youth Opposition
- Newspaper Urges Authorities To "Curb Catholic Expansion"

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

BELARUS - TERRORISTS ARMS DEPOT

Belarus, a lawless and undemocratic country in Europe deserving the most attention for its alleged support of terrorist groups and rogue states, continues to receive the least scrutiny, writes Mark Lenzi, a Fulbright scholar working in Lithuania and studying U.S. relations with Belarus, in an article titled "Europe's Armory For Terrorism," published in The Washington Post on January 3.

"Without a doubt," the author continued, "no world leader benefited more from the September terror attacks than Lukashenko." Just as world scrutiny and condemnation were beginning to mount after his rigged and falsified presidential election of Sept. 9, the tragic events two days later diverted Washington's attention away from Belarus.

Lenzi said he believes that in the Bush administration's worldwide effort to combat terrorism, Washington "needs to wake up to what is happening in the NATO's backyard: Belarus is quietly acting as a leading supplier of military equipment to Islamic radicals."

According to the article, in 1994, Lukashenko's first year as president, Belarus sold machine guns and armored vehicles to Tajikistan. The equipment quickly made its way into the hands of warring factions in neighboring Afghanistan, as well as Islamic freedom fighters aiming to overthrow the government in Tajikistan itself. Many others of Lukashenko's arms deals have followed a similar pattern: weapons sent from Belarus are "diverted" from a listed destination country to an Islamic extremist group or a country under U.N. arms embargo.

The Belarus-originated weapons have been responsible for "prolonging civil wars and internal strife in countries such as Tajikistan, Angola and Algeria," the author continues Sudan, a country where Osama bin Laden used to live and one that is known as a haven for terrorists, has obtained from Belarus such proven and capable weapon systems as T-55 tanks and Mi-24 Hind Helicopter gunships. Weapons sent from Belarus to Sudan either fall into the hands of terrorists or are used in a civil war that has already killed more than 2 million people.

Belarus has also been a key partner of Saddam Hussein in his effort to rebuild and modernize Iraq's air defense capability. The Lukashenko government, which according to Pavel Kozlovsky, former Belarusian defense minister, "does not have moral principles," has violated international law by secretly supplying Baghdad with SA-3 antiaircraft missile components as well as technicians.

The article points out that in many ways, the mercurial and authoritarian Lukashenko feels he has a free hand to sell arms to nations and groups that are unfriendly to the West, because the European Union and the United States do not recognize him as the legitimate Belarusian head of state anyway, the author continued. Threats of U.S.-led economic sanctions or other diplomatic "sticks" against Belarus hold little weight, since the country is already isolated to a degree rivaled only by a handful of other countries.

Since Russia is the "only country that has the necessary economic and political influence on Belarus, it is imperative that Washington use its new relationship with Moscow to encourage the Russians to exert their leverage on Belarus to cease covert arms sales to rogue states and terrorist groups," Lenzi concluded. The full article can be found for the next week at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54510-2002Jan2.html

PARENTS HOLD KGB ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR SON'S DEATH

The parents of Andrei Zaitsev, a 24-year-old Zubr activist from Gomel, who committed suicide on December 20, filed a complaint with Prosecutor Vladimir Podsekin of the Sovetsky District Prosecutor's Office of Gomel, requesting investigation into the circumstances of Andrei's death. They accused Fyodor Kotov, a KGB spokesman, of libeling their son.

Local observers believe Zaitsev was unable to withstand pressure from local KGB agents, who repeatedly asked him to become an informer and intimidated him. Kotov claimed that Zaitsev had been mentally unstable since 1988 and had allegedly made several suicidal attempt while serving in the army. The KGB official also insisted that the activist's condition was aggravated after he was charged with having sex with a minor. Kotov claimed that the accusations against the KGB were a "provocation."

Larisa Zaitsev, the activist's mother, submitted to the Prosecutor an audio cassette of a phone conversation between her son and Lt. Alexander Yevstigneyev of the Gomel Region KGB Department, as well as Andrei's letter to the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, detailing his recruitment by the KGB and a request for protection. So far KGB officials have denied that they have an employee with such a last name.

Last spring, the Sovetsky District Court of Gomel sentenced Zaitsev to three month's imprisonment on trumped-up charges of having sexual intercourse with his 15-year-old girlfriend under Art. 168 of the Penal Code [statutory rape]. In August 2001, when the medical examination revealed that the girl was still a virgin, the charges against the activist were dropped, but in late October the case was re-opened.

On December 29, nine days after Andrei's death, about twenty Zubr activists held a silent protest near his house in Gomel, accusing the Belarusian KGB of driving the young activist to hanging himself. They linked arms and held up Zaitsev's portrait. The police videotaped the action, but no arrests were reported. (Viasna Human Rights Center/ Radio Racija, January 4)

TORTURED DETAINEES REPORT POLICE BRUTALITY

In January 2002, Charter 97 issued a report of human rights violations by the regime in December 2001. The report indicated that the policemen used a kind of torture dubbed "the Sparrow," where the victim is hung up upside down by his handcuffed hands, which are held between his legs. Human rights activists said police used this method of torture to make Anton Yashin and Dmitry Yutskevich testify against Alexander Chigir, son of Mikhail Chigir, the former prime minister of Belarus and an opposition leader who was among prospective presidential candidates united in a coalition against Lukashenko last year. Chigir's son is now standing trial on charges of "large-scale larceny committed by a group" under Art. 205 par. 4 of the Belarusian Penal Code, for alleged setting up a car theft ring.

In court, the boys testified that on February 20, 2001, operatives of the Moskovsky District Internal Affairs Directorate tortured them, causing intense bleeding and bruising. Yashin was reportedly hung by his hands and later was placed in a so-called "special corridor," a windowless prison wing designated for recidivists, many of whom suffer from a highly contagious form of tuberculosis. [The frequency of tuberculosis in Belarusian prison is 30 times higher than among the rest of the population and is similar to the multidrug-resistant TB prison epidemic in Russia--Ed.]. During a recent medical examination, Yashin was for the first time diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and hepatitis. He is attending trial sessions wearing a gauze mask.

Julia Chigir, Alexander's mother, recently told reporters that the charge sheet had been tampered, and that the names of the victims and accomplices were not the same as those cited at the outset of the investigation. Julia Chigir said that her son saw one of his alleged accomplices for the first time in court during his testimony. The full text of the report can be found at: http://charter97.org/

The League has called for an impartial investigation of the case and fears that Chigir's son and his colleagues may have been targeted for Mikhail Chigir's outspoken resistance to the regime. The League notes that in a non-market economy with harsh penalties for entrepreneurs operating outside state control, it is all to easy to trump up a case against anyone who falls into disfavor with the government.

IN 2001 REGIMES TOOK TOUGHER MEASURES TO STIFLE PRESS FREEDOM

Journalists around the world faced a higher number of arrests, threats, attacks and acts of censorship in 2001 than the previous year, the Reporters Without Borders, Paris-based media advocacy group, said in a report released on January 2, 2002.

There were 31 journalists killed in 2001, which was one fewer than a year earlier. The number of journalists attacked or threatened last year rose to 716, a jump of nearly 40 percent from 2000. The report said that 489 journalists were arrested in 2001, up nearly 50 percent from a year ago. The detentions of Valery Schukin, journalist of Narodnaya Volya and deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, were mentioned in the report.

The report acknowledged that in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, whose term of office officially expired in July 1999, stepped up his repressive rule in 2001 prior to manipulated presidential elections. Disappearances of opponents increased and tougher measures were taken to stifle press freedom. Legal amendments at the end of 1999 banned publication of statements by political parties or organizations unauthorized by the justice ministry. Stipulated fines amounted to 100 times a journalist's monthly salary.

Separately, the Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists, said in a report issued on December 17 that as many as 100 news media staff were killed around the world in 2001. The federation have used broader criteria for journalists to include media workers, and included on its list six broadcast engineers killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center (two of whom worked for WCBS-TV) and a photo editor who died of anthrax and others not listed by Reporters Without Borders. The full text of the RWB report is located at: http://www.rsf.fr/uk/home.html

INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST SUMMONED FOR INTERROGATION IN GRODNO

On January 2, Pavel Mazheiko, a journalist at Pahonya, a Grodno-based Belarusian-language weekly, was summoned to the Grodno Prosecutor Office for interrogation in connection with the criminal case against the newspaper. On November 12, 2001, the Belarusian Supreme Economic Court ordered the closure of the newspaper for alleged breaking of the Law On Press and Other Media by insulting the Belarusian president under Art. 367, part 1 of the Belarusian Penal Code and by printing information about unregistered political group. In late November 2001, Judge Demchenko of the Leninski District Court of Grodno issued warnings to Mazheiko and Andrei Pisalnik, another Pahonya's journalist, for holding an unauthorized action "Chain of People Who Care" to protest against the Court decision to close the newspaper. (Radio Racyja, January 4)

TV PRODUCER BEATEN BY POLICE, PLACED IN MENTAL INSTITUTION

Ruslan Zgolich, producer of the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BTR), was charged with a large-scale theft for allegedly stealing seven out of eight tapes of his unfinished movie titled "Guests," which cost about $30,000. He now faces up to 15 years in jail. Zgolich was arrested on December 5 and severely beaten by police in Minsk suffering numerous bruises and a head injury. Immediately after the prosecutor announced the charges, Zgolich was forcefully taken to Navinki, the national hospital for mentally ill patients on outskirts of Minsk. According to his lawyer Pavel Sapelko, the producer was handcuffed and denied legal assistance. [During the Soviet era, a number of Belarusian dissidents were kept in Navinki and treated with psychotropic drugs. -Ed] (Radio Racija, January 3)

FOUR FREEDOM MARCH PROTESTERS SENTENCED IN THEIR ABSENCE

The Minsk City Court fined German Sushkevich, Gleb Dogel, Anton Lazarev and Andrei Volobuyev, all members of the Malady Front, 50 minimal wages each (about $350) for "malicious hooliganism" and "organizing mass disorders" in charges stemming from the Freedom March in Minsk back in October 17, 1999 (see Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 43). The prosecution alleged that the defendants threw stones at law-enforcers during clashes, asking to sentence the boys for up to 5 years in prison. German Sushkevich and Gleb Dogel were arrested and severely beaten immediately after the demonstration. Anton Lazarev was arrested a few days later. They spent several days in jail before being released. In March 2000, four activists have managed to flee to Poland, where they have received political asylum. (Press Center of the BPF Adradzhenne, January 3)

ANOTHER PROFESSOR ARRESTED IN GOMEL ON BRIBERY CHARGES

Prof. Yury Yankelevich, head of the department of neurology and neurosurgery of the Gomel State Medical Institute, was arrested on the order from Vyacheslav Terekhovich, special cases investigator for the Office of the Prosecutor's General, for allegedly taking bribes. He was transferred to a detention center in Minsk.

In June 2001, Prof. Yuri Bandazhevsky, former rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute, was sentenced by the Belarusian Supreme Court to eight years in a hard-labor colony with confiscation of property under Art. 430, par. 2 of the Belarusian Penal Code on similar charges. Bandazhevsky's attorneys, who believe that their client is innocent and that the trial was flawed with numerous procedural violations, petitioned the Belarusian Supreme Court with a request to review the sentence. The court turned down the petition, following Lukashenko's negative reaction. Local human rights activists say that the case against Bandazhevsky and Vladimir Revkov, Bandazhevsky's deputy, is connected to their frequent public criticism of the government's policy in the contaminated areas. (Charter 97, January 4)

OPPOSITION COMMEMORATES 50th BIRTHDAY OF A VANISHED LEADER

On January 4, about forty activists of the United Civic Party and Zubr, the youth opposition movement, took part in an unauthorized action "Chain of People Who Care" at the intersection of Mogilevskaya and Krasivaya streets in Minsk, demanding the truth about the fate of General Yuri Zakharenko, former Minister of Internal Affairs. Zakharenko, who was last seen in May 1999. Zakharenko had had a falling-out with Lukashenko and was fired from the Ministry in 1996. He then became a prominent member of the opposition. Shortly before he vanished, Zakharenko had been playing an active part in organizing an unofficial presidential election staged by the opposition. On May 7, 1999, Zakharenko called his wife Olga to say he was on his way home, but he never returned. Opposition activists later quoted eyewitnesses as saying that several men forced Zakharenko into a car which then drove away. No incidents with the police were reported (Belapan, January 4)

CURFEW TO CONTROL YOUTH OPPOSITION

To boost its budget's revenues and take young opposition activists under control, the Vitebsk Region Executive Committee adopted "The Temporary Rules of Behavior For Minors in Public Places," which imposes a curfew for local teenagers. In accordance with the Rules, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., the youth under 16 are only allowed to leave their homes if accompanied by an adult. The violation of the decree is punishable by fine up to three minimal wages (about $21). (Nasha Svaboda, January 4)

- RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS-

NEWSPAPER URGES AUTHORITIES TO "CURB CATHOLIC EXPANSION"

State newspapers and television continue attacks on minority faiths. Vitebsky Rabochy (Vitebsk Worker), a state-owned newspaper, recently carried an editorial titled "Curb Catholic Expansion!" The article claimed that Catholics represent a serious threat to the "traditional" Russian Orthodoxy, thus affecting the "country's security and psychological health of Belarusian, particularly young generation." The article also called on the authorities to take "concrete steps" to protect Russian Orthodoxy.

Last year, a series of state television documentaries, entitled "Expansion," targeted Protestants, primarily Pentecostals, as well as Catholics, as "destructive groups" that engage in "fanatical rituals," and "pose a threat to society." Another series shown on state television accused Protestant churches of engaging in human sacrifices and poisoning children. In the series, the Protestant groups were called "agents of the West," who should be banned from Belarus. Efforts by Catholic and Protestant groups to halt these broadcasts were rejected by the authorities and the courts. (Radio Racyja, January 4)

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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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