INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 5, No. 5
February 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-
-Belarusian Authorities Call For Revision Of OSCE Mandate
-Opposition Leader Summoned To Prosecutor's Office
-Yet Another Victim Of Police Brutality
-Four Zubr Activists Arrested In Gomel
-Local NGO Fined For Violation Of Decree #8
-Editor Of Local Independent Newspaper Fined
-Jailed Director Transferred To Detention Center
-Coordinating Council Of Democratic Forces Resumes Work
-Trade Unions To Go On All-Republican Strike
-Belarus Criticized For Serious Trade Union Rights Violations
-Anti-trafficking Project Launched In Belarus
-Belarusian Leader Boasts Of Warm Ties To China
-CIS Law Enforcement Chiefs Meet In Minsk
-Chair Of Central Electoral Commission Re-Elected
-Russian Investors Supported Lukashenko Campaign

BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES CALL FOR REVISION OF OSCE MANDATE

On January 31, Mikhail Khvostov, Belarusian Foreign Minister, called for revision of the OSCE AMG's mandate due to the "recent changes in the political and economic situation in the country." According to the Belarusian official, he OSCE mission is "incapable of acting" under the present mandate "and does not understand what objectives it should be pursuing."

The minister's comments came ahead of a visit to Belarus by Uta Zapf (MP, Germany), chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's ad hoc Working Group on Belarus, Urban Ahlin (MP, Sweden), Helena Demakova (MP, Latvia), and Paul LeGendre, OSCE PA's Program Officer. On January 23, Adrian Severin, chair of the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, told the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg that the OSCE PA delegation canceled its visit to Belarus, previously scheduled for February 3-5, because the Belarusian authorities had set unacceptable conditions for the visit. But after receiving a letter from Mikhail Khvostov, in which he assured that the Belarusian government "attaches great importance to the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Working Group's visit to the country," the delegation decided to go ahead with the visit. "I want to stress that I consider the letter which I received from Minister Khvostov to be a very important sign," Uta Zapf told journalists, explaining the change of plans.

Commenting on the purpose of the visit, Zapf stated: "The Working Group's mission is to assess and to discuss progress with respect to certain criteria: transparency of the election process, freedom of press and access of opponents to the state-run mass media, non-discrimination of political opponents, and meaningful functions and powers for the parliamentary body. The findings will be the basis of the report which will be given to the Standing Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on February 21."

The delegation is to meet with the representatives of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Information, and deputies from both chambers of the National Assembly. The delegates will also speak with representatives of NGO community, political parties both from the Republican Coordinating Council and the Advisory Council of Opposition Political Parties, research and analytical centers, as well as of the international community.

On January 28, Vadim Popov, chair of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly, told a press conference in Minsk that Europe continues to pursue a "policy of double standards" toward Belarus. "If the OSCE PA believes that the situation with human rights in the Baltic states is normal and is closing its missions there, while insisting on continuing its work in Belarus, we are talking about the policy of double standards here," Popov said. The Lukashenko official added that the decision to deny an entry visa to Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, former head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus, was based on the information about the mission's "unlawful activities." The Belarusian authorities denied the entry visa on the grounds of Wieck's "breaking the government's trust." (Radio Racyja/ OSCE, January 28-31)

OPPOSITION LEADER SUMMONED TO PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

The Belarusian government is increasingly concerned about information leakage about its reputed role as arm supplier of choice to dictatorships as well as terrorist groups in Central Asia, the Middle East, South America, the Balkans, and Africa. On January 28, Anatoly Lebedko, chair of the opposition United Civic Party, was summoned for the second time to the prosecutor's office where he was questioned over an interview he gave on October 31, 2001, to DPA, German news agency, and an article he wrote in Narodnaya Volya, an opposition newspaper. Both stories were about the Lukashenko regime's illegal arms trading with rogue states. Lebedko alleged he had proof Lukashenko was behind an international group smuggling Belarusian weapons to pariah states such as Iraq and Islamic extremists. Lebedko believes that the arms sent from Belarus fails to get to the country of stated destination, and is transferred to Islamic extremists, or to a country under UN arms trade embargo, while Belarusian top officials avert their eyes from these transactions. The opposition leader said that Lukashenko personally controls the arms trading business, and anyone who stands in his way is doomed. "I understand that sooner or later I will face charges of libeling the president," Lebedko said after returning from the prosecutor's office. He said that he was told by the prosecutor that he was still being summoned as a witness, but that charges might be forthcoming.

The League notes that Lukashenko has accused Lebedko and other opposition leaders numerous times of being in the pay of Western intelligence services. Last September, the Belarusian leader read a list of opposition leaders and monetary amounts totaling more than $100,000 he claimed they had received from the U.S. Embassy in order to unseat him. The list included Anatoly Lebedko, chair of the United Civic Party; Vintsuk Vyachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne; Iosif Seredich, editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Volya, an opposition newspaper; and others. Lebedko sued Lukashenko, but a judge annulled the case, citing lack of jurisdiction.

In January, 2002, the Minsk City Court overruled the decision of the Pervomaisky District Court in Minsk which last December found that the State Belarusian TV and specifically Yuri Azaryonok, a television host, guilty of libeling Anatoly Lebedko in a sensational, propagandistic serial titled "Secret Strings of Politics." The judge awarded Lebedko BYB1 million (about $625) in damages and ordered the TV station to publish a retraction. (Belapan, January 28)

YET ANOTHER VICTIM OF POLICE BRUTALITY

Although the 1996 Constitution provides for the inviolability of the person and specifically prohibits torture, as well as cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, law enforcement officials in Belarus continue to coerce confessions through beatings and psychological pressure. Dmitry Gorshanov, a 20-year old member of the Antiglobalizer, a rock band, was tortured by the Grodno police. While forcing from him a confession that he stole musical equipment from a private garage, police tied Dmitry's hands behind the chair, put a gas mask on his head and periodically closed the air inlets during the course of an hour. Under threat of continuation of such torture, Dmitry, who is an environmental activist and a member of one of the anti-fascist group, was also forced to sign a police report accusing him of public intoxication, and spent a night at the police station. Later, he was fined one minimal wage. People who knows Dmitry say that he considers himself a "street-ager," and does not smoke or drink. Dmitry said that he had already had several conversations with KGB officers, who tried to recruit him and find out members of what organization are holding their gathering in private garages. He is to file a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee. (Radio Racyja, February 1)

FOUR ZUBR ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN GOMEL

Four Zubr activists were arrested by the Gomel police near the entrance of the Gomel Margarine Factory for holding an unauthorized picket. "We are helping Lukashenko to keep his pre-election promise to increase average monthly salary to $100," they said while passing out symbolic $100-dollar bills with Lukashenko's portrait to the factory's workers. A number of the factory's top executives felt victims of Lukashenko's Stalin-style purges and were recently arrested on charges of power-abuse and large-scale embezzlement. The activists were brought to a police station, where they spent about four hours. The policemen confiscated all "money," but did not file any reports.
http://www.zubr-belarus.com/

LOCAL NGO FINED FOR VIOLATION OF DECREE #8

On January 25, Judge Zhanna Novik of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Gomel charged Victor Kornienko, head of the local branch of the Civic Initiative, with violation of Art. of the presidential Decree #8 "Several Measures on Improving Distribution and Use of Foreign Humanitarian Aid" and fined him BYB1 million (about $625). The decree bans foreign donations to NGOs that are involved in any political activities or election monitoring. The judge ruled to confiscate the organization's five computers and a printer.

On August 13, 2001, after the local KGB had initiated a criminal investigation against the Civic Initiative for slandering the Belarusian president, the police broke into Kornienko's private house and seized six computers, a printer, and a copying machine. Later, the case was dropped, but the organization's numerous requests to return the equipment fell on a deaf ear. Instead, the KGB ordered the State Tax Committee of Zheleznodorozhny District of Gomel to audit the NGO, which ended on November 27 and resulted in imposing a fine of BYR6 million ($3,750). Now, after the court confirmed the fact of violation of the Decree #8, the Civic Initiative is on the verge of closure.

On January 29, 2002, the Assembly of Belarusian Democratic NGOs conducted a round table titled "NGOs: Collective Defense" to discuss the problems of Belarusian NGOs in the situation when the regime puts more severe restriction on freedom of association. The biggest concern of many local NGOs is limited access to legal counsel. As a result of the gathering a working group of lawyers was formed which will provide a legal assistance for regional and Minsk NGOs. (Viasna Human Rights Center, Charter 97, January 29-30)

EDITOR OF LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER FINED

On January 28, Alexander Scherbak, editor-in-chief of Shklouskiya Naviny [Shklov News], a Belarusian-language independent newspaper published in Shklov, Mogilev Region, was fined ten minimal wages (about $60) for alleged violation of the Press Law. The Shklov District prosecutor accused the editor of exceeding by one issue the officially-approved circulation for such publications, which is set at 299 copies. The judge ordered the confiscation of the computer, which was confiscated on September 6, 2001, and the destruction of the all seized issues. (Viasna Human Rights Center, January 30)

JAILED DIRECTOR TRANSFERRED TO DETENTION CENTER

On January 31, Leonid Kalugin, former director of the Atlant refrigerator factory in Minsk, was transferred from Navinki, the central hospital for mentally ill patients on the outskirts of Minsk, to the detention center of the Interior Ministry Main Directorate. Kalugin, who challenged Lukashenko in the last year presidential election, was arrested on November 21, 2001, and charged with abuse of office (Art. 424, par, 3, of the Penal Code), failure to repatriate revenues from sales abroad (Art. 225), and illegal business transactions (Art. 233, par 2). His pre-trial detention was extended until April 21, 2002. Kalugin's case is investigated by a team led by Gennady Garopenko, head of the Financial Investigation Department of the State Control Committee.

Meanwhile, Poland has refused to extradite Alexander Yakovlev, former deputy director of the Minsk Automobile Plant, who is sought by the Belarusian authorities for alleged money laundering. Prominent Belarusian opposition members petitioned a court in Wroclaw, which considered Yakovlev's case, and testified Yakovlev is persecuted on political grounds and will not tried fairly if extradited. (Belapan/ Charter 97, January 31)

COORDINATING COUNCIL OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES RESUMES WORK

On January 29, a meeting of the Coordinating Council of Democratic Forces took place in Minsk to work out a strategy of Belarusian democrats for the near future. The council, which includes the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF Adradzhenne), the United Civic Party, Charter 97, the Congress of Free Trade Unions, and a number of regional NGOs, adopted a statement. It says that the Belarusian authorities have failed to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the Istanbul Summit Declaration. Starting from 1999, not a single election was either democratic nor free. The Lukashenko government continues to persecute active participants of the opposition presidential campaign and politically active youth and to mount pressure on independent mass media. Directors of major enterprises and businessmen, especially those who participated in any opposition -election campaigns or publicly expressed dissent with the official policy are now being persecuted. Pressure on trade unions is increasing, control of the state over their activities is growing. The authorities conceal the true information about abductions and disappearance of political figures. The Council members expressed support for the activities of the OSCE AMG in Minsk in the framework of its initial mandate and warned that recognition of the non-democratic regime of Belarus would lead to further oppression of the political opposition. (Viasna Human Rights Center, January 30)

TRADE UNIONS TO GO ON ALL-REPUBLICAN STRIKE

On January 11, 2002, about 7,000 people, including members of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Belarus and 13 other trade unions, held a meeting in Soligorsk, a small coal mining town in Minsk Region, which is responsible for most of Belarus's hard currency reserves through export of mineral fertilizers. The purpose of the meeting was to urge the Lukashenko government to revoke Decree # 1804, adopted by the Council of Ministers on December 14, 2001, which abolishes the choice to pay union dues through direct payroll deductions. The meeting participants adopted a resolution, which accused the authorities of opposing the free development of the trade unions and called on workers to take part in a five-minutes warning strike on February 1, 2002.

On January 28, 2002, several activists of the Independent Free Trade Union of Miners were summoned in court on charges of organizing an unauthorized demonstration.

Two days later, the Minsk Regional Court chaired by Gennady Komel claimed that the resolution was unlawful and banned the strike. The Belarusian Helsinki Committee responded that since the meeting's resolution is not a legal act it cannot be subject to a court sanction.

On February 1, 2002, the presidium of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus addressed its members with a proposal to carry out an all-republican protest action on March 5, 2002. (Nasha Svaboda/ Radio Racyja, February 1)

BELARUS CRITICIZED FOR SERIOUS TRADE UNION RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

In a report submitted this week to the European Union, the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the world's largest labor body, criticized ten countries for serious human and trade union rights violations. The ICFTU presented a list of countries in which trade unionists have been particularly targeted because of their union activities. These include Burma, Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, Djibouti, Guatemala, Haiti, the Republic of Korea and Swaziland.

Following are excerpts from the report regarding Belarus:

"In Belarus, the trade unions are constantly the target of Europe's last dictatorial regime, incarnated by President Lukashenko, which has decided to control and eventually eliminate free trade unions."

"Since taking the office, Lukashenko has used a growing battery of presidential decrees aimed to repress the trade union movement. The latest document, the Presidential Decree of December 14, 2001, impedes the trade union movement by prohibiting direct payroll withdrawals of trade union dues. The trade unions are regularly subjected to interference by the authorities, which often block their bank accounts."

"The ICFTU strongly encourages Members of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to condemn these attacks against the exercise of the fundamental rights of Belarus workers and against their organizations and to place pressure on the government to amend the anti-trade union legislation." The full text of the report is located at: http://www.icftu.org/

ANTITRAFFICKING PROJECT LAUNCHED IN BELARUS

Irina Alkhovka, President of the Belarusian Young Christians Women Association, told a press conference in Minsk that La Strada, a project aimed at helping the victims of trafficking and informing women of the risks associated with employment abroad and the minimization of possible dangers for women, has been set up in Belarus. Alkhovka said that Belarusian women are employed in the sex industry in thirty countries of the world. Lured by newspaper ads promising legitimate work abroad as babysitters or waitresses, they end up in prostitution, where they are kept against their will with the threat of physical force. The problem of trafficking in women is aggravated by the country's geographical position, Alkhovka added.

The League notes that on January 24, 2002, the U.S. Attorney General signed into law a regulation that introduced a "T" visa, which is specifically designed for trafficking victims who cooperate with law enforcement agencies against those responsible for their entrapment. (ILHR, Radio Racyja, January 30)

- INTERNATIONAL NEWS -

BELARUSIAN LEADER BOASTS OF WARM TIES TO CHINA

On January 31, during a meeting with departing Chinese Ambassador Wu Xiao Qiu, Alexander Lukashenko boasted of a warm personal friendship with Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, saying there were great prospects for cooperation between the two countries. Lukashenko thanked Wu for being a "great friend" of Belarus. "I very much value my relations with Chinese leader Jiang Zemin," Lukashenko said at the meeting, parts of which were broadcast on state television. "There is probably no other leader in the world with whom I have such trusting and kind relations." "We are proud of our relations with great Russia, great China. These are two members of the [U.N.] Security Council with whom we have wonderful relations," Lukashenko told Wu. Lukashenko has pursued strong ties with Russia and China, as well as with Iraq, Iran and Libya. Jiang visited Belarus last July. (Belapan, January 31)

CIS LAW ENFORCEMENT CHIEFS MEET IN MINSK

In late January, a meeting of the law enforcement chiefs of the CIS states took place in Minsk. CIS prosecutors general, interior ministers, heads of security and special services, commanders of border troops and customs officials together discussed joint measures to fight organized crime, international terrorism and illegal drug trafficking.
(Belapan, January 30)

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

CHAIR OF CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION RE-ELECTED

On January 31, the Council of the Republic, upper chamber of the Belarusian National Assembly, unanimously approved the presidential appointment of Lydia Yermoshina as the chair of the Belarusian Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda. "The Republic of Belarus is suffering from double standards more than any other country in the world," said Yermoshina in her address to the deputies. "This should not be the case," she said. When asked by Nikolai Cherginets, a former police general and chair of the standing committee on international affairs and national security, to assess the past presidential election campaign, Yermoshina called it "brilliant and very interesting." "A well-done job never causes tiredness," she added. (Belapan, January 31)

POTENTIAL RUSSIAN INVESTORS SUPPORTED LUKASHENKO IN ELECTIONS

On January 23, the Belarusian government issued a decree which will turn six key enterprises of the country's state-owned petrochemical industry into open joint-stock companies. According to official documents obtained by TOL, negotiations are already under way with potential investors from Russia, including the oil and gas companies LUKoil, Sibur, Slavneft, and Surgutneftegaz and the financial-industrial groups AMTEL and ITERA.

Most of the companies on the list of potential investors were quite vocal in support of Alexander Lukashenko during the last year presidential elections. Slavneft president Mikhail Gutseriyev contributed $5 million to help Belarus in the harvest campaign and said that he regarded the money as a contribution to Lukashenko's presidential election campaign. LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov invested $1 billion in the Belarusian petrochemical industry. ITERA President Igor Makarov invested $200 million into Belarusian businesses in 2001.

Pro-opposition and independent economists mostly agree on the need to privatize the cash-strapped Belarusian industrial sector, but they also warn that the deals should be transparent and competition-based--something they say is not likely to happen under Lukashenko's system of one-man rule. (TOL, January 22-28)

-UPCOMING EVENTS-

From February 3-10, 2001, a delegation of four Belarusian journalists will visit the US at the League's invitation. The group includes Mikalai Markevich, editor-in-chief of Pahonia, an independent newspaper published in Grodno closed by Belarusian authorities in November 2001; Iosif Siaredzich, editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Volya, an independent newspaper published in Minsk, and is currently facing a criminal libel suit for critical coverage of Lukashenko; Andrei Bastunets, media lawyer and vice president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, has been stripped of his law license for his effort to protect the media against government lawsuits; Viachaslau Khadasousky, editor-in-chief of Belarusky rynok, the first independent paper to cover business and economic developments in Belarus.

Several public meetings will be held in Washington, DC. Contact Peter Zalmayev, 212-661-0480, ext. 100 for more information.

We hope you will join us in greeting these courageous individuals and hear their important story about a country in crisis which can be helped with American focus and persistence in promoting democracy and human rights.
************************************************************************
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.

************************************************************************

Back