INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 5, No. 9
March 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-
- Arms Sales Scandal Heats Up
- Belarus Seat At OSCE PA Will Remain Vacant; Minsk Furious
- Markevich Tries to Register Another Opposition Newspaper
- Prosecutors Demands Seven Years For Chigir's Son; Death for Ignatovich
- Jailed Plant Director's Lawyer Dismissed By Prosecution
- Another Governmental TV Channel Established In Belarus

U.S. MAY IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON BELARUS OVER ARMS SALES

On February 27, Richard Boucher, the U.S. State Department spokesman, hinted at possible sanctions against Belarus over allegations it was selling arms to countries or groups supporting terrorism. "The U.S. takes reports of arms transfers to countries or groups sponsoring or fostering terrorism very seriously. We can use a variety of means, including bilateral approaches to supplier countries and, where necessary, application of our sanctions laws to prevent such transfers," Boucher said in a statement.

Over the past two weeks, three U.S. congressmen and Steven Pifer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, have visited Minsk to voice alarm to the Lukashenko government over what Pifer termed "repeated reports from a variety of credible sources that Belarus is involved in arms transfers to states or groups that support terrorism and in the military training of individuals associated with these states." Pifer told reporters the U.S. had hard evidence Belarus was involved in arms smuggling in breach of United Nations sanctions. Pifer said the U.S. also had evidence that Belarus trained Iraq's military personnel to work with S-300 missiles.

In response to a question about the visit raised at a State Department press briefing on Wednesday, Boucher issued a statement saying Pifer had spelled out U.S. concerns in meetings with Belarusian officials. "The deputy assistant secretary reiterated the U.S. position that Belarus should not be in the business of selling arms to countries with histories of supporting terrorism or fomenting regional conflict, Boucher said in the statement. "We use a variety of means, including bilateral approaches to supplier countries and, where necessary, application of our sanctions laws, to prevent such transfers." In response to a reporter's query, Boucher said military action against Belarus would not be considered. (Belapan/ AP/Interfax, February 27)

OPPOSITION LEADERS: BELARUS IS RUSSIA'S MEDIATOR IN ARMS SALES

Stanislav Shushkevich, a former Belarusian president and a leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada, an independent party, told the Echo of Moscow News Agency that he believed Belarus was being used by Russia to channel arms to Iraq, Iran and Libya, so that Moscow could avoid political problems. "There is a multitude of Russian military attaches, military representatives and traders working in Belarus," said Shushkevich, adding that "representatives of countries directly or indirectly linked to terrorism never leave Belarus" and are "very much respected by the regime." Commenting on reports that the U.S. has threatened to introduce sanctions against Belarus over arms sales to countries supporting terrorism, Shushkevich said that "America cannot go far in its actions against Belarus, but it is capable of closing the channels used for arms sales."

Commenting on the U.S.'s warning that it could apply sanctions against Belarus, Amb. Andrei Sannikov, international coordinate of Charter 97, a civic movement, said in an interview to Radio Racyja that the U.S. has all the means to impose sanctions under existing laws and in particular if a bill titled the Belarus Democracy Act of 2001, introduced by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) in November 2001, makes its way through the Congress. The Belarusian authorities keep confidential all data on weaponry sales and tell lies about their illicit arms deals, stressed Sannikov. (Ekho Moskvy news agency/ Radio Racyja, February 28 - March 1)

BELARUS DENIES WEAPON SALES REPORTS AFTER US SANCTION THREAT

In an article titled "Belarus Leader Offers No Apologies, Attacks His Many Critics With Gusto," Andrew Higgins, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal, wrote that during an interview, Lukashenko denied that Iraqi military personnel received training last fall in Belarus on S-300 anti-aircraft weaponry, stating "not a single [Iraqi military specialist] is studying or has studied" in Belarus since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reports of training for Iraq, said Lukashenko, are a "provocation" planned by his domestic opponents. "They live by the principle that the ... worse it is for their country, the better it is for them. They want to come to power in this way. That's all." Lukashenko stressed that he had discussed the Iraq-related allegations with U.S. Amb. Michael Kozak and "convinced that this information has absolutely no foundation."

Belarus, Lukashenko continued, "earns money from hawking tanks and other arms left behind by the Soviet military, but abides by all United Nations Security Council resolutions restricting sales to Iraq and other countries." "The arms business is an absolutely acceptable business. What we earn compared with America from this [business] is a drop in the ocean," said Lukashenko.

On February 28, Pavel Latushko, Foreign Ministry spokesman, also vehemently denied reports that the Belarusian government sells weapons to terrorists and countries that support them. "We would like to make it clear once again that Belarus never traded, is not trading and does not intend to trade weapons in violation of sanctions of the United Nations Security Council, nor does it sell weapons to states suspected of supporting terrorism," said Latushko. His comments came a day after Richard Boucher, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said the United States took very seriously reports of arms transfers from Belarus to countries or groups sponsoring terrorism. Latushko said that the State Department officials and congressmen who visited Belarus recently did not provide any facts confirming Belarusian weapons sales. "We have nothing to explain," he added.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian government recalled Valery Tsepkalo, its Ambassador to the United States, due to the "personnel rotations." The name of the successor has not yet been announced. (WSJ, Interfax, February 28- March 1)

RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION DISMISSES U.S. ARMS SALES ALLEGATIONS

On March 1, Sergei Kalashnikov, deputy secretary of the Russia-Belarus Union, told the Echo of Moscow News Agency that the U.S. has no evidence to prove its allegations that Belarus had provided weapons to rogue states. "There are no facts of weapons sales to terrorists or countries that support terrorists," Kalashnikov said, adding that "all the uproar in the United States is political propaganda."

The top Union official said that U.S. officials who visited Belarus recently had found no evidence beyond the fact that some Iraqi pilots underwent training in Belarus, but insisted that such cooperation was perfectly legal. "It would be utterly absurd to assume that a member state of the United Nations can not send its pilots for training," said Kalashnikov. "We speak about assistance at government level, not some murky companies that train pilots for some shady purposes." (Echo of Moscow, March 1)

BELARUS SEAT AT OSCE PA WILL REMAIN VACANT

On February 21, following the report delivered by Uta Zapf (MP, Germany), who recently visited Belarus to assess the situation in the country, members of the Standing Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna decided that Belarus's seat at the OSCE PA will remain vacant for a while. The issue will be considered again during the next session, which is to be held in Berlin on July 6-8. The delegation of the Belarusian opposition held a number of important meetings and negotiations, including one with the OSCE PA President Adrian Severin, and proposed a number of new initiatives. The members of Lukashenko's hand-picked parliament were not invited. In May 2002, the OSCE PA delegation is to visit Belarus again. The delegation's finding will serve as a basis for the Standing Committee's decision. (Belapan/ Charter 97, February 24-28)

BELARUSIAN LAWMAKER SHOWS DOOR TO OSCE

Apparently infuriated by the OSCE PA's decision not to accept the Belarusian National Assembly at a full session this coming summer, the Belarusian authorities launched another campaign of accusation against the OSCE AMG, blaming it for taking actions beyond its mandate and boosting "anti-presidential" political structures.

On February 26, Nikolai Cherginets, a former police general and chair of the Standing Committee on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic (the upper chamber of the Belarusian National Assembly or legislature), told a press conference in Minsk that the OSCE AMG should leave Belarus because it constantly interferes in the country's internal affairs. "We should not be so stupid to allow them [the OSCE AMG officials] to stay in our country and impose on us their will," said Cherginets. "Belarusian people defeated Napoleon and Hitler and won't tolerate the wrong attitude from OSCE officials," he said, describing the OSCE's approach of dealing with the Belarusian authorities as "disrespectful."

Cherginets insisted Belarus "has nothing to loose" and, therefore, should suspend its membership in the OSCE. Local observers believe that Cherginets would not dare to show the mission the door without Lukashenko's blessing.

Commenting on talks that the Belarusian authorities are considering the suspension of the country's membership in the OSCE, Hans-Georg Wieck, former head of OSCE AMG in Minsk, said the following:

"As far as I understood the statement of Belarus' representative in OSCE Mr. Gaisenok [Belarusian envoy to the OSCE], who is voicing the position of official Minsk, Belarusian authorities mean suspending membership not in the OSCE itself, but only in OSCE PA. Most likely, it's pure political games, because Belarusian authorities clearly understand that leaving OSCE is not in their interests in conditions of forming new geopolitical situation in Europe. These statements could be called tactical maneuvers of the Belarusian leadership in the current opposition of the two sides"

"If Lukashenko wants to leave the OSCE, it's fine, let him do so," commented Adrian Severin, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, adding that threats made to such an influential organization can't be taken seriously. (Belapan/ Radio Racyja February 27 - Nasha Svaboda, March 1)

GRODNO AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO REGISTER OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER

The Grodno City Executive Committee turned down a petition filed by Mikalai Markevich, editor-in-chief of Pahonia, an independent newspaper, to register another newspaper, The Newspaper Pahonya, on the grounds that the name of the new periodical is practically identical to the old one, which was closed by the authorities in November 2001, following the decision of the Belarusian Supreme Economic Court. In response, Markevich submitted the documents to register yet another newspaper named "Muzhitskaya Pravda" (Man's Truth).

On February 13-14, 2002, the Grodno Regional Prosecutor's Office indicted Markevich, and Pavel Mazeika, a journalist at Pahonia, for defaming the President under Art. 367, part 2 of the Belarusian Penal Code. If found guilty, the journalists face up to five years in prison. On February 27, Markevich and Mazeika filed a complaint with Vasily Litvinov, Prosecutor of the Grodno Region, requesting to close the criminal investigation launched against them. (Charter 97/ Nasha Svaboda, February 27-28)

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER VS. LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Despite the ruling of the Orsha City Court, the local Financial Investigation Department of the State Control Committee refused to return the printing machine to Kutseyna opposition daily in Orsha, Vitebsk region, which was seized earlier. The Department is to file a petition with the Orsha City Prosecutor's Office requesting to leave the machine in state's possession. Kutseyna's lawyer Oleg Grablevsky insists that under the existing legislation, the equipment must be returned to the newspaper before the Prosecutor's Office considers the issue. In January 2000, the authorities forced Filon Kmita Center for Democratic Changes, the Orsha-based public association, to stop publishing Kutseyna after it was denied official registration. One year later, the center was also closed. In December 2001, Viktor Andreev, Kutseyna's editor, lost his commercial license due to "illegal activities." (Charter 97, March 1)

PROSECUTOR DEMANDS SEVEN YEARS IN JAIL FOR CHIGIR'S SON

On February 25, during a hearing held in the Leninsky District Court of Minsk, the public prosecutor demanded seven years of imprisonment for Alexander Chigir, the youngest son of Mikhail Chigir, former prime minister and opposition leader. Alexander was charged under Art. 205 par. 4 of the Belarusian Penal Code (large-scale larceny committed by a group). For Chigir's alleged accomplices, Anton Yashin and Dmitry Yutskevich, the prosecutor demanded 8 and 11.5 years, respectively. All three were accused of stealing four Ford Transit cars. Chigir pleaded not guilty.

The defense denounced all charges as a fabrication based on false confessions allegedly beaten out by investigators. Earlier, Yashin and Yutskevich told the court that on February 20, 2001, operatives of the Moskovsky District Internal Affairs Directorate tortured them in an effort to force them to testify against Alexander Chigir. Yashin was reportedly hung up upside down by his handcuffed hands and later was placed in a windowless prison wing designated for recidivists, were he contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and hepatitis. Michael Kozak, the US ambassador to Belarus, attended the trial. The judge is to pass the sentence on March 6. (Belapan, February 25)

PROSECUTORS DEMAND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR IGNATOVICH GANG

Radio Racyja reported on February 26 that the controversial trial of Valery Ignatovich is expected to end March 11, when the judge will announce the court's decision. Ignatovich is the former officer of the Almaz Special-Assignment Police Force, and his accomplices, accused of committing several premeditated murders, armed assaults, two abductions, including kidnapping of journalists Dmitry Zavadsky, who worked as an ORT cameraman in Belarus. The state prosecutors are requesting the death penalty for all four members of the Ignatovich group, while the defense maintains their guilt has not been proved. In their final statements all defendants pleaded not guilty. (Radio Racyja, February 26)

JAILED PLANT DIRECTOR'S LAWYER DISMISSED BY PROSECUTION

On February 26, Nikolai Shalimov was informed by investigator Nikolai Zuev that in accordance with a resolution signed by Ivan Branchel, head of the Committee on Organized Crime and Corruption, he was dismissed as a defense lawyer of Mikhail Leonov, head of the Minsk Tractor Factory, for the alleged violations of procedures regulating contacts with individuals taken into custody. Shalimov was accused of sending Leonov's letters to Leonov's deputies, instructing them what to say in court to secure his alibi. The lawyer denied all allegations. "This is absolute slander. Leonov did not make any attempts to write instructions to anyone," he said. Leonov, who was arrested on January 8, 2002 and nine days later officially charged with abuse of power (Art. 166, par 2, of the 1960 Penal Code); criminal negligence causing damage to the state budget of at least $4 million (Art. 428, par. 1, of the 1999 Penal Code), and large-scale bribery (Art. 430, par 2, of the 1999 Penal Code), considers the dismissal of one of his lawyers another attempt by the authorities to exert pressure on him. (Nasha Svaboda, March 1)

-AT HOME IN BELARUS-

ANOTHER GOVERNMENTAL TV CHANNEL ESTABLISHED IN BELARUS

Ideology in Belarus is the government's main priority and "is not subject to privatization," reiterated Alexander Lukashenko on February 26, as he introduced Gregory Kisel as the chair of the newly established The Second National Channel, a joint-stock company. "It should be clear that the ideology cannot be privatized in this country," said the Belarusian leader. According to Lukashenko, he envisages that in the nearest future three state-controlled TV channels will brainwash his compatriots: the First, the Second and STV. The latter will broadcast programs to the Minsk City population. Lukashenko said that 51% of shares of the Public Belarusian Television will belong to the state. (Izvestia, February 28- Charter 97, March 1)

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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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