INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Vol. 5, No. 15
April 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

- Fourteen Journalists Detained In Grodno While Supporting Colleagues
- Trial Of Pahonia's Journalists Postponed After Picket
- International Community Condemns Journalists' Prosecutions
- Opposition Leader Sentenced To Ten Days In Jail
- Malady Front Activist Faces Ten Days Of Administrative Arrest
- Opposition Honors Memory Of Prominent Leader
- Official Denies Reports About Preparations For Referendum
- Lukashenko Demonstrates To US His Military Might

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS-

FOURTEEN JOURNALISTS DETAINED IN GRODNO

Grodno police broke up three unauthorized demonstrations on April 5 in support of Mikalai Markevich and Pavel Mazheika, editor and reporter of Pahonia, an independent newspaper published in the Belarusian language. The journalists are facing criminal charges for allegedly "defaming the president." The journalists held up posters with the slogans: "Hands Off Markevich and Mazheika," "I Also Write The Truth About The President! Am I Next?" The picket organizers had filed several applications with local authorities, requesting demonstration permits, all of which have been denied. At the demonstration, fourteen journalists were detained and on the same day tried by Judge Dmitry Demchenko of the Leninsky District Court of Grodno for participating in an unauthorized demonstrations. Ales Zarembuk was released shortly with no police report filed.

Six journalists received short term prison sentences ranging from three to ten days.
Andrei Pisalnik, journalist of Den, an independent newspaper, and Stas Pochobut, reporter of Navinki, were sentenced to ten days of administrative arrest each. Andrei Meleshko and Alexander Dvoretsky were sent to prison for eight and four days, respectively. Vitavt Rudnik and Dmitry Egorov got three days each. Irina Chernyavka, journalist of Belarusky Chas, and Elena Sinevich were fined 30 minimal wages (about $180) and 20 minimal wages (about $120), respectively. Olga Artemenko and Andrei Pochobut received warnings.

Protesting the court's decisions, Stas Pochobut and Andrei Meleshko went on a hunger strike. On April 11, after five days of hunger strike, the physical condition of Stas has deteriorated significantly. Hoping that Nikolai Markevich will be able to convince the colleague to stop the strike, the administration of the detention center of the Leninsky District Internal Affairs Directorate of Grodno, where the journalist was serving his term, allowed Pahonia's editor to visit Stas. Vladimir Sichevsky, head of the Directorate, personally oversaw the visit. On Markevich's request, Sichevsky called an ambulance.

The League notes that the prosecution by the Belarusian government of independent journalists is in clear violation of the country's international obligations to guarantee freedom of expression (Art. 19) and freedom of assembly (Art. 21), undertaken with its signature to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Art. 33 of the Belarusian Constitution states that "everyone is guaranteed freedom of thought, belief and expression." Art. 35 states that "the freedom to hold assemblies, rallies, street marches, demonstrations and pickets that do not disturb law and order or violate the rights of other citizens of the Republic of Belarus, shall be guaranteed by the State." The authorities should respect these rights in practice and should not in any way obstruct people from implementing their constitutional rights. (Nasha Svaboda/ Viasna Human Rights Center, April 9-12)

TRIAL OF PAHONIA'S JOURNALISTS POSTPONED

On April 9, the trial of Mikalai Markevich, editor-in-chief of Pahonia, an independent newspaper, and Pavel Mazheika, a journalist at Pahonia, was postponed due to the illness of Judge Nikolai Sergeiko of the Leninsky District Court of Grodno. In February 2002, two opposition journalists were indicted by the Grodno Regional Prosecutor's Office under Art. 367, part 2 of the Belarusian Penal Code for allegedly defaming the Belarusian President. If found guilty, they face up to five years in prison. The two men came to court wearing T-shirts reading, "I am not a criminal, I am a journalist."

A new judge is likely to be assigned to the case within two or three days, but the proceedings may not get under way for another two weeks to allow a new judge to study the case, Markevich's lawyer Sergei Tsurko said. "This trial is an attempt to punish the journalists and the newspaper with the single goal to discourage others to raise the issue of political disappearances in Belarus," commented Alexander Tamkovich, vice-president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

Markevich told his supporters and media, which included television crews from Russia and Poland, that it was their "first victory achieved because of supporters." "It proves we can beat this criminal regime," he said outside courtroom. "Lukashenko has a dilemma - either to jail all of us or to recognize that in this country there is a constitution and it should be followed," Markevich added. The journalist expressed hope that a "wave of national resentment will sweep away all those who has no respect for the law."

On November 12, 2001, Pahonia was shut down by order of the Belarusian Supreme Economic Court for defaming the President under Art. 367, part 2 of the Penal Code, though the online version of the newspaper continues to be published regularly. The Grodno Regional Prosecutor's Office opened the case against journalists on September 5, 2001, several days before the presidential elections, and claimed that two articles and a poem published in Pahonia's issue of September 4, 2001, defame Lukashenko by accusing him of committing a number of serious crimes, including murder, genocide, and the forming of a criminal organization or taking part in its activities.

Many domestic and international observers believe that the charges against journalists are retaliation for articles accusing Lukashenko of involvement in the formation of death squads, the disappearances of prominent political opponents, and the suppression of Belarusian language, culture, and education. The accused journalists have sent messages to the presidents of the neighboring republics of Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine, as well as the United States, calling on them to support democracy in Belarus. (Belapan/ Nasha Svaboda, April 9)

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONDEMN PROSECUTION OF JOURNALISTS

A number of states and international human rights groups have expressed protest against the prosecuted Belarusian journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the criminal prosecution of Pahonia's journalists. "For journalists to be criminally prosecuted for daring to criticize the head of state shows Lukashenko's utter contempt for press freedom," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper in a statement.

In an open letter to Alexander Lukashenko, Andrew Puddephatt, executive director of ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, wrote that international standards require abolition of criminal prosecution for defamation and insult; civil defamation laws must be used in their stead. "The criminalization of a particular activity implies a clear state interest in controlling it and imparts a social stigma to it, neither of which we believe to be justified in relation to the protection of individuals' reputations," Puddephatt wrote in the letter. "It is well established in the international law that politicians and public officials should tolerate more rather than less criticism and under no circumstances should defamation law provide any special protection for them," he said. ARTICLE 19 called on the Belarusian leader to order the police to cease intimidation and harassment of demonstrators; ensure that local authorities cease the practice of arbitrarily refusing permission for demonstrations related to politically-sensitive matters; and replace all criminal provisions on defamation and insult with appropriate civil defamation laws.

The Polish Foreign Ministry voiced concern over the Belarusian government's reprisals against Pahonia and protested freedom of speech freedom violations in Belarus. "The proceedings launched against Pahonia and its staff and the daily's earlier closure by Minsk authorities clearly show that the fundamental democratic principle of freedom of speech is subject to violations in Belarus," the ministry wrote in a statement sent to PAP. The foreign ministry underscored Poland's wish to develop good relations and economic ties with Belarus but noted that this was only possible if the Lukashenko government began respecting speech and media freedom. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded that Warsaw is trying to "artificially stir up emotions over the issue" in order to "influence Belarusian independent judicial bodies," reported Belarusian State TV.

The Lithuanian Union of Journalists and the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry expressed solidarity with protesting Belarusian reporters. "Many times we have heard the Belarusian president speaking about the need for democratic changes in Belarus. "We would like to believe that his words will become reality," the Lithuanian journalists wrote in a statement. "Such things can not cause anything but concern," Petras Zapolskas, director of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's information and culture department, told BNS. He said the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry views the closure of Pahonia and persecution of its journalists as yet another step in the continuing and recently stepped-up campaign to crack down on the free press in the country and urged the Belarusian authorities to ensure that this and other gross violations of basic principles of freedom of press are ended immediately. ((PAP/ BBC/ CPJ/ BNS, April 8-9)

OPPOSITION LEADER SENTENCED TO TEN DAYS IN JAIL

On April 8, Prof. Yury Khadyka, 62, deputy chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, was sentenced to ten days' imprisonment under Art. 167, par. 1 ("participation in mass actions violating public order") by the Leninsky District Court of Grodno for taking part in the March 24's Freedom March in Grodno to mark the 84th anniversary of the Belarusian National Republic. The Republic was created in March 1918 during the turmoil of World War I and lasted nine months before being swept up in the Russian Revolution and absorbed into the Soviet Union. Khadyka, who will serve his term in one of the detention facilities in Minsk, said that the recent wave of trials of opposition activists was designed by the authorities to "crush the growing spread of civil activity in society." (Viasna Human Rights Center, April 9)

MALADY FRONT ACTIVIST FACES TEN DAYS OF ADMINISTRATIVE ARREST

On April 10, ?t approximately 6 p.m., Dmitry Dashkevich, a member of the Malady (Youth) Front, was arrested by police in his apartment and taken to a police station, where he spent the night. The next morning, the activist was charged with petty hooliganism under Art. 156 of the Administrative Offences Code. Dashkevich refused to sigh a police report that alleged that on April 10, at 6:20 p.m. (at this time, the activist was already in detention), he was arrested near an apartment building on Lenin Street in Minsk for obscene behavior and cursing in public place. Dashkevich demanded a lawyer and filed a complaint with the Leninsky District Prosecutor Office. The Malady Front member have just been released from the Okrestina detention center in Minsk after serving ten days of imprisonment under Art. 167, par. 1 (participation in mass actions violating public order) for carrying a white-red-white flag during the Freedom March in Minsk. (Viasna Human Rights Center, April 12)

OPPOSITION HONORS MEMORY OF PROMINENT LEADER

On April 7, about seventy members of the United Civic Party, colleagues, friends, and relatives linked hands in front of the presidential residence in Minsk to honor the memory of Gennady Karpenko, a prominent opponent to the Lukashenko regime, who died suddenly on April 6, 1999, at the age of 49, of what the medical authorities said was a cerebral hemorrhage. The circumstances surrounding Karpenko's his final hours have caused the family and colleagues to doubt that he died of natural causes. He received no serious medical attention for 24 hours after he had collapsed and admitted to a state medical center. The activists held the portraits of Lukashenko's political opponents who have gone missing in recent years and demanded the impartial investigation into the political disappearances. Dozens of police followed the protesters and threatened to disperse the unauthorized rally, but the event ended quickly and no violence was reported. (Viasna Human Rights Center, April 8)

OFFICIAL DENIES REPORTS ABOUT PREPARATIONS FOR REFERENDUM

On April 7, Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the opposition United Civic Party, voiced his concern about the reports that the Lukashenko government had formed a working group on preparations for another nationwide referendum. The Belarusian authoritarian leader wants to hear his compatriots' responds to the following questions:

1. Should local soviets [councils] be abolished?
2. Do you support the idea of the Russia-Belarus Union?
3. Should the government declare moratorium on the use of death penalty?
4. Should there be an extension of the president's term from five to seven years?

Lydia Yermoshina, chair of the Belarusian Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, has categorically denied the information that the authorities are making preparations for a nationwide referendum. The Commission has already started preparations for the elections to local soviets, which will be held in Spring 2003, she said. (Belapan, April 8)

- BROTHER SLAVS-

LUKASHENKO DEMONSTRATES HIS MILITARY MIGHT

In later May 2002, the Belarusian authorities are going to launch large military exercises, which will involve infantry, border and interior troops as well as emergency workers. Alexander Lukashenko is expected to oversee the exercise. The Belarusian leader's uneasiness about the growing U.S. military presence in the CIS seems to be the only reasonable explanation for otherwise unwarranted large-scale military maneuvers in cash-strapped Belarus, wrote Belaruskaya Gazeta (BG) in its March 25's issue. "How could this happen that foreign troops have appeared in certain states who are parties to the CIS Collective Security Treaty of 1992?" Lukashenko has lamented after U.S. forces landed in Georgia. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded that he does not see anything outrageous in the fact that American military bases might appear in Georgia following their appearance in Central Asia. Thus, Lukashenko is left alone in his struggle against American military expansion, wrote the newspaper.

There is no shortage of rogue countries that would not mind becoming Lukashenko' s military allies, BG said. It would be naive for the Belarusian leader to expect financial assistance from them, however because they themselves need economic and military aid. Lukashenko may double trade turnover with Iraq, or pay regular visits to the erstwhile Fidel Castro. Russia is no longer interested in supporting the "little" brother's escapades, BG concluded.

Interfax reported on April 12 that during a meeting of top Russian and Belarusian officials who make up the Supreme State Council of the Russia-Belarus Union, Putin announced that the two countries have a long way to go in harmonizing their laws and bringing their economies closer together before they can form a full-fledged union. Many in Russia oppose the full merger with impoverished Belarus, fearing it could further burden Russia's own unstable economy. In addition, Russian liberals have criticized Lukashenko's authoritarian ways and his crackdown on human rights, which have made him a pariah in the West. (Belaruskaya Gazeta, March 25- Interfax, April 12)

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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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