Aleh Vouchak: Cases of abducted politicians dragged out deliberately

The authorities do it so that relatives cannot examine the materials of the cases.

The Belarusian Documentation Centre headed by Raisa Mikhailouskaya and the Legal Assistance to Citizens headed by Aleh Vouchak held a joint press conference in Minsk on September 16. Vouchak told charter97.org what conclusions human rights defenders made after 15 years of searches for the innocent people abducted on political motives. He also spoke about further measures that would bring the guilty persons to account and allow the families of the disappeared persons to find the truth.

– We have summed up the results of our 15-year public investigation and come to a conclusion that the preliminary investigation should have been stopped on May 7, 2014, in accordance with the current criminal procedure code, because the statute of limitation in this crime expired. Under article 83 of the Criminal Code, the statute of limitation in grave crimes is 15 years since committing the offence. A murder, article 101, is a grave crime. The 15-year statute of limitation in the case of the disappearance of Yury Zakharanka started on May 7, 1999. We came to a conclusion after consultations with experts from courts and prosecution agencies that the statute of limitation does not depend on the date when the case was opened. The law says it clearly.

The case was prolonged, which is strange. We have doubts if it is legal to prolong the preliminary investigation. We have decided that we will apply for closing the case and giving us opportunities to examine it.

– Why do the authorities drag out the case? Is it legal?

– I do not rule out the possibility that they drag it deliberately so that relatives cannot read the materials of the case. As you understand, we can appeal against the case, send it to a court and make it public. It's possible that the Investigation Committee that investigates the case now will delay the final decision.

– Were investigative agencies really working on the case in recent years?

– Neither investigative agencies nor operational agencies were working actively during 15 years. The operational agencies include the police that must contact relatives and friends every year and give media information about the measures taken to look for the missing persons. But they didn't do it. We drew a conclusion that their activities were formal.

– Did you meet any difficulties during the civil process?

– We have a problem in the civil process and the civil case to report Yury Zakharanka dead. There are many secrets and mysteries. On July 20, we sent a request to the chairperson of the Kastrychnitski district court asking to explain why the case was not resumed for 12 years (it was suspended) and why Yury Zakharanka was not reported dead. I spoke to the chairperson of the court and she assured me the reply with detailed information had been sent to Zakharanka's family to Germany. I contacted the relatives of Yury Zakharanka today. They say they haven't received anything. It occurs that both the preliminary investigation and the civil case are kept secret.

– Were international mechanism involved to attract attention to the case of people who were abducted on political motives in Belarus?

– We opened a case in the working group on enforced disappearances in the Human Rights Committee for 15 years. They continue to investigate it, or to be more precise, to collect information from NGOs and the government. The Belarusian Documentation Centre also sent a complaint in Zakharanka's case over the biased investigation, torture, violence, etc to the Committee on Human Rights.

– Do you believe that relatives and public will finally learn the truth and that the guilty persons will be published?

– We think the case will reach public anyway. Whatever the authorities are, they will have to answer, because we have three international organisations that bind the state to answer and express its position on the issue. These are the working group on enforced and involuntary disappearances at the UN Committee on Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

Pourgourides made a report on Belarus in 2004, and a resolution was adopted obliging Belarus to present its progress report. There's one “but”. We are not a member of the Council of Europe, but Belarus cooperated with Christos Pourgourides, so Belarus was recommended to give this information.

Of course, a normal state struggling for its reputation should do it without remainders if something happens. But there are no legal mechanisms to make Belarus report on the case. We know that there are no progress reports and extensive information except for Lukashenka's remarks who said they had fled and mentioned some criminal clashes.

– Is the problem of disappearances in Belarus given enough attention in your opinion? The authorities remain the same, so every active citizen risks to leave his home one day and never return.

– There have been no press conferences during 15 years to explain who was suspected and what versions investigators had. Investigators can give results and make them public only if the authorities have the political will. If there's no political will, we will remain without information. Of course, Belarusian opposition politicians should more actively speak about political prisoners and try to keep the problem of the missing people high on the agenda. Political prisoners can be released, they meet with their families, marry and have children, healthy children, but imagine what the families of the disappeared people think? This is 15 years of grief and pain waiting for the trial.

Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski were kidnapped 15 years ago. The analysis of the evidence in the case, including the testimony of witnesses, suggests that Hanchar and Krasouski were forcibly abducted by unknown persons. Opposition members, relatives of the missing persons and the international community believe that Hanchar and Krasouski were kidnapped for political reasons, and suspect the country's high-ranking officials of involvement in the kidnapping. The statute of limitation in the criminal cases over the disappearance of the opposition members expires this year.