Wives of Missing Oppositionists Frustrated by "Parliament`s" Recognition by OSCE PA :: Charter'97 :: News

“I don’t really understand how the “parliament’s” acceptance to OSCE PA can change the situation with human rights in the country for the better, especially as concerns disappearances of prominent figures. Do you really think that such OSCE PA’s decision will make the authorities allow the international commission on disappearances to freely operate here? Will the European parliamentarians be allowed to listen to general prosecutor Viktor Sheiman’s testimony on this matter? Will the detectives interrogate Lukashenko and other top officials? I think not. So I don’t really believe that the situation can change for the better with this,” – said in an interview to the UCP press-service wife of the missing businessman Anatoly Krasovsky Irina Krasovskaya.

Irina Krasovskaya:

- After I read Mrs.Tsapf’s report in media, which said that none of the four OSCE conditions for the “parliament’s” recognition have been observed by Belarus, with no progress in investigation into the disappearances (on the contrary, investigations were halted), I thought first that such organization as OSCE PA will objectively evaluate the state of affairs in Belarus, being called to stand on guard of human rights.

However, it turned out that politics is a game, which sometimes cannot be understood by logical thinking alone. I’ve no idea how the parliament’s acceptance can really influence the human rights situation in the country for the better, especially as concerns disappearances of prominent figures. Do you really think that such OSCE PA’s decision will make the authorities allow the international commission on disappearances to work here? Will the European parliamentarians be allowed to listen to general prosecutor Viktor Sheiman’s testimony on this matter? Will the detectives interrogate Lukashenko and other top officials? I think not. So I don’t really think the situation can change for the better with this.

Svetlana Zavadskaya (wife of the journalist Dmitry Zavadsky, abducted on July 7, 2000 under mysterious circumstances):

- I never imagined that something of the kind could happen in Europe. I perfectly knew that both the West and America were opposed to our “parliament” for many a year. Nonetheless, the official acceptance of it into the OSCE PA member came as a real shock to me. However, the fact that some countries, including USA, were against that move, is a consolation to me.

I’ve no more trust to Uta Tsapf. She numerously listened to our stories when we met in person and is pretty much aware of the situation with our husbands, realizing what complete lawlessness we have here. If they invite me to a meeting, where she will participate, I think I will not even talk to her.

I don’t believe that the handpicked “parliament” can now be turned face to the West and that it will effectively cooperate with the OSCE.