INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - BELARUS UPDATE :: Charter'97 :: News

Edited by Victor Cole
Vol. 7, No. 2
January 2004

IN THIS ISSUE:

-Violence Against Opposition Activists Intensifies

-Two Activists Detained In Minsk

-Opposition: First They Came After Press, NGOs; Parties Are Next?

-Human Rights Defender Demands Investigation Into Disappearances

-2003: Grim Year For Press Freedom In Belarus

-Largest Independent Daily Faces Another Lawsuit

-Human Rights Journalist Becomes Homeless
-Independent Newspaper Faces Distribution Issues
-Belarus Opens Inquiry Into Desecration Of Jewish Graves
-Belarus Faces EU Probe Into Labor Rights Violations

-Social Democrats Urge Opposition Unity Ahead Of Election

-OSCE Envoy: Election Will Be 2004 Most Important Event
-Lukashenko’s Popularity Is Dwindling In Minsk
-General Amnesty Goes Into Effect

-Former Plant Director To Serve His Term In Minsk Colony

-French Couturier Honored

-Parliament Speaker, Opposition Comment On Integration With Russia
-Liberty = Prosperity And Vice Versa

-Pariah States, Unite!

-Regime Seeks Economic Cooperation With EU

--HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS --

VIOLENCE AGAINST OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS INTENSIFIES

Suspicious beatings of political opponents continue in Belarus. On January 2, Yauhen Akaronak, chair of the Belazyorsk branch, the Brest Region, of Narodnaya Hramada, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP), and his wife Natalya, deputy chair of the city Executive Committee and a member of Initsiatsiva (Initiative), a local opposition NGO, were attacked by six unidentified assailants, reported Charter 97. The attackers broke Yauhen’s nose and several ribs. The injuries were so severe that the activist had to be hospitalized. His wife sustained minor bodily injuries. Although the activists filed a report with local police, they believe the authorities will try to close the case without conducting a proper investigation. The BSDP has condemned the attack as politically motivated. (Charter 97, January 6)

TWO ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN MINSK

On January 5, Raman Kazakevich and Dasha Maldavanava were detained near Tsentralny supermarket in Minsk, while distributing cards with season’s greetings from the European Coalition Free Belarus (ECFB), reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The detainees were taken to the Tsentralny Precinct and charged with violating Art. 143 of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code (littering) and a police report was filed with the district administrative commission, which may fine the activists. (Viasna, January 6)

OPPOSITION: FIRST THEY CAME AFTER PRESS, NGOS; PARTIES ARE NEXT?

Last year saw practically total elimination of press freedom and increased repression against NGOs in Belarus, Lyudmila Hraznova, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and the chair of the newly established Human Rights Alliance of Belarus, told a press conference in Minsk on January 9, reported Belapan. Making a dark prediction for 2004, a parliamentary election year, Hraznova said that “it will be the turn of political parties to be terminated” in 2004. She believes that the current repressions represent a “deliberate policy designed to prevent the development of a democratic civil society in Belarus.” (Belapan, January 9)

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER DEMANDS INVESTIGATION INTO DISAPPEARANCES

Aleh Volchek, a former head of the Public Legal Aid Association, a human rights NGO closed by the Belarusian authorities in 2003, and the chair of the Independent Commission investigating political disappearances in Belarus, commented on the preliminary findings prepared by Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) legal committee, regarding the disappearances of Yury Zakharanka (disappeared May 7, 1999), Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski (December 16,1999), and Dmitry Zavadsky (July 7, 2000), RFE/RL’s Belarusian service reported on January 8. [Pourgourides visited Belarus on November 5-8 and December 1-2 (see Belarus Update, Vol. 6, Nos. 4, 8, 10). – Ed.].

Volchek believes that the Belarusian Prosecutor’s Office should consolidate all these cases. He also recommends Pourgourides to pay a particular attention to the testimony of Dmitry Pyatrushkevich, former investigator from the Prosecutor General’s Office, who has accused the Lukashenko regime of running a death squad to murder its political opponents. Volchek supported Pourgourides’s proposition to form a parliamentary commission on political disappearances and include in it the relatives of the missing persons. Volchek once again condemned the failure of the Lukashenko government to mount a serious, thorough and accountable investigation into the disappearances. He called on the European and international institutions to take more vigorous and public action to bring the Belarusian authorities to account for either their negligence or complicity. (RFE/RL, January 8)

-- MEDIA FREEDOM IN BELARUS --

2003: GRIM YEAR FOR PRESS FREEDOM IN BELARUS

The year 2003 was a grim year for press freedom in Belarus, wrote Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its annual report released on January 6. Independent journalists continued to be harassed by one of the most repressive regimes in the ex-Soviet countries. According to the report, three journalists were sent to labor camps for having dared to criticize Lukashenko. The regime suspended or prevented the appearance of more than ten independent newspapers and shut down the Minsk bureau of NTV, Russia’s independent TV station. The murder of Dmitry Zavadsky remains mystery. Read the full report at www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6500 (RSF, January 6)

LARGEST INDEPENDENT DAILY FACES ANOTHER LAWSUIT

The Lukashenko regime continues its assault on the independent media. The National Intellectual Property Center (NIPC), the Belarus’s Copyright Office, permitted Syarhei Atroshchanka, a famous Belarusian manufacturer of women’s underwear, to register a new newspaper with the title Narodnaya Volya, reported Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta (BDG), an independent newspaper. The authorities deliberately disregarded the fact that the same name has been used for years by the largest independent daily. Atroshchanka has already filed a copyright infringement action with a prosecutor’s office demanding that Iosif Syaredzich, Narodnaya Volya’s founder and editor-in-chief, stop publishing his newspaper or change its name. Syaredzich intends to appeal the NIPC’s decision. He believes that Atroshchanka is trying to retaliate against Narodnaya Volya, which once referred to Obozrevatel, another newspaper Atroshchanka publishes, as a “tendentious tabloid.” (BDG, January 5)

HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNALIST BECOMES HOMELESS

As of January 13, Valery Shchukin, a former deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet illegally dissolved by Lukashenko in late 1996, a prominent human rights journalist and an ECFB founder, has been homeless for 164 days, reported Charter 97. On August 1, 2003, the authorities of the city of Polotsk in the Vitebsk Region, evicted Shchukin from the dormitory were he used to live for many years and cancelled his propiska (a proof of permanent residence). Now, the aging activist, who is in his 60s, is forced to spend nights on a bench in the waiting area of the local railroad station. The lack of propiska may also preclude him to register for this year parliamentary elections. (Charter 97, January 5)

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER FACES DISTRIBUTION ISSUES

Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta (BDG), a prominent independent Minsk-based newspaper, can no longer use the state-controlled subscription and distribution services,” Pyotr Martsau, the founder and publisher of the newspaper, said in an interview to Belapan. According to Martsau, BelPoshta, the Belarusian State Postal Service, has broken the distribution contract with BDG and is currently returning the money to subscribers. “In addition, the Minsk, Brest and Vitebsk branches of BelSayuzDruk, the Belarusian state-owned press distributor, have recently refused to distribute the newspaper. The newspaper has also been removed from subscription catalogues," Martsau complained.

BDG journalists worked in a similar situation 1996-97, the publisher said, when the newspaper was printed abroad, in Lithuania, and was then disseminated via its own distribution network, which was more expensive and provided smaller coverage than the state-controlled subscription and distribution services. Martsau believes that although the decision, officially made by the Information Ministry, most likely originated in the Presidential Administration.

[The authorities suspended the publishing of the BDG for three months in 2003 for publishing articles critical of Lukashenko. – Ed.] (Belapan, January 9)

-- RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN BELARUS --

BELARUS OPENS INQUIRY INTO DESECRATION OF JEWISH GRAVES

Following the December 16 complaint filed by the Jewish Religious Association (JRA) with the Volozhyn District Interior Directorate, police in Volozhyn, a small town in the Minsk Region, have launched a criminal investigation into the desecration of Holocaust victims graves at the Volozhyn Jewish cemetery, reported Belapan. According to Alyaksandr Rozenberh, JRA Executive Director, someone stole three memorial plaques from two tombstones in December 2003. (Belapan, January 9)

--TRADE UNION NEWS--

BELARUS FACES EU PROBE INTO LABOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the European Union (EU), announced on January 7 that it would launch an investigation into violation of basic labor standards in Belarus, reported Inter Press Service News Agency. These standards are set out by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and cover forced labor, freedom of association, discrimination in employment and child labor. The inquiry will run under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) of the EU, and could lead to temporary withdrawal of GSP status to Belarus. Belarus risks losing its preferential trading status and exports worth hundreds of millions of dollars if the allegations are found true. Three trade union confederations, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the World Confederation of Labor (WCL) provided the EC with information on the violation of workers’ rights in Belarus.

It should be noted that this unprecedented decision follows persistent international trade union pressure for the EC to take action. The Lukashenko government has for years blocked legal registration of trade unions, limited trade union activities and repressed trade union leaders and activists. The government has intimidated and dismissed workers and violated the right of freedom of association, union leaders say. (Inter Press Service News Agency, January 7)

-- ELECTION 2004 --

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS URGE OPPOSITION UNITY AHEAD OF ELECTION

Narodnaya Hramada, Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP) has appealed to the Belarusian opposition parties to sign an accord to demonstrate with a concrete step their commitment to build a united democratic coalition to defeat the Lukashenko regime, reported Belapan. The BSDP leadership urged the opposition parties to seize public criticism of each other during the 2004 parliamentary election campaign and to launch a united campaign behind the opposition candidates. “We appeal to all political forces, organizations and citizens to unite and support us for the sake of the country’s future,” the party said in the statement. (Belapan, January 4)

OSCE ENVOY: ELECTION WILL BE 2004 MOST IMPORTANT EVENT

The OSCE Office in Minsk (OOM) will continue its work in two major directions this year: the implementation of its projects and monitoring the compliance of the Belarusian government with its international obligations, Amb. Eberhard Heyken, OOM head, told Belapan. According to Amb. Heyken, the OSCE office gained a lot of experience last year which will enable it to work more efficiently in 2004. Noting that due to the late renewal of the OOM mandate [in late December 2003] the new projects have not yet been specified, Amb. Heyken said that 2004 projects will focus on the areas determined by the mandate: institutional development, the rule of law, civil society, economic development, and ecology. The OOM will also facilitate the implementation of the projects run by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Right [ODIHR]. Amb. Heyken stressed that free and democratic conduct of this year’s parliamentary election would be considered as a major step in the democratization of Belarus and would contribute to ending the international isolation of the country. (Belapan, January 8)

LUKASHENKO’S POPULARITY IS DWINDLING IN MINSK

According to a public opinion survey conducted by Zerkalo [Mirror], a Belarusian independent poll service run by the Belapan news agency, 13 percent of respondents said that they would vote for an amendment to the Belarusian Constitution allowing one person to be the country’s president for more than two consecutive terms; 53 percent said they would not allow Lukashenko to run again for the Belarusian presidency in the 2006 presidential election. The poll was conducted among 500 Minsk residents. (Belapan, January 9)

-- AT HOME IN BELARUS --

GENERAL AMNESTY GOES INTO EFFECT

About 3,880 inmates will be released under the General Amnesty declared by Lukashenko to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazis occupation in 1944, the presidential press servservice told Belapan on January 8. The amnesty will apply primarily to convicts whose term in prison expires this year and who fully repaid all monetary damages. About 18,000 more inmates will have their prison terms curtailed. The amnesty will not apply to persons jailed for felonies and other serious crimes. A senior interior ministry official told a parliament session that 52,000 people were currently in prison or being held in detention centers, “which is 21 percent more than our full capacity.” (Belapan, January 8)

FORMER PLANT DIRECTOR TO SERVE HIS TERM IN MINSK COLONY

On January 8, Mikhail Leonau, former director general of the Minsk Tractor Factory (MTZ), was transferred from a pre-trial solitary confinement cell to a maximum security colony in Minsk, where he is to serve the remaining eight years of his term, Charter 97 reported. On December 22, the Belarusian Supreme Court found Leonau guilty of large-scale embezzlement, money laundering, illegal opening of bank accounts in hard currency, and tax evasion. The court sentenced Leonau to 10 years in a maximum security colony with confiscation of property and banned him from holding managerial positions for another five years. [Leonau was arrested on January 8, 2002, on corruption charges and has been in pretrial detention ever since (see Belarus Update, Vol. 5, Nos. 2-4, 9, 16; Vol. 6, No. 6, 11). – Ed.]. The court also ruled to confiscate $12,000 from Leonau’s checking account, his new car, and about $600,000 from the bank accounts opened by Leonau and his family members abroad. (Charter 97, January 9)

FRENCH COUTURIER HONORED

The Belarusian strongman decorated Pierre Cardin, a famous French couturier, with the Frantsishak Skaryna medal, the country’s highest award, for his efforts to help the victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, reported Belapan. Thanking Lukashenko for the award, Cardin, who is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, said that the medal “honors not only myself but France as well.” [While the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant is located in neighboring Ukraine, its explosion most severely affected the Belarus population.- Ed.] (Belapan, January 8)

-- BROTHER SLAVS --

PARLIAMENT SPEAKER, OPPOSITION COMMENT ON INTEGRATION WITH RUSSIA

On January 8, commenting on the future of Russia-Belarus integration, Vadim Popov, chair of the Belarusian National Assembly’s House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian parliament, said that he sees no alternative to the union state, reported Belapan. Popov predicted that a draft constitution of the union state would be completed in 2004.

According to Syarhei Kalyakin, leader of the Party of Communists of Belarus (PKB), the opposition Communist party, “the Kremlin does not believe any more that Belarus will ever adopt the common currency and other integration agreements.” “Accordingly, Moscow is looking for someone else in BelaruBelarus, apart from Lukashenko, for the Russian government seems to realize that the time has come to start thinking what would happen in the post-Lukashenko era,” noted Kalyakin.

“Since Belarus cannot easily withdraw from the existing agreements, Lukashenko will likely try to drag his feet and pretend that things are going fine,” commented Yaraslau Ramanchuk, deputy chair of the United Civic Party (UCP) and director of Strategy, an independent Belarusian think tank. “While Russia-Belarus relations will likely remain in the same state of suspended animation that could be observed at the end of 2003, Minsk`s protective measures against Russian goods will probably become tougher,” he said, adding that he did not expect Belarus to re-instate customs on the Russian border. (Belapan, January 8)

-- INTERNATIONAL NEWS --

LIBERTY = PROSPERITY AND VICE VERSA

The 2004 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, proved once again that the nations with the most economic freedom are also the most prosperous. Those with the best scores in the 10 categories measured – trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign investment, banking and finance, wages and prices, property rights, regulation and informal (or black) market activity – enjoy higher standards of living and higher per capita incomes. Of the 155 countries analyzed, 16 countries are classified as having “free” economies, 55 as “mostly free,” 72 as “mostly unfree” and 12 as “repressed.” Sadly, Belarus remains firmly in the last category titled Repressed Economies, taking 145th spot right after Cuba. (WSJ, January 9)

PARIAH STATES, UNITE!

On January 9, during a meeting with the Libyan ambassador, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that “Belarus is Libya’s key and reliable partner,” reported Interfax. The Belarusian strongman added that he was planning to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to “discuss further cooperation.”

The League notes that in the past the two sides signed agreements on mutual protection of investments, the creation of a joint trade and economic commission, and cooperation in education, science, and military sphere. Most of Libya’s military equipment is Soviet-made, and Belarus provides repair and maintenance services and spare parts as well as new weapons to Tripoli. (Interfax, January 9)

REGIME SEEKS ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH EU

With the NATO and EU eastward expansion, Belarus will become considerably closer to the West and will share a common border with the EU, Sergei Martynov, Belarusian Foreign Minister, told a January 7 press-conference in Minsk. According to Martynov, the Belarusian authorities are interested in closer cooperation with the EU institutions. (Belapan, January 7)

-- NOTABLE QUOTES--

“Our prosperity solely depends on our own efforts. God never gives anything for free but forces us to make a little step forward every year. My task as the President is to ensure that our people make those steps.” Aleksandr Lukashenko, in his Christmas address. (BelTA, January 8)

-- UPCOMING EVENTS --

January 14 – An Open Meeting of the European Parliament Delegation to Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus in Strasbourg, France

January 23-24 - A Human Rights Forum held in Minsk, Belarus

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The Belarus Update is a weekly news bulletin of the Belarus Human Rights Support Project of the International League for Human Rights, www.ilhr.org. The League, now in its 62nd year, is a New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the International Labor Organization. Letters to the Editor: vcole@ilhr.org, subscription services and back issues: otarasov@ilhr.org

The Belarus project was established to support Belarusian citizens in making their case for the protection of civil society before the international community regarding Lukashenko`s wholesale assault on human rights and the rule of law in Belarus.