Review-chronicle of human rights violations in Belarus in July-August 2008

08.09.2008. Tags: Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations.

At the end of June in Belarus there began a parliamentary electoral campaign. That’s why July and August were marked by numerous violations in this field.

Oppositional activists were most actively persecuted in connection with investigation of the explosion of a home-made explosive device which had taken place in the night of 3-4 July at the celebration of the day of liberation of Belarus from Nazi troops during the Second World War (which was given the status of the Independence Day by the present authorities). According to the information of the Ministry of Health Care, 54 persons applied for medical aid as a result of the explosion, 47 of them (including two children) were hospitalized. A criminal case under part 3 of Article 339 of the Criminal Code (exceptionally malignant hooliganism) has been brought on the fact of the explosion. The investigation of the case is conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB (State Security Committee) and the procuracy. The officers of these state agencies have already conducted numerous searches, interrogations and arrests of democratic activists and members of political parties and public initiatives. Among those who were arrested for 3-10 days there are members of an underground sportive-patriotic organization White Legion (which ceased to exist long ago): Siarhei Chyslau, Ihar Korsak, Miraslau Lazouski and Viktar Liashchynski, human rights activist and the deputy head of the youth organization of the Belarusian Popular Front Illia Bohdan, a member of the BPF Party Anton Koipish, the head of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Freedom Party Siarhei Vysotski, a member of the United Civil Party Alexander Siarheyenka and an activist of the European Belarus campaign Pavel Kuryianovich. During the interrogations the investigators asked the detainees not only about the explosion, but also about the oppositional organizations and their activities. Representatives of the opposition stated the necessity of an independent public investigation of the explosion and warned the authorities against the use of the explosion as a pretext for starting a new wave of repressions against political opponents. Nevertheless, a large number of political and public activists were interrogated, their apartments were searched. They were forced to give their fingerprints and saliva samples and were photographed. In particular fingerprints were taken from a pretender for candidate at South-Western electoral constituency #99 Yury Karetnikau ten times and saliva samples – two times.

At the same time the tax agencies started checking the income and assets of well-known oppositional activists, especially those who expressed their intention to run at the parliamentary elections or monitor them.

The main event of August was granting parole to the last political prisoners – Alexander Kazulin (16 August), Andrei Kim and Siarhei Parsiukevich (20 August). The international community welcomed their release from jail. The commissioner on external relations and the Member of the EC in charge of External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Walder called this a reassuring step. During his visit to Belarus David Merkel, a Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Stateб held a number of meetings with representatives of the Belarusian authorities for normalization of the relations between Belarus and the United States. He spoke about the possibility of abolishment of the economical sanctions against Belarus. According to Mr. Merkel, the US approved of the release of political prisoners and was looking forward to seeing Belarus hold democratic parliamentary elections.

On 25 August the released political prisoners Alexander Kazulin, Andrei Kim and Siarhei Parsiukevich disseminated their joint statement. In this document they demand a complete rehabilitation and remind about the persons who were sentenced to personal restrain within the frames of the ‘case of 14’. ‘We are deeply convinced that the release of several political prisons now does not guarantee the absence of political prisoners in Belarus in the future. It is necessary to seek institutional changes in the Belarusian legislation, a real separation of the judicial and the executive authorities, complete rehabilitation of all political prisoners and prevention of such practice in the future,’ notice the former political prisoners.

Kazulin, Kim and Parsiukevich stated that that in Belarus a considerable number of prisoners were kept in prisons for political reasons and it was necessary to change the whole judicial system in Belarus, because it had already become a repressive agency. ‘About 70 per cent are kept in prisons undeservedly and even if they committed crimes they got too large terms for it. The rest of ‘criminals’ must not be kept in prison at all! My shaved off hair virtually stood on end when I familiarized with their cases. At present the Belarusian judges actively use the notion of ‘inner conviction of the court’, which completely contradicts to the presumption of innocence. It means that even in the absence of evidence a judge can deliver an accusative verdict being guided by some ‘inner conviction’. That’s why in colony I met many excellent people who simply fell victims to the state system,’ said Andrei Kim in his interview to Radio Racyja.

On 4 August the informational agencies BelTA and Interfax informed, with a reference to the presidential press-service, that Alexander Lukashenka signed the law On mass media. On 28 August the draft law was adopted by the Soviet of the Republic. In the middle of July it was considered by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus and then was passed to the president. The Belarusian Association of Journalists several times addressed the deputies with the request to submit this document to an international expertise. The organization also proposed its own expert evaluation of it, pointing at certain repressive regulations. In June and July many international organizations called the Belarusian authorities to abstain from adoption of this document in its present version and proposed their expert aid in its amendment. Among them there was the OSCE representative of freedom of mass media Miklosz Haraszti, the PACE rapporteur on Belarus Andrea Rigoni, the International Federation of Journalists, the International campaign for freedom of expression Article 19, Reporters without Borders (RSF), the Human Rights House Foundation (Norway), The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Norwegian PEN-Center, the Danish Union of Journalists, the editorial board of the magazine Index of Censorship and the organization Civil Belarus (Czech). The law will come into force on 8 February 2008.

On 5 August in Minsk the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders presented the Russian version of the report on the countries of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The report shows that the freedom of association and the right to peaceful assemblies were violated in many countries. The activities of NGOs were under a vigilant watch. Obstacles were put to juridical legalization of their status. Some legally registered NGOs were liquidated. Pitifully enough, a special attention was again paid to Belarus in connection with illegal detentions, process violations and harassment of human rights activists. The event was attended by a representative of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), member of the council of youth lawyers of Georgia Tinatin Khidasheli and the vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Ales Bialiatski.

1. Politically motivated criminal cases

In July the Belarusian Helsinki Committee passed to the subcommittee on Belarus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Venetian commission of the Council of Europe its expert conclusion on non-constitutionality of Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code that provides up to two years of imprisonment for activities on behalf of underground organizations. As the head of the BHC legal commission Harry Pahaniaila explained, the organization had addressed the Constitutional Court of Belarus concerning this issue, but had received a runaround. That’s why the human rights activists directed their conclusion to the international institutions for studying the situation in Belarus and giving their evaluation of the practice that restricts the civil right to association.

On 22 July the college board of Minsk city court turned down the complaints of ten people who had been sentenced to different terms of personal restrain within the frames of the so-called ‘case of 14’ for participation in a peaceful action of entrepreneurs that had taken place in January 2008. Now the activists intend to appeal to higher court instances against the unfair verdict.

In Vitsebsk there continues the investigation of the criminal case brought on the fact of anonymous threats by the Russian neo-Nazi organization Russian National Unity (RNE) to public and political activists. At first the investigators considered Leanid Svetsik, a human rights activist from Vitsebsk, as a witness. Now he is the main accused in the case, though there seem to be no real ground for it.

2. Right to association

On 1 July the members of the liquidated cultural-educational NGO Stary Horad Yauhen Belasin, Iryna Laurouskaya, Palina Panasiuk and Siarhei Panasevich directed complaints to the UN Committee on Human Rights against the liquidation of the NGO for wire-drawn regions. In their complaints the activists present the facts that prove the groundlessness of this liquidation and state that the real reason for it was revenge of the authorities.

On 15 July members of the organizing committee of the human rights and educational NGO Movement For Freedom addressed the Supreme Court with a complaint against the decision of the Ministry of Justice not to register the association. It is already the third refusal of the ministry this year. The trial took place on 6 August. The Supreme Court rejected the complaint of the organizing committee because of a technical mistake in the guarantee letter of the organization that agreed to provide an office for registration of the legal address of the movement For Freedom.

On 16 July the members of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party also submitted to the Supreme Court a complaint against the second refusal of the Justice of Ministry of Justice to register the party. On 12 August the Supreme Court considered the complaint and, predictably enough, took the side of the ministry. Nevertheless, the BCD members intend to apply to the ministry again for registration of their party.

On 17 July the Ministry of Justice of Belarus again refused to register the social-ecological NGO Center for support of Chernobyl initiatives whose aim is to give aid to victims of Chernobyl accident and other anthropogenic catastrophes which caused radioactive irradiation. The initiator of creation of this organization, correspondent member of the National Academy of Sciences Ivan Nikitchanka thinks that the reasons for non-registering the NGO are wire-drawn: before this the officials were finding ‘mistakes’ in the filed documents, now they speak of ‘incompatibility of some of the charter’s provisions with the national laws’ without giving any details. The founders of the organization intend to appeal against the registration refusal to the Supreme Court.

On 30 July the Supreme Court turned down the complaint of the founders of the association of pensioners against the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to register the organization. The formal reason for non-registration was that the ministry allegedly found some incorrigible mistakes in the documents that were filed for registration. Uladzimir Strakh, one of the founders of the organization, said that all these mistakes could be corrected, but the Ministry of Justice did not give such opportunity to the pensioners. It was already the second attempt of the organization to obtain the state registration with the aim to have legal right to protect the social rights of elderly people.

In the beginning of August the justice department of Hrodna oblast executive committee for the seventh time refused to register Hrodna oblast organization of the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada Party. The members of the party do not rule out that the court officers could have substituted the documents that were filed for registration, because in the refusal it iss stated that the information about the place of work of one of the organization’s members was incorrect. The head of Hrodna oblast BSDH organization Viktar Sazonau states that it is absolutely impossible, as the same documents were filed to the ministry several times and the ‘mistake’ was found only during the last one. That’s why Sazonau believes that the real reason for non-registration is the unwillingness of the state authorities to have legal opponents.

3. Freedom of speech and the right to disseminate information

On 17 July the college board of Minsk city court turned down the complaint of Maryna Koktysh, a correspondent for the newspaper Narodnaya Volia, against her non-accreditating at the Chamber of Representatives of the National Assembly. A district court of Minsk did not accept her complaint for consideration. Then the journalist decided to apply to a higher court instance. However, the college board of Minsk city court only upheld the decision of the inferior court. Thus, the College Board agreed that journalists had no rights to protection of their violated right at court. In connection with this representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists intend to appeal against this verdict to the head of Minsk city court and then to the Supreme Court of Belarus.

On 24 July in Vitsebsk the officers of Minsk department on struggle against organized crime searched the apartment of the director of the printing house Vitebskiy Kurier Zhana Papova within the frames of investigation of the criminal case brought on the 4 July blast. Bear in mind that this printing house publishes the only non-state public and political newspaper in the region, Vitebskiy Kurier M. As a result of the search the officers confiscated from Papova diskettes, CDs and flash-cards. They explained that these information carriers could contain the scheme of the explosive device. After the search Zhana Papova was guarded for to the oblast police department on struggle against organized crime, for a questioning. On the eve of these actions, on 21 July, she had submitted to the police a letter with the demand to return the detained circulation of the first issue of Vitebskiy Kurier M or explain why the newspaper had been detained for several months already.

On 13 August the administrative commission of Chyhunachny district of Vitsebsk fined a local opposition activist and distributor of independent press Barys Khamaida 200 000 rubles (about $94) for violation of the rules of trade. Mr. Khamaida is not going to appeal against this verdict. He believes that the amendment of the Constitution by the Belarusian authorities in 1996 was illegal and that since that time there was no independent judicial authority in Belarus. However, he is not going to stop distributing newspapers either.

On 28 August a judge of Leninski district court of Minsk Mikhail Khoma sentenced to 10 days of jail an activist of the civil campaign European Belarus Pavel Luksha, who had been detained for distribution of the newspaper Vybor on 18 August. The newspaper contained articles with calls to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections and participate in the actions of protest against the falsifications. The court considered it as ‘calls to participation in unauthorized action’ and punished the activist with ten days of jail under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code, ‘violation of the rules for organizing and holding mass actions’.

4. Detentions and other punishments to civil and political activists

On 1 July the court of the city of Baranavichy and Baranavichy district sentenced an activist of the Young Front Zmitser Stankevich to 10 days of arrest for handing out leaflets with information about the political prisoner Andrei Kim. Stankevich had been detained by the police, who had drawn on him a report under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code, ‘petty hooliganism’.

On 2 July an activist of the civil campaign European Belarus Pavel Yukhnevich was placed to the remand prison in Akrestsin Street in Minsk for serving seven-days’ arrest term to which he had been sentenced in absentia by Pershamaiski district court of Minsk for participation in the official Labor Day action, held near the National Library by the official trade unions. Pavel Yukhnevich decided to come to the police on his own, not be seized out in the street, as it happened to another activist of the European Belarus Yauhen Afnahel.

On 11 July a judge of Tsentralny district court of Minsk Tatsiana Pauliuchuk sentenced the activists of the United Civil Party Mikhail Pashkevich and Vasil Stazharau to 15 days of jail and Kiryl Paulouski – to ten days, in both cases under Article 17.1. The people were detained in the morning for an attempt to find about the fate of a member of their party Alexander Siarheyenka, for which they came to the local KGB office. After the detention the activists were guarded to Tsentralny district police department, where reports for ‘dirty swearing in public’ were drawn on them.

On 16 July a human rights activist from Vitsebsk Pavel Levinau was taken away from hospital for serving an arrest term. On 26 May the member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee had been sentenced to ten days of arrest under Article 17.1 of the Criminal Code by Judge Valiantsina Kismiaroshkina for alleged swearing on the police during his detention on 27 March, when he had been trying to get to the apartment of journalist Vadzim Barshcheuski, where a search had been performed. Mr. Levinau spent almost two months appealing against the verdict by which he was sentenced to arrest and fined 700 000 rubles (about $330) for insubordination to the police. According to the human rights activist, during all this time the officers of Pershamaiski district police department of Vitsebsk were trying to forcedly take him for serving the arrest term: they kept duty near his apartment and watched his movement around the city.

The district tax inspection fined an activist of the entrepreneurs’ movement Aliaksei Taustyka 140 000 rubles (about $657) on the basis of a customer’s complaint, for speaking Belarusian, which was considered as ‘tactless treatment of the customer’. The entrepreneur was not even allowed to familiarize with the complaint.

On 28 July a judge of Babruisk district court Aliaksei Klimau sentenced a local politician, pretender for candidate at these parliamentary elections Alexander Chyhir to ten days of jail and to 2,1 million rubles (about $986) fine for ‘petty hooliganism, insubordination to the police and defilement of a taxi car). The politician was given the opportunity to appeal against the verdict. On 14 August a judge of Mahiliou oblast court Mikalai Hladki ruled to turn Chyhir’s appeal down. He did not even explain the reasons for such verdict.

On 30 July a judge of Pukhavichy district court Anatol Viazhevich fined a civil activist Siarhei Abrazouski 1 750 000 rubles (about $893) for organization of an unauthorized meeting against the construction of a pesticide plant near the settlement of Druzhny. Mr. Abrazouski commented: ‘Violations of human rights in Pukhavichy district witness that the Belarusian authorities mock at the people. We are shown that common people have no rights and the officials can do anything they want.’ Siarhei Abrazouski is fined for the third time already. He has already been fined $1 300 for meetings that had taken place in the settlements of Druzhny and Svislach in spring this year.

In August an activist of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Kanstantsin Shytal was called to the office of a court marshal of Doksytsy district court for paying 70 000 rubles (about $33) fine for picketing at the market in Dokshytsy on 9 May. The trial took place on 10 July, but Shytal received no writ, though in the verdict it is written that he was informed but did not come to the court. Bear in mind that on 9 May 2008 Kanstantsin Shytal held in Dokshytsy a picket against abortions, which caused a great resonance among the local population and in mass media. ‘It is a pity that in our country with a thousand-year Christian history the authorities consider the attempts of protest against antichristian and antihuman actions as a crime’, commented Mr. Shytal.

5. Right to peaceful assemblies

In July Minsk city executive committee banned the pickets of solidarity with the political prisoner Alexander Kazulin that were to have taken place in Arlouskaya Street on 6 and 7 July. The reasons for the ban were not explained.

On 14 July in Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk about fifty representatives of oppositional parties and movements took part in an action against the arrest of opposition activists in connection with 4 July blast. The peaceful action was dispersed by the riot police, who beat the leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Liabedzka. The medical expertise registered five haematomas, but the politician sees no sense in applying to court.

Brest city authorities prohibited a human rights activist Raman Kisliak to hold the action ‘March of petty hooligans’, which was appointed on 30 July. By this action the human rights activist tried to draw public attention to massive detentions and arrests of public and political activists under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code (petty hooliganism). The official reason for the ban is that the stated place of the action does not correspond to the ruling of Brest city executive committee On determining regular places for holding mass actions in Brest. 19 applicants of the march appealed against the ban, but the court stated that considering such suits was beyond its competence.

On 12 August the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk sentenced a youth activist Mauliuda Atakulava to ten days of jail. On the eve of the trial she was detained together with the Young Front activists Andrei Tychyna and Ivan and Illia Shyla for picketing the Russian Embassy. All the detainees were guarded to the police station, but all of them except for Atakulava were under age, that’s why she was the only person who was not released and had to spend a night in the remand prison in Akrestsin Street. The trial over the girl was closed and none of her friends were allowed to it. The court verdict became known only when she was led out of the court hall.

6. Politically motivated dismissals from jobs and expulsions from high schools

On 14 July an activist of the Young Front and the Belarusian Christian Party Pavel Nazdra was tried within the frames of a case that had been brought by Mazyr military enlistment committee in June. Mr. Nazdra was accused of having not informed the military enlistment committee about his voluntary termination of the working contract. For this he was fined 70 000 rubles (about $33), while all other people judged for the same thing were just warned.

On 30 July the police took an activist of Polatsk branch of the Young Front Ales Krutkin out of his apartment and guarded him to Polatsk district police department, where a report under Article 25.1 of the Administrative Code for not coming to the military enlistment office was drawn on him. Before this, at the end of June Mr. Krutkin was groundlessly expelled from the first year of the historical faculty of Polatsk State University.

The head of Kobryn organization of the Belarusian Popular Front Party Alexander Mekh, a candidate for deputy from the United democratic forces, was fired from the position of engineer of Kobryn department of gas-main pipelines of the open stock company Beltransgas. Before the dismissal the head of Kobryn department of gas-main pipelines Uladzimir Halashka and the head of Kobryn KGB office Andrei Basko conducted a ‘prophylactic talk’ with him. They tried to persuade Mekh to refuse from participation in the elections, threatening him with dismissal. Mr. Mekh recorded the conversation on a Dictaphone and publicized it with the aid of independent mass media. He also appealed to Kobryn district court against the decision of the enterprise administration not to extend his labor contract. The trial lasted for three days. On 22 August a judge of Kobryn district court Alexander Babaskin ruled to turn Mekh’s suit down. Now the activist intends to appeal against this verdict to a higher court instance.