ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> <html> <head> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico"> <title>Monthly Review of Human Rights violations in Belarus</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <link href="layout_viasna.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="meny_viasna.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> </head> <body> <?php include "../include/head_viasna.php"; ?> <?php include "meny_viasna.php"; ?> <?php include "meny_viasna2008.php"; ?> <div id="layout"> <div id="content"> <span class="h1">Monthly Review of Human Rights violations in Belarus - December<br><br> </span> <span class="plain">The last month of the year summed up its results and eloquently showed that, despite the demonstrative wish of the authorities to lead a dialogue with the West, the situation of human rights remains the same. On one hand, there is the return of two (only two!) independent newspapers to the state distribution system, the registration of the republican human rights and educational association For Freedom (as a result of its fourth attempt to get registered). On the other hand, there is the ongoing pressurization of opposition-minded citizens.<br><br> On 10 December the universal community celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not only have the Belarusian authorities ignored this date, but they have also taken all measures to prevent human rights activists from organizing festive events. <br><br> Belarus still practices politically motivated criminal persecution of participants of peaceful democratic activists. In December Alexander Barazenka, the last defendant in the  process of 14 , was sentenced to personal restraint. <br><br> The international human rights organization Amnesty International published its report on the situation of human rights in the world for May 2007  May 2008. In Belarus section one can read about pressurization of the civil society by the authorities, legal harassment of oppositional activists and execution of death convicts. Struggle against death penalty has been one of the AI priorities since the time of its creation. The legal practice in Belarus presents a challenge in this respect, as Belarus is the only country in Europe and in the post-Soviet region that still has not refused from capital punishment. The report also draws numerous cases of criminal persecution of activists of the Young Front for  activities on behalf of unregistered organization and mentions the case of the Human Rights Center Viasna, liquidated by the Belarusian authorities in October 2003. In July 2007 the UN Human Rights Committee issued a ruling, by which this liquidation was qualified as a violation of the right to association and the Belarusian authorities were proposed to immediately correct the situation. The Belarusian authorities ignored this recommendation. This year s report of Amnesty International confirms that Belarus remains a non-free country.<br><br> A democratic country cannot exist without the freedom of expression, which is a daily issue for Belarus. Independent mass media are pressurized, while forced subscription is organized for the state press. In particular, at the end of December a number of state bodies, organizations and enterprises participated in the campaign on obligatory subscription to the state press. The editors of Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volia, in their turn, urged the readers not to trust to the Belsayuzdruk newsstands and get these non-state newspapers by subscription. Meanwhile, other non-state newspapers are still deprived of the opportunity to be distributed by the state monopolists Belsayuzdruk and BelPoshta. Such socio-political editions as Tovarishch, Novy Chas, Bobruiskiy Kurier, Borisovskiye Novost, Vitebskiy Kurier M, Volnaye Hlybokaye, Hazeta Slonimskaya, Hantsavitski Chas and Intex-press are not sold at the newsstands and are not distributed by subscription. According to the lawyers of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, in 2008 the situation of the freedom of expression in Belarus was extremely hard.  The authorities continued pushing non-state media out of the informational field by administrative means, said Mikhail Pastukhou.<br><br><br> 1. Politically motivated criminal cases<br><br> On 8-9 December the hearings on the criminal case against the youth activist Alexander Barazenka were held at Tsentralny district court of Minsk. The case was brought under Article 342 of the Criminal Code, part 1,  organization of or active participation in the group actions that grossly violate the public order . Since 27 October Barazenka was kept in the investigative isolator in Valadarski Street. His friends held numerous actions of solidarity with him near the investigative isolator. More than fifty people came to the trial, including political and public activists, entrepreneurs, human rights activists and youth. However, not all of them managed to get in the court hall, as the policemen in civvies lead there in advance a large group of students to fill the places. Under the vigilant surveillance of the police youth activist unfurled banners and raised flags in the court yard. Two police cars kept their duty near the court building.<br><br> The court questioned four directors of transport enterprises as witnesses. The witnesses stated that their enterprises did not suffer any financial loss because of the action of protest in which Barazenka had participated, because the traffic is interrupted in the center of Minsk almost everyday, also in connection with the movement of Alexander Lukashenka s cortege. The court also watched the videos that were shot by officers of law-enforcement agencies. However, the shown fragments consisted of general views from which Barazenka could not be seen. Nevertheless, the judge Natallia Vaitsiakhovich sentenced Alexander Barazenka to one year of personal restraint without direction to a corrective institution. The activist does not agree with the verdict and intends to appeal against it to superior court instances.<br><br><br> 2. Persecution of human rights activists<br><br> On 4 December the police captain Yauhen Bakharevich came to the apartment of Siarhei Housha, human rights activist from Baranavichy, in order to conduct a search there. He wanted to look for some prohibited literature, which the activist allegedly kept at home. Mr. Housha was absent from home at the time. His wife refused to let the policeman in. The policeman had no warrant for the search. Mr. Housha is sure that this visit was connected with the upcoming anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. <br><br> On 10 December more than 20 human rights and youth activists were detained in the center of Minsk for handing out printed copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among the detainees there were Ales Bialiatski, Uladzimir Labkovich, Aleh Matskevich, Maryna Statkevich Siarhei Sys and Iryna Toustsik. The policemen who detained them were dressed in civvies and refused to introduce themselves, thus ignoring the legal provisions. The detainees were forcibly guarded to Tsentralny district police department of Minsk and detained there for three hours. Having put down the passport data they released everybody without any explanations. The vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Bialiatski thusly commented on the detention:  We handed out to the Belarusian citizens informational leaflets about human rights violations in Belarus. Pitifully enough, we did not manage to hold the action the way we planned it. It is a pity that it is impossible to hand out the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the country that has signed it .<br><br> On 10 December in Hrodna, during a similar action, the police detained the human rights activists Uladzimir Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau, as well as Aleh Kalinkau, Yan Roman and other action participants.<br><br><br> 3. Fines to civil and political activists<br><br> On 24 December Aleh Ladutska, activist of the civil campaign European Belarus¸ was fined 175 000 rubles (about $82) for posting stickers with the EU symbols. The fine was imposed by the administrative commission of Savetski district of Minsk with U.Zaleshchuk at the head.<br><br> On 28 December the judge of Kletsk district court Alena Hastseyeva fined a regional coordinator of the For Freedom movement Siarhei Panamarou 1 050 000 rubles. Panamarou was charged with organization of an unauthorized meeting on 7 December. The activist is indignant, as there weren t any meetings in Kletsk on that day.  The judge has not given to me a copy of the decision. I was warned that she could invent something in this case. Most probably, she will consult the head of the court or the ministry about it, Panamarou commented. Earlier RFE/RL informed that on 7 December a meeting of Kletsk dwellers with Anton Astapovich, the head of the voluntary society for protection of the monuments of history and culture, was to have taken place. However, officers of the culture department of Kletsk district executive committee and the local policemen did not let the people in the Palace of Culture. Later Siarhei Panamarou was accused of having organized an unauthorized action.<br><br><br> 4. Right to association<br><br> On 5 December the Supreme Court of Belarus started the hearings on the lawsuit of the founders of Horizontal NGO against the Ministry of Justice. The matter is that on 23 October the ministry refused to register the NGO because of alleged violation of the order of holding its constituent assembly and non-presentation of the list of founders. The plaintiffs dismiss these statements of the Ministry of Justice as groundless.<br><br> On 9 December the Supreme Court of Belarus ruled that a graphologic expertise of the documents that were submitted to the Ministry for registration on the NGO. The petition for such an expertise was made by the Ministry of Justice. According to the consultant of the department of NGOs Alexander Kharyton, some of the founders signatures in these documents differ from their signatures in other documents. Bear in mind that this is already the second attempt to appeal against the registration denial. The organization founders intend to make the third attempt to obtain the state registration in the case the court again takes the side of the Ministry of Justice. <br><br> The founders of the Horizontal belong to the left sector of the political specter. Most of them are members of either the Communist Party of Belarus of former members of the liquidated Belarusian Labor Party. The name of the organization is not occasional: at the first constituent assembly it was stated that Horizontal is established for activation of the social and political life, as a counterweight to the existing vertical of power in Belarus.<br><br> On the eve of the New Year and Christmas the Belarusian republican voluntary society for protection of the monuments of history and culture lost its office that was situated in Trayetskaye Suburb in the center of Minsk. The organization activists hoped that the organization will manage to keep its office and, correspondingly, its legal address. According to the head of the society Anton Astapovich, the rent commission of Minsk city executive commission and the unitary enterprise Minskaya Spadchyna refused to prolong the rent agreement for the organization in May 2008, but the voluntary society continued occupying the office till the end of the year without a rent agreement. According to Mr. Astapovich, the building where the office was situated, belongs to the voluntary society, as in 2004 it was unlawfully nationalized by the Economic Court.  I think that the reason for such attitude of the authorities is in the activity of the Society, because we are very active in raising the issues connected with violations of the rules of protection of historical and cultural heritage, especially in Minsk, where such violations are massive, Astapovich commented.<br><br><br> 5. Freedom of speech and the right to distribute information<br><br> In the beginning of December a democratic activist Kastus Zhukouski received from Vetka district prosecutor s office a letter about the inadmissibility of cooperation with the non-state TV channel BelSat. According to Mr. Zhukouski, in the letter it is stated that the prosecutor s office conducted a check-up on application of the head of Vetka district soviet of deputies Yauhen Chvankou and Zhukouski s cooperation with BelSat was established. That s why in the case of repeated cooperation with BelSat the activist will be drawn to responsibility.  I was running to the parliament at this election constituency and really made some shots with my video camera. I am a citizen of Belarus and according to the Constitution I have the right to pass the collected information to any TV channel, be it the Belarusian TV, CNN or RTR, commented Kastus Zhukouski.<br><br> On 12 December Iuye district court reconsidered the case on  extremist materials in an August issue of an unregistered newspaper Svaboda. As said by the lawyer Pavel Sapelka who represented the newspaper s interests in court, the lawsuit of the head of Hrodna oblast KGB office Ihar Siarheyenka was rejected, as there still hasn t been found any extremist articles in the newspaper. Bear in mind that on 9 September Iuye district court confessed Svaboda issue #127 for 14-27 August 2008 extremist and ordered to destroy 5 000 copies of the newspaper. The civil case was brought on the application of the KGB officer Ihar Siarheyenka dated 4 September. The reason is that the article War in Georgia seemed suspicious to the KGB office. Then the judge Alexander Sitsko decided that the case should be returned for second trial. <br><br> On 15 December the activists of the United Civil Party Zmitser Kavalhin and Katsiaryn Shakal were detained in the building of Leninski district executive committee of Minsk for distributing the registered independent newspaper Novy Chas. The detention took place on the initiative of the executive officer Uladzimir Liletski. Democratic activist Ivan Kruk, an initiator of the civil campaign against the construction of a nuclear power station in Astravets district, was detained in Astravets district executive committee (Hrodna oblast) for distribution of Novy Chas as well. The committee s officers drew up an act about  illegal distribution of the newspaper and threatened that this document would be directed to the district prosecutor s office for a check-up of Kruk s activities.<br><br> On 16 December the police detained a youth activist Ales Krutkin and guarded him to the police station. There they asked him what he intended to do with the newspaper Belarus Partyzanskaya, which they found while searching his bag. Mr. Krutkin explained that this newspaper was issued with the assistance of the Congress of democratic trade unions and the editions with the circulation of less than 300 copies did not need to undergo obligatory state registration. The policemen answered that such explanations did not satisfy them and confiscated from the activist 18 copies of the newspaper, allegedly for expertise of the content.<br><br> On 18 December a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Dzmitry Karmazin was summonsed to the police for testifying. However, when the journalist came to the police station, the policemen took his fingerprints and then asked what he thought about the 4 July blast. The police officers did not let the BAJ member Tatsiana Bublikava to be present during the questioning as a public representative.<br><br><br> 6. Right to peaceful assembly<br><br> On 3 December Leninski district court of Brest found the civil activists Zhana Abramava, Yury Bakur and Ivan Stasiuk guilty under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code ( violation of the established order for organization and holding of mass actions ). Each of the defendants was fined 70 000 rubles (about $33). Their violation was that they held a picket against the eviction of Zhana Abramava from her apartment. According to the human rights activist Raman Kisliak, the democratic activists of Brest stated they would continue struggling for the rights of Zhana Abramava and her family.<br><br> On 14 December Clip-marathon was to have taken place in the Aquarium club. However, the club was closed down for  repairs .  We had an agreement with the club director, but at the last moment they received a paper from the sanitary station with the demand that the club be urgently closed down, said to the BelaPAN Franak Viachorka, one of the organizers of the event.  It was to have been the first authorized event since the meeting of musicians with Praliaskouski (the meeting of members of banned Belarusian bands with the head of the ideological department of the presidential administration in November 2007). As a result the ceremony of granting the awards to the best Belarusian musical video clips was transferred to the central office of the Belarusian Popular Front Party and took place on 28 December. At the event there was presented the first Belarusian DVD compilation of video clips for 1988-2008. The author of the idea, an activist of the BPF Youth Mikhail Niadzvedzki says this project is unique:  There haven t been such actions in Belarus before. We made something like MTV Music Video Awards. We chose the best musical videos in order to determine the winner. <br><br><br> 7. Politically motivated firings<br><br> At the end of December the administration of the Mastoudreu enterprise warned an activist of the For Freedom movement Zmitser Kukhlei that in a month he would become redundant. Nevertheless, the activist thinks that his rights have been violated. Mr. Kukhlei worked at the enterprise as a translator. He is also a deputy of the district soviet of deputies, that s why according to the law he can be fired only with the consent of the deputies of the district soviet. That s why he intends to appeal against this action of the enterprise administration to the court. <br><br> The administration of Baranavichy weaving factory did not prolong the labor contract to an activist of the United Civil Party Ryhor Hryk. According to the activist, it is connected to his political activities. This autumn Mr. Hryk ran for the parliament at Baranavichy village election constituency #7. He has worked at the weaving mill as a maintenance man for 17 years. He often handed out independent press at the check-point of the factory. Ryhor Hryk was excluded from the factory s public order squad for  repeated participation in unauthorized rallies in Minsk . The head of the public order squad (who is also the head of the factory s security department), said that Hryk actively participated in the opposition s actions and  held posters against our president .<br><br><br> 8. Freedom of conscience<br><br> In December the Belarusian authorities refused to prolong the residence permit to the Catholic priest Zbigniew Grygorcevicz, priest of the parish of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Barysau. The reasons were not explained. As father Zbigniew told to Barysau Elektronny, he was hinted that it was connected with his  excessive public activism . The priest believes that the decisive role in this became the situation with organization of the concert of Christian music in September 2008. At first Barysau executive committee authorized the action, but before its beginning the permission was annulled.<br><br> On 14 December in Peramozhtsau Avenue in Minsk the police detained Siarhei Lukanin, priest of the New Life, Church of the religious association of the Full Evangel Christians. The policemen rudely asked him to leave the territory. Then they twisted his arms and pulled him in the House of Sports, threatening him with imprisonment. Only after the priest managed to take out his certificate and present it to them, they put down his personal data, apologized and said they were implementing and order and acted in conformity with the law. Mr. Lukanin stated that this time he once again faced with the imperfection of the Belarusian law that contradicts to the Constitution and to the Bible. However, he intends to continue professing the Evangel.<br><br><br></span> </div> </div> </body> </html>