The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for February 2008

11.02.2008 Human Rights Activists and Members of BPF Party Prohibited to Meet with Zhaleznichenka

On Sunday, 10 February, the human rights activists from Homel and Rechytsa and members of the Belarusian People’s Front Party from Zhlobin came to military units 83469 where Zmitser Zhaleznichenka is being illegally kept. The duty soldier refused to let them meet with the activist, referring to a recently introduced quarantine.

11.02.2008 New Professional Restrictions

A special permission by the authorities, named as professional and psychological interview or testing, is needed to study such disciplines as international activity, journalism, law.

11.02.2008 Amnesty International and Belarusian Helsinki Committee Condemn Executions of Convicts in Belarus

On 5 February 5 the Supreme Court of Belarus announced that Siarhei Marozau, the leader of a Homel-based criminal gang, and his close associates, Valery Harbaty and Ihar Danchanka, had been executed by shooting. The three were sentenced to death by shooting in a months-long trial that came to an end on 1 December 2006. The so-called Marozau Gang, which was said to have terrorized the Homel region between 1990 and 2004, was accused of 16 murders.

09.02.2008 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in January 2008

This time the beginning of the year was warmer than usual. The total crackdown of Belarusian authorities on the social and economic spheres of life increased the mood of protest, which resulted in aggravated repressions against the most active protesters. Despite the fact that January events were a planned continuation of the December entrepreneurs’ meeting, authorities were not ready for the decisive attempts of the entrepreneurs to protect their right to work. Presidential decree #760 of 29 December 2006, by which the entrepreneurs were deprived of the right to employ any workers except for three close relatives from January 2008, made many workers of small business redundant. It also affected ordinary citizens – the markets became empty, many stalls were closed, route taxis to markets started driving more rarely, etc. All efforts of the leaders of the entrepreneurs’ movement to establish a dialogue with authorities yielded no result – witnessing that high-rank officials decided to liquidate individual entrepreneurs as an unnecessary social class. Desperate entrepreneurs had nothing to do but go out in the streets.

09.02.2008 Independent Trade Union Helps Worker to Return His Money

The trade union of radio-electronic industry (REI) managed to get the court abolish a disciplinary punishment to its activist, driver of Brestenerhazberazhenne enterprise Mikhail Zychkou, and return to him the wage he had been deprived of as a result. It happened thanks to the insistence and professionalism of the trade-union’s specialists. They had not only to prove the unlawfulness of the administration’s actions, but also fight with the judicial illiteracy of the judge of Maskouski district court of Brest Mrs. Levanchuk.

09.02.2008 Press Conference of Belarusian Prisoners’ Relatives

Recently a group of relatives of the prisoners who received unfair sentences has held a press conference.

09.02.2008 Public Committee to Protect Siarhei Parsiukevich Is Created

The establishment of the public committee for protection of the activist of For Freedom! movement Siarhei Parsiukevich was announced to independent journalists by the local activist Khrystafor Zhaliapau.

09.02.2008 Protest against Construction of Chemical Plant

Dwellers of village Druzhny (Pukhavichy district, Minsk oblast) collected more than a thousand votes against construction a crop protecting agents factory and sent them to the President’s Administration.

09.02.2008 Homel oblast and Homel City Military Committees Refuse to Suspend Military Service for Zhaleznichenka

Judge of the court of Savetski district of Homel Yury Zhorau suspended execution of the decision of Homel city draft commission concerning calling up for military service for a regular term of Zmitser Zhaleznichenka. Zhaleznichenka was an A-student who had been expelled from university for the second time.

07.02.2008 Zhaleznichenka’s Mother Sues Military Committee

Recently a public activist and A-level student Zmitser Zhaleznichenka has been called up for military service. His mother, Ala Zhaleznichenka, is convinced that it was done with violations of the law. That’s why she decided to sue against the military committee.

07.02.2008 Hrodna Authorities Fear Inter-religious Conflicts

In 2007 the authorities of Hrodna oblast registered only one religious community of Baptist Christians. Several dozens of other religious communities have been denied registration for different reasons.

07.02.2008 Liquidation of Party of Communists Belarusian Is Stopped

After the request to suspend the consideration of its liquidation suit at the Supreme Court the Ministry of Justice revoked it at all.

07.02.2008 Minsk Dwellers Sue against Eviction from City Center

Dwellers of Karl Marx Street in Minsk have sent collective letters to the presidential administration, the State Control Committee, the department of financial investigation on Minsk and Minsk region, and to the Prosecutor General on the issue of the planned expulsion and turning the street into a pedestrian area.

07.02.2008 Council of Europe Condemns Executions in Belarus

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis has made a special statement condemning execution of three members of a gang: Siarhei Marozau, and his close associates, Valery Harbaty and Ihar Danchanka.

07.02.2008 Authorities Will Control Invitation of Foreign Priests

The Soviet of Ministers of Belarus approved a regulation on order of invitation of foreign citizens and stateless persons for religious activity in Belarus.