The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for January 2009

20.01.2009 KGB recruits student via social network

On 19 January two KGB officers tried to recruit a first-year student of the Belarusian University of Informatics and Radio-Electronics Pavel Liashkovich.

19.01.2009 Another chance for Viasna

On 18 January Minsk hosted the constituent assembly of the public human rights association ‘Nasha Viasna’, co-founded by a number of leading human rights activists, journalists and public figures which had earlier been members of the HR organization Viasna, closed down by the Supreme Court of Belarus in 2003. As a result, Ales Bialiatski, influential human rights expert and FIDH Vice-president, was elected head of the organization. The closure was followed by numerous attempts to regain state registration; all of them were turned down due to trivial reasons.

19.01.2009 Expulsion for picket?

According to www.saligorsk.org, Illya Kavalei, student of Salihorsk economic college, applied for holding a picket against the vulnerability of Belarusian citizens to the economic policy of the state. Two days later he was invited for a conversation by the college administration. During the conversation he was threatened to be expelled from the college or even criminal prosecution.

19.01.2009 Picket banned in Slonim

Slonim town authorities did not allow holding a picket in the town center. The action organized by the BPF’s local office representatives Ivan Biadko and Ivan Sheh was aimed at expressing protest against the aggravation of the economic situation in Belarus. The authorities used precaution measures to prevent the ‘unsanctioned action’ – Ivan Biadko was visited by a police officer, while Ivan Sheh was recommended to leave his job.

19.01.2009 Open-air meeting?

According to UCP leader Anatol Liabedzka, the initiators of a campaign for introducing changes to the Belarusian electoral legislation do not have a place to hold a constituent assembly. ‘We have over 800 persons in the group. We have addressed 12 Minsk conference halls and have so far received 6 replies – all of them were negative,’ said Mr.Liabedzka.

19.01.2009 Ivan Shyla issues statement on his military service

On 19 January a Young Front activists Ivan Shyla declared he would not visit the military registration and enlistment office until 3 February, when the winter conscription is over.

19.01.2009 Implementation of the right to freedom of association in Belarus: 2008 analysis

In 2008 the situation in the field of the freedom of association in Belarus was extremely ambiguous. With the government expressing unfavourable attitude towards the activity of independent NGOs and opposition political parties, there emerged a number of new tendencies, dealing with the Belarus-EU and Belarus-US dialogue. The inner political situation was aggravated by a factor of foreign-policy, by making it even more multidimensional; the freedom of association is still controlled by the Belarusian government. The circumstances admit of no haste in taking evaluating the freedom of association and the situation with NGOs in 2008: one would not speak of any cardinal change, neither would one state the absence improvement in the field.

19.01.2009 Polish minority protest action in Hrodna

On 17 January some 200 members of the unregistered Union of Poles in Belarus, headed by Andzelika Borys, held an unsanctioned action of protest in front of the building of the Union of Poles in Hrodna. The demonstrators expressed their discontent with the town authorities’ decision to confiscate the building constructed at the expense of the Polish government.

17.01.2009 OSCE ODIHR mission to visit Minsk in January

According to head of the Central Electoral Commission Mikalai Lazavik, an OSCE ODIHR mission is planning to visit Belarus in late January following an official invitation by the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued on 23 December 2008. They are to meet with representatives of the Commission on 22 January. ‘We are looking forwards to learning more about the ODIHR representatives and discussing opinions concerning the Belarusian electoral legislation,’ said Mr.Lazavik. The mission is to continue dialogue for the improvement of the Belarusian electoral legislation and law-enforcement policy.

17.01.2009 Intex-press newspaper denied right to official distribution

The Brest-based independent newspaper Intex-press has received another refusal to be distributed in the state-owned Brestoblsoyuzpechat network. In his letter of 12 January, vice-head of Brestoblsoyuzpechat T.Zinevich said the contract would not continue contract with the newspaper due to ‘network overload and under Article 391 of the Civil Code of Belarus’.

17.01.2009 Solidarity Day: Finkevich and Kastylenka detained

On 16 January, shortly after the end of a solidarity action plainclothes riot police officers detained leader of the Young Belarus movement Artur Finkevich and a YB activist Siarhei Kastylenka. The activists were distributing leaflets containing a list of kidnapped Belarusian journalists and politicians.

17.01.2009 Pro-dem NGOs Assembly to be held in Minsk

The assembly is due to be held on the premises of the Minsk-based International Education Centre (IBB) on 6-7 March 2009. On the same day the members of the organizing committee (Siarhei Matskevich, Barys Zvozskau and Alena Valynets) also had a meeting with the first secretary of the German embassy to Belarus Dr. MatthiasBiermann.

16.01.2009 Soviet-Afghan war veterans to refuse state award

On 8 January president Lukashenka decreed to found a new medal commemorating the 20th anniversary of the total withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. At the same time, Kletsk district organization of Soviet-Afghan war veterans declared they intend to return the medals. The initiative was kept up by a number of veterans across Belarus. The wave of protest provoked by the deteriorating situation in the field of social protection of war veterans is likely to be supported by hundreds of veterans.

16.01.2009 State-owned publishing house cancels contract with independent newspaper

The state-owned Belarusian Publishing House has cancelled its contract with the Borisovskiye novosti newspaper, says editor-in-chief Anatol Bukas. The decision was attributed to ‘certain violations of printing schedule’. The newspaper has not been able to be published in its hometown of Barysau since 1996.

16.01.2009 American lawyers sure US citizen tortured in Belarusian prison

The Washington DC-based Patton Boggs law firm has addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment with a request to investigate the facts of using torture against the American citizen Emmanuil Zeltzer. The firm claims that by detaining Mr.Zeltzer on 12 March 2008 Belarus violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Belarusian authorities ‘have tortured Mr. Zeltser by subjecting him to substandard prison conditions and physical beatings, forcing him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and jeopardizing his health and life by depriving him of vital physician-prescribed medications and failing to attend to his critical medical needs’.