Ukrainian Rada to Hear Political Disappearances in Belarus

On 17-18 June, 2004International public hearings “Political Disappearances and Extrajudicial Death Penalty in the Republic of Belarus, Russian Federation, and Ukraine. Victims’ Defense: International and National Mechanisms”.

The official organizers of the international public hearings are the Supreme Rada Committee for Organized Crime and Corruption and Vinnitsa human rights group.
The hearings will be attended by PACE Committee for Legal Issues and Human Rights special rapporteur Christos Pourgourides, Tatiana Termacic (Council of Europe), the Supreme Rada commissioner for human rights N. I. Karpachova, head of the Supreme Rada Committee for Organized Crime and Corruption V. N. Stratovich, Sergey Kovalev and Valentin Gefter (human rights defenders from Russia), and representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Zinaida Hanchar, Volha Zakharanka, Volha Zavadskaya, representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations and mass media will participate in the hearings from the Belarusian side. The organizers also invited members of the Respublika parliamentary group (Valery Fralow, Siarhei Skrabets, and Uladzimir Parfianovich will not be able to attend the hearings because of the hunger strike), deputy head of the House of Representatives Uladzimir Kanaplow, head of the Commission for human rights, ethnic relations and mass media Valery Lipkin, head of the Commission for national security Barys Bikkinik.

For further information please contact:
Ukraine:
Vinnitsa Human Rights group coordinator Dzmitry Groisman (+380-672-846450; +380-432-326321)
Belarus:
Head of the Independent Society for Legal Research Alena Tankachova (+375 29 6757775).