(12/01/96)

Ukrainian observers detained in Belarus

Serious violations reported in national referendum

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Two Ukrainian citizens acting as official observers of the Belarusian national referendum were arrested on November 24 along with two Belarusians who had been aiding them in their work. The government of Belarus made no official announcement of their arrest, and the group they represent said that thus far they have not been informed of the charges.

Yevhen Radchenko and Oleksiy Lychkovakh, members of the Ukrainian Committee for Electors, were two of 63 observers from Ukraine, Russia, the British Helsinki Group and the European Parliament registered with the Belarusian Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to monitor a national referendum on the Belarusian Constitution held on November 24. The Ukrainian organization had a total of 19 registered observers.

The groups reported nearly 1,000 serious violations of election procedures that could have affected the outcome of the referendum, in which 70. 5 percent of Belarusian citizens gave President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a resounding victory and virtual dictatorial powers.

He had called the referendum to ratify sweeping changes in the Constitution, which he proposed, that now make the Parliament and the Constitutional Court puppet bodies beholden to the president.

It was a major victory in the ongoing battle between Mr. Lukashenka and the other power centers that the hard-line president has waged since taking office nearly three years ago. In the days before the popular vote he had fired the head of the CEC for calling the referendum invalid and had threatened to dismiss the Parliament because it had started impeachment proceedings against him. After his overwhelming victory Mr. Lukashenka announced that the Parliament could stay.

The head of the Committee of Ukrainian Electors, Ivan Popov, who also had been in Belarus as an observer, said at a November 26 press conference that Mr. Radchenko had called the Kyiv office on the morning of November 24 to report that "many violations had been uncovered, and he feared arrest."

Hours later, early Monday morning, Mr. Popov explained that Belarusian observers had called to say that Mr. Radchenko, Mr. Lychkovakh and the two Belarusians, a Greek-Catholic priest and a student, had been detained in the city of Brest. He said that as early as Friday evening Mr. Radchenko had expressed concern that "there could be trouble."

The two Ukrainians had arrived in the city of Brest prior to the popular vote to train locals who were to act as unofficial observers on the legal aspects of the electoral process and to acquaint them with Belarusian electoral law. "Each of our observers had a copy of the electoral law and knew their rights. We had spoken with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had explained to us the dire circumstances in the country," explained Mr. Popov. "Our people were told that they must not do anything to incite the situation."

After being informed of the arrest of two of its members, the Kyiv office of the Committee of Ukrainian Electors placed phone calls to the mayor of Brest, the head of the City Council and the Brest office of the CEC. Mr. Popov said no one would explain to them what had happened except to say that "something has occurred, but we do not know who is involved."

On the morning of November 25, the Ukrainian Consulate in Miensk was informed of the detention. According to Mr. Popov, Consul General Mykhailo Moskalenko replied that he could not do anything until he had received "a call from the detained person."

As this was going on, Mr. Radchenko was being released. Later that day he was rearrested prior to his appearance in court. Several hours later he was freed again pending another hearing set for the next day.

Mr. Lychkovakh and the two Belarusians had not been released as of November 26. They have not been seen since Mr. Radchenko's release on Monday, at which time he had informed his colleagues in Kyiv that although Mr. Lychkovakh had not been touched, the two Belarusians had been beaten.

Mr. Popov said appeals have been made to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to President Leonid Kuchma to intercede on behalf of Mr. Lychkovakh.

The violations that the monitoring organizations have identified are more than incidental. Mr. Popov explained that "this was not a referendum, it was the Lukashenka show."

Following are some of the transgressions that Mr. Popov described:

While no campaign advertising was allowed on referendum day, ads appeared in support of Mr. Lukashenka.
Airtime was given only to Mr. Lukashenka on television and radio.
Televised instructions on how to fill out the referendum ballot, which were aired hourly, all concluded with an actor placing an "x" next to Mr. Lukashenka's name.
No meetings of the CEC were allowed after the dismissal of its head on November 14, until the procurator general interceded days before the election.
Ballots were not properly recorded as they were given to the local election boards and, in fact, the head of the CEC admitted that no one knew how many had been printed.
The ballots were printed at the last minute.
Citizens were forced to vote. Students were told in class that they must vote; militia went into businesses asking people whether they had voted.
In many places no booths existed for voting. People marked their ballots at tables surrounded by pro-Lukashenka literature.
Members of local election boards were seen filling out ballots for voters.

The Popular Movement of Ukraine, Rukh, had five observers in Belarus as well. The leader of the observer group, Ivan Shulik, said his team had observed many violations of election procedures, as had the European Parliament delegation.

He said the most flagrant violation was the airing of television advertisements in support of the Lukashenka referendum on the day of the vote. "It was a sheer farce," he emphasized.