Belarus suspends talks on OSCE office; human rights continue to deteriorate (08/10/97)

Belarus suspends talks on OSCE office; human rights continue to deteriorate

by Orest Deychakiwsky

Belarus has indefinitely suspended negotiations on opening an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) office in Miensk that would have assisted and advised in the promotion of democracy. According to RFE/RL, the reason given was that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which met in Warsaw in early July, invited only a delegation from the Parliament that had been disbanded by Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and not a delegation from President Lukashenka's loyalist post-November referendum Parliament. Last month, Belarus had agreed in principle to open up the OSCE office.

On July 23, despite earlier indications to the contrary, Mr. Lukashenka asserted to foreign reporters that there will be no early parliamentary elections in Belarus, stating: "The idea of holding early elections, planted by Belarusian emigrants in the United States, is being imposed on Miensk by officials from the European Union and the OSCE."

Meanwhile, the human rights situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate. On July 17, police in Miensk beat and detained parents protesting plans by President Lukashenka to transfer management of the building housing their high school to the President's Office. The high school, which teaches in the Belarusian language and whose curriculum stresses democratic ideals, is one of 22 buildings housing cultural and educational entities that are being transferred - as a result of a Lukashenka decree - to the President's Office.

On July 18, the International Helsinki Federation and Belarusian Helsinki Committee issued a report to the OSCE on human rights violations in Belarus.

Among their findings: the "separation of powers" established by the 1994 Belarusian Constitution "has virtually ceased to exist in Belarus"; in areas covered by a presidential decree (Mr. Lukashenka has issued numerous decrees in the past several months), "the appointed lawmakers now have the task to bring existing legislation into conformity with the decree, which thus transcends the law"; and, with respect to the judiciary, judges routinely make decisions only after receiving telephone calls with instructions, and in many trials, judges have not allowed defense lawyers and not even testimony by defense witnesses. Furthermore, the state is restoring its control over the legal profession, as legal defense can now only be undertaken by lawyers' collegiums, which are, in effect, state law firms. These measures, according to the report, "make it virtually impossible for individuals to be assisted and represented in court in cases where they are in conflict with the authorities."

The report also addresses violations of political rights and freedoms, charging that " ... there have been reports of ill-treatment and starvation in detention of those charged with participating in demonstrations that occurred in March 1997"; "... critics of the regime have continued to be imprisoned, fined, dismissed from their positions, intimidated, unjustifiably held responsible for the actions of colleagues, denounced on national television, provoked and entrapped, and subjected to violations of privacy." Moreover, the Belarusian government has "tried to cripple the political opposition economically by threatening and harassing private business firms whose leaders or workers are not politically loyal."

In President Lukashenka's continuing assault on the media, the accreditation of Russian Public Television (ORT) Miensk bureau chief Pavel Sheremet was annulled in early July. Mr. Sheremet had been critical of President Lukashenka and the Belarusian government. In a July 22 letter to Mr. Lukashenka protesting the action against Mr. Sheremet, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki states: "The withdrawal of Sheremet's accreditation is but the latest incident in an indisputable pattern of harassment and intimidation - both physical and administrative - against the critical or independent mass media and its personnel in the name of suppressing an alternative to pro-government information."

On July 27, Belarusian authorities detained a three-person ORT crew, including Mr. Sheremet, allegedly for illegally crossing the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Since then, security officials have searched the Miensk offices of ORT on several occasions.

On July 30, President Boris Yeltsin of Russia expressed indignation over the ORT arrests, and threatened to reconsider the Russian-Belarusian union charter if the matter is not settled. Mr. Lukashenka reacted angrily, blaming Mr. Yeltsin's comments on alleged misinformation by Russian liberals, principally Russian First Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais, who, according to the Belarusian president, are trying to derail Belarusian-Russian integration. According to Interfax, Mr. Lukashenka also accused Mr. Sheremet of having received remuneration from unspecified "foreign special services." Mr. Lukashenka also canceled a planned visit to Kaliningrad.

Within the last few weeks, authorities have renewed their efforts against the democratic opposition. Police in Miensk conducted a search of the office of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, ostensibly to search for weapons. Instead, they took away four flagstaffs. At the same time, the opposition appears to be determined in its advocacy of democracy, human rights and the promotion of Belarusian national culture. At a July 27 congress of the Belarusian diaspora in Miensk, participants criticized the Belarusian government for aiming at the conscious elimination of the Belarusian language and culture. Also that day, some 20 people were arrested after a 7,000-person strong rally marking the declaration of Belarusian independence.

Orest Deychakiwsky is a staffer of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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