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required to have the permission of the executive committee chairman to observe its meetings. Until government authorities shut it down during 1996, Radio 101.2 had been the sole Belarusian language |
independent station in the country. The Belarusian Patriotic Union of Youth, a government-subsidized presidential youth organization, was permitted to take control of Radio 101.2. State-controlled Belarusian television and radio (B-TR) |
maintains its monopoly as the only nationwide television station. Its news programs regularly featured reporting heavily biased in favor of the Government and refused to provide an outlet for opposing |
viewpoints. Local, independent television stations operated in some areas, and were relatively unimpeded in reporting on local news. However, some of these stations reported that they were under pressure not |
to report on national-level issues or were subject to censorship. Broadcasts into the country from Russian television stations represent the only significant source of independent information from broadcast media and |
constitute a frequent source of irritation to the Lukashenko Government. However, to transmit their video material to Moscow, Russian stations rely on the B-TR broadcasting facility. According to Russian television |
crews, authorities sometimes have tried to limit access to this facility, although there were no reports of this occurring during the year. On May 21, the government newspaper Respublika criticized |
Belarusian language programs broadcast by a Polish radio station in Warsaw for negative reporting about President Lukashenko. In March 1998, the presidential administration issued an internal directive entitled "On Strengthening |
Countermeasures Against Articles in the Opposition Press." The directive specifically lists 10 independent media organizations covered by these provisions, and prohibits government officials from making comments or distributing documents to |
non-state media. It also forbids state enterprises from advertising in non-state media. Although the directive does not restrict directly independent media or impinge on the right of citizens to receive |
information, it does restrict government officials in speaking to the independent media and gives further advantages to the state press. On January 6, Anna Shidlovskaya, a correspondent for the independent |
news service Belapan and newspaper Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, was prevented from attending an open session of the Gomel executive committee by the head of the committee's information department. The independent |
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) later protested the decision to order Shidlovskaya out of a conference hall 5 minutes before the executive committee was due to meet. A 1997 Council |
of Ministers decree nullified the accreditation of all correspondents and required all foreign media correspondents to apply for reaccreditation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the application form for accreditation |
requested biographic information, as well as a record of the applicant's journalistic activity. Journalists who were residents of Belarus also were required to register with the state tax authorities. The |
impact of the decree is still unclear, although it does not appear that the Government specifically invoked the decree during 1998 or this year as a tool to exclude certain |
journalists. On June 20, the poet Vladimir Neklyayev, who chaired the Belarusian Writers' Union sought asylum in Poland. Neklyayev accused government authorities of disrespect for the Belarusian language, history, and |
culture and claimed that recent financial inspections of a magazine that he edited were motivated politically. On August 11, the international NGO Reporters Sans Frontiers described Belarus as an enemy |
of the Internet. A public statement issued by the organization noted that citizens were not free to explore Internet independently. Although there are several Internet providers in the country they |
all are state controlled. The Government's state monopoly on Internet service offers high prices, poor quality, and limited service, and allows for the monitoring of practically all e-mail traffic. Although |
the Government has full control, it does not appear to be cutting off access entirely, and those who do have access appear to be able to contact a full range |
of unfiltered international web sites. The Government restricts academic freedom. A sharply critical Human Rights Watch report released in Minsk on July 27 detailed government restrictions on academic freedom. The |
report noted that the Lukashenko Government had suppressed research on controversial topics, recentralized academic decision making, and maintained a ban on political activity on campuses. At the same time, a |
"systematic crackdown" on political dissent on campuses had targeted outspoken students and lecturers who were threatened with expulsion, often for their off-campus political activity. The report also asserted that state |
university authorities issue reprimands and warnings to politically active lecturers, independent historians, and other academics. It stated that university employees who challenge the status quo are told to curtail political |
activities or change the focus of their academic inquiry. University administrators target research into politically sensitive issues, such as the Belarusian independence movement during the Soviet era, a theme that |
is seen to challenge the State's policy of integration with Russian and is discouraged actively. The Government continued to harass students engaged in antigovernment activities, such as demonstrations. Aleksey Shidlovskiy, |
who was released in February from a hard labor facility where he had been sentenced for spray painting antipresidential graffiti (see Section 1.e.), was expelled from his university while in |
pretrial detention. Members of the propresidential, government-funded Belarusian Patriotic Union of Youth served as the regime's watchdog against antigovernment activities. Moreover, members of the Union reportedly received preferential treatment at |
state schools. On December 21, Ales Ostrovsky, a professor at the Grodno State Medical Institute, was detained for 2 days and reprimanded by local authorities for allegedly "violating public discipline" |
after he attempted to speak out against the Belarus-Russia Union Treaty during a meeting of the pro-Lukashenko Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union. He also reportedly was warned by the rector of |
his university not to violate "labor discipline." In 1997 the Council of Ministers issued a decree, effective as of the 1997-98 academic year, requiring students who receive free university education |
from the state to accept jobs assigned by the Government upon graduation. It remains unclear to what extent this decree is actually enforced. On May 30, 15 members of the |
youth wing of the Belarusian social democratic party staged a demonstration in Minsk against the practice, including the reported assigning of students to jobs in areas contaminated by radiation by |
the Chernobyl disaster. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association The Constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the Government restricts this right in practice. Organizers must apply at |
least 15 days in advance to local officials for permission to conduct a demonstration, rally, or meeting. The local government must respond with a decision not later than 5 days |
prior to the scheduled event. President Lukashenko issued decree number 5 in March 1997 in part to regulate what he termed the "orgy" of street protests taking place. The decree |
further limited citizens' ability to assemble peacefully by restricting the locations were rallies may take place and allowing local authorities to put strict limits on the number of participants. The |
decree also prohibited the display of unregistered flags and symbols, as well as placards bearing messages deemed threatening to the State or public order (see Section 2.a.). The decree, along |
with subsequent amendments adopted by the acting legislature, imposed severe penalties on those who violate the law, particularly the organizers of events. Although the decree allows for either monetary fines |
or detention for up to 15 days, courts frequently impose high fines knowing that those convicted cannot pay. When individuals fail to pay fines, authorities threaten to confiscate their property. |
The courts punished organizers of rallies with fines of several times the average monthly wage. In late January, an opposition coalition "congress of democratic forces" undertook to arrange for alternative |
presidential elections to be held from May 6 to May 16 in order to draw attention to the end of President Lukashenko's legal 5-year term in office (See section 3). |
In response, authorities initiated a widespread crackdown on opposition political activities throughout the country. Procurator General Oleg Bozhelko warned in a public statement on February 8 that participation in the |
opposition initiative could result in prosecution for attempting to "seize power unconstitutionally and destabilizing society." Public demonstrations occurred frequently in Minsk but were always under strict government control, including through |
open videotaping of the participants by the police and plainclothes security officers. Demonstrations also occurred in other parts of the country, but were less frequent in areas in the east |
close to the border with Russia. Following some sanctioned and unsanctioned demonstrations police and other security officials continued to round up, beat, detain, and try to coerce forced confessions from |
some demonstration participants (see Sections l.c. and 1.d.). On April 2, 13th Supreme Soviet deputies Anatoliy Lebedko and Valery Shchukin were detained for leading an unsanctioned demonstration to protest comments |
by some government officials hinting at a possible redeployment of nuclear weapons into the country. Local authorities had notified the demonstration organizers at the last moment that their march could |
not be held. Lebedko was held in administrative detention for 3 days and fined approximately $150 (44 million rubles). Shchukin was given a 5-day sentence. Approximately 18 other persons also |
were detained after the march, including one who required hospitalization after a beating inflicted by security officers (see Section 1.c.). On April 16, a local court fined Valeri Kostko and |
Dimitri Bondarenko, members of the local human rights NGO's Belarusian Helsinki Committee and Charter '97, the equivalent of about $150 (44 million rubles) and $160 (47 million rubles), respectively, for |
leading a demonstration in Minsk on February 27. Although the demonstrators had received approval to march on a public sidewalk, they were fined after being forced to use a lane |
in the street because the sidewalk was blocked by snow. On April 21, a court in Grodno fined Association of Belarusian Poles chairman Tadeusz Gavin approximately $230 (67 million rubles) |
for leading an unsanctioned demonstration on April 17. Local authorities twice earlier had denied the Association of Belarusian Poles permission to hold a demonstration. On April 25, special forces militia |
troops in Grodno used force to break up an unsanctioned, but peaceful, opposition demonstration (see Section l.c.). On April 27, a court in Grodno sentenced local United Civic Party and |
Entrepreneurs' Association chairman Valery Levonevsky to 13 days in prison for allegedly staging an unsanctioned demonstration near the offices of the local executive committee. Levonevsky, who pleaded not guilty to |
the charges, claimed that he had had an appointment within the building in question and that the arrest probably was made only as a precautionary measure because of a scheduled |
upcoming session in Grodno of the parliamentary assembly of the Belarusian-Russian Union. On May 1, 19 persons, including the chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, were detained in Minsk |
for attempting to participate in an officially sanctioned Labor Day celebration. Charges later were dropped against the participants (see Section 1.d.). In June 1998, following numerous complaints filed by citizens |
and 2 days of public hearings, the Minsk city council passed a resolution that called for the Ministry of Interior to consider ways of preserving public order during demonstrations that |
did not violate civil rights and to increase the personal accountability of its officers. However, the effect of this resolution, if any, appears principally to have been that security forces |
usually try to detain individuals after demonstrations already have concluded and to do so out of sight of witnesses. On June 15, Minsk city officials denied permission to the Belarusian |
Social Democratic Party and Belarusian Popular Front to hold a demonstration against war, dictatorship, and fascism, citing the deaths of 52 people in a stampede in a metro station 3 |
weeks earlier to justify their decision. Over 70 persons were detained briefly following demonstrations in Minsk and other cities on July 21 and July 27. Government security officials beat some |
of the detainees (see Section l.c.). BSDP chairman Mikalay Statkevich was detained and sentenced to 10 days in prison for leading the sanctioned July 27 protest on an unauthorized march |
route. Government authorities also subsequently opened an investigation against Statkevich for "disrupting public order," a charge that could carry up to 3 years in prison. Four participants (Grodno medical institute |
lecturer Ales Ostrovsky, BNF local leader Sergei Malchik, Pahonya editor Nikolai Markevich, and businessman Nikolai Voron) in an antigovernment demonstration in Grodno on July 21 were given fines of between |
about $100 (30 million rubles) and about $400 (120 million rubles), exceptionaly high in a country where the average monthly wage was then $40 (12 million rubles). Since they could |
not pay immediately, local authorities reportedly indicated that they would begin to confiscate their property. According to Ostrovsky, local authorities also told him that 20 percent of his monthly salary |
would be deducted until his fine was paid. On December 8, following a small unsanctioned protest in Minsk against the signing of a union treaty between Belarus and Russia, at |
least six demonstrators, including Belarusian Popular Front deputy chairman Vyuacheslav Sivchik and noted poet Slavomir Adamovich, were briefly detained. Dmitry Kasperovich, a 17-year-old member of the Popular Front's youth wing |
lost a tooth while being taken into custody. On December 15, Sivchik was fined about $300 (218 million rubles). Others were given lesser fines or official warnings. In connection with |
a new presidential decree entitled "On Measures to Prevent Emergencies During Mass Events" promulgated in early September, President Lukashenko told high level security officers in a September 16 meeting that |
opposition demonstrations in Minsk should be allowed only at locations outside of the city's center. It subsequently became more difficult to obtain permission to hold public protests. Opposition party organizers |
were denied permission to hold a March for Freedom demonstration, which had been planned for the downtown area on October 17. When protesters decided nevertheless to march toward the center |
of Minsk, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs blocked their way and forcibly dispersed the crowd (see Section 1.d.). The acting head of the OSCE office in Minsk |
noted publicly on October 18 that the refusal by Minsk city authorities to allow the March was "at the base of the conflict." On October 22, Minsk city authorities also |
banned the annual Dzyzdy commemorative march held in Minsk. However, as the march route led away from the center of Minsk, government security officials did not prevent opposition supporters from |
going through with the march. The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the Government does not respect this right in practice. According to members of parties in opposition to |
the President, authorities frequently deny permission to opposition groups to meet in public buildings. Employees at state-run enterprises are discouraged from joining independent trade unions, and the Ministry of Justice |
long denied registration to the Congress of Independent Trade Unions (see Section 6.a.). The Government regularly harasses members and supporters of opposition parties, and confiscates their leaflets and publications. Government |
officials have warned alumni of foreign-sponsored education programs against continued affiliation with their program's sponsoring agency. On January 26, just before a coalition of opposition parties held a large "congress |
of democratic forces," President Lukashenko issued decree number 2 requiring that all political parties, trade unions, and nongovernmental organizations reregister with authorities by July 1. Such public associations already had |
completed a lengthy reregistration process in 1995. The timing of the decree, which increased the scope of operations and number of members organizations would need to demonstrate to qualify for |
reregistration, apparently was intended as a method of political intimidation at a time of increased opposition activity. On July 1, regulations prohibiting private organizations from using private residences as their |
legal addresses were announced. In view of Government control or ownership of many office buildings, the regulations had the effect of complicating the reregistration process. The deadline for reregistration subsequently |
was extended until August 1 and again to October 1. Although most of the major political parties, unions, and NGO's that applied eventually were allowed to reregister, the process in |
practice often was complicated and drawn out. After the reregistration period had begun, government authorities announced that organizations would have to alter their charters to indicate recognition of the 1996 |
Constitution, and that the words "popular" or "national" could not be used in their titles. On December 17, an amendment to the law on public associations officially went into effect |
that prohibits political and social organizations from using the words "Belarus," "Republic of Belarus," "National," or "Popular" in their titles. The Belarusian Association of Poles was denied reregistration twice before |
finally getting approval. The All-Belarusian Club of Voters was given permission to reregister in mid-November only after suing government authorities in court. As of year's end, the Association of Young |
Politicians, headed by well-known opposition leader Anatoliy Lebedko, the Belarusian Human Rights League, and the Belarusian Independent Association of Industrial Trade Unions had not been allowed to reregister. On December |
17, President Lukashenko signed into law a bill on amendments to the Administrative Offenses Code that would make any work on behalf of unregistered NGO's punishable by fines. On December |
27, the amendments entered into force. By the end of the year, the Ministry of Justice had reregistered 17 of 27 political parties (18 had applied), and 38 of 42 |
national trade unions. Of approximately 2,500 NGO's, approximately 1,316 were reregistered. In April the Ministry of Justice blocked efforts by the Belarus Lambda League, the country's first and only lesbian |
and gay rights organization, to gain official registration as an NGO. The Ministry cited technical reasons, although Belarus Lambda League members claimed authorities were seeking to deny registration to a |
gay and lesbian organization and initiated an appeal to the Supreme Court. Members of local human rights NGO's also were harassed for involvement in or association with the opposition presidential |
election initiative. Gomel branch Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) head Yevgeny Murashko was detained briefly in February following his participation in a human rights seminar with opposition Central Election Commission chairman |
Viktor Gonchar. In late June, Murashko also was given a 2-year suspended sentence "for violating procedures of holding an assembly." On February 16, local KGB officials in Vitebsk issued an |
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