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used in the opposition election initiative (see Section 2.a.). There are no legal restrictions on women's participation in politics and government; however, with the exception of the judiciary, social barriers |
to women in politics are strong, and men hold virtually all leadership positions. In the acting legislature, women hold 19 of 110 seats in the lower house and 5 of |
64 in the upper house. The Deputy Chair of the upper house is a woman. The Minister of Social Security is the only female member of the Council of Ministers. |
The head of the Government's Central Election Commission also is a woman. Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights There are several |
domestic human rights groups active in the country; however, members of domestic human rights organizations reported that the Government hindered their attempts to investigate alleged human rights violations. The Government |
monitored NGO correspondence and telephone conversations. The Government also attempted to limit severely the activities of NGO's through a time consuming reregistration process, denial of registration, questionable tax audits, and |
other means (see Section 2.b.). The Ministry of Justice tried to restrict the Belarusian Helsinki Committee to providing support only to members of its own association and warned initially that |
it might otherwise not be allowed to reregister. Human rights monitors of the BHC also briefly were detained and interrogated by government security services during the year (see Section 2.b.). |
The Ministry of Justice issued official warnings to the BHC during March after materials related to an ongoing opposition presidential election initiative were found in one of its regional offices. |
However, following an appeal by BHC, the Supreme Economic Court annulled one of the warnings on December 8. On November 25, the administrative department of the Presidential Administration, which controls |
either directly or indirectly a significant amount of commercial real estate in Minsk, informed the BHC that it would have to vacate its offices. However, at year's end, it appeared |
that the BHC would be allowed to remain at its current premises. On October 4, uniformed and plainclothes security officers, including a Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, broke into the |
Minsk office of the human rights NGO Spring '96. The officers did not present a warrant while conducting a comprehensive search of the premises. Computer equipment, which included a comprehensive |
database of human rights violations, was confiscated. Although the equipment later was returned, when Spring '96 chairman Ales Bialatsky was summoned to a police station to pick it up on |
November 18 he was arrested for his participation in an antigovernment demonstration in Minsk in mid-October. A judge later dismissed the charges against Bialatsky. The country's poor human rights record |
continued to draw the attention of many international human rights organizations. In general the Government has been willing to discuss human rights with international NGO's whose members have been allowed |
to visit the country. At a press conference held in Minsk on July 15, the chairman of Human Rights Watch criticized the Government for its "regular attacks on democracy." In |
February 1998, after protracted negotiations, the Government finally approved the opening in Minsk of the OSCE's Advisory and Monitoring Group office. Although government authorities often have disregarded OSCE intervention on |
human rights cases and its advice on draft legislation, the OSCE's presence in Minsk provides a potentially important forum for dialog on these issues. In September 1999, through OSCE-brokered meetings |
initiated by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Belarus ad hoc committee chairman Adrian Severin, government and opposition representatives began a dialog to try resolve the country's ongoing constitutional and political crisis. However, |
at year's end, the government's cooperation in this process had come to a standstill. On August 20, a draft resolution critical of the country's human rights practices was removed from |
a vote at the U.N. subcommission on Human Rights Encouragement and Protection after the Government agreed to a number of measures on the adoption of human rights-related reforms. The Government |
took no action on implementing these reforms by year's end. Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status The Constitution states that all citizens are |
equal before the law and have the right, without any discrimination, to equal protection of their rights and legitimate interests. However, the Constitution does not prohibit specifically discrimination based on |
factors such as race, sex, or religion. The Law on Citizenship, passed by the Parliament, grants citizenship to any person living permanently on the territory of the country as of |
October 19, 1991. Those who arrived in the country after that date and wish to become citizens are required to submit an application for citizenship, take an oath to support |
the Constitution, have a legal source of income, and have lived in the country for 7 years. Although statistics are not available, domestic violence including spousal abuse against women is |
a significant problem, according to women's groups. There are laws that prohibit spousal abuse. Knowledgeable sources indicate that police generally are not hesitant to enforce the laws against domestic violence, |
and that the courts are not reluctant to impose sentences. The main problem, according to women's groups, is a general reluctance among women to report incidents of domestic violence. Violence |
against women was not the subject of extensive media coverage, marches, or demonstrations during the year. Although government authorities and local human rights observers report that prostitution does not yet |
appear to be a significant problem within the country, there is much anecdotal evidence that it may be growing. Local street prostitution appears to be growing as the economy deteriorates, |
and prostitution rings operate in state-owned hotels. Young women seeking to work or travel abroad also are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that very few |
women are deported back to Belarus for engaging in prostitution. However, it acknowledges that Russian criminal organizations may try actively to recruit and lure Belarusian women into serving as prostitutes |
in Western Europe and the Middle East. There is evidence of trafficking in women (see Section 6.f.). Sexual harassment is reportedly widespread, but there are not any specific laws to |
deal with the problem other than laws against physical assault. The law requires equal wages for equal work; however, such is not always the case in practice. Women have significantly |
fewer opportunities for advancement to the upper ranks of management. Women report that managers frequently take into consideration whether a woman has children when considering potential job opportunities. The state |
press reported in September that approximately 64 percent of those considered by the Government to be long-term unemployed are single mothers. The level of education of women is higher than |
that of men. Women make up approximately 58 percent of workers with a higher education and approximately 66 percent of workers with a specialized secondary education. In these sectors, between |
two-thirds and three-fourths of employees (mostly women) live beneath the official poverty level. Women legally are equal to men with regard to property ownership and inheritance. There are active women's |
groups, most of which focus on issues such as child welfare, environmental concerns (in the aftermath of Chernobyl), and the preservation of the family. A private university in Minsk established |
the country's first gender studies faculty during 1997. The Government is committed to children's welfare and health, particularly as related to consequences of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, and, with |
the help of foreign donors, tries to give them special attention. By law everyone is entitled to health care, including children. There does not appear to be any difference in |
the treatment of girls and boys. Children begin school at the age of 6 and are required to complete 9 years, although the Government makes 11 years of education available |
at no cost and began in 1998 to develop a 12-year education program. Higher education also is available at no cost on a competitive basis. Families with children receive token |
government benefits. According to one World Bank study, the majority of those living in poverty are families with multiple children or single mothers. The Government continued to discourage the promotion |
of, or the teaching of students in, the Belarusian language by limiting the available of early childhood education in Belarusian. According to one study by the Francisak Skaryna Belarusian language |
society, the share of first graders studying in Belarusian-language classes shrank from 75.3 percent in 1993-94, prior to the Lukashenko presidency, to 28.7 percent in 1997-98. In the capital city |
of Minsk, the share reportedly decreased from 58.6 to 4.8 percent. Only 11.2 percent of secondary students in Minsk currently are taught in Belarusian. Government authorities claim that the only |
schools that have been closed which taught in the Belarusian language are those that experienced diminishing enrollment. There does not appear to be a societal pattern of abuse of children. |
People with Disabilities A 1992 law mandated accessibility to transport, residences, businesses, and offices for the disabled; however, facilities, including transport and office buildings, often are not accessible to the |
disabled. The country's continued difficult financial condition makes it especially difficult for local governments to budget sufficient funds to implement the 1992 law. The central Government continues to provide some |
minimal subsidies to the disabled. However, continued high inflation and sharp decline in the value of the Belarusian ruble greatly reduced the real worth of those limited subsidies. Societal anti-Semitism |
exists but usually is not manifested openly. Senior government officials, including the President and the state media, sometimes have used coded anti-Semitic language in their attacks on perceived opponents. In |
a television interview given in Moscow in December 1998, in which he sought to criticize Russian financier and Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States Boris Berezovskiy, President Lukashenko |
stated that Berezovskiy's activities, "might result in Jewish pogroms in Russia." Lukashenko also remarked that "the main anti-Semites in Russia are representatives of the Jewish population." In April there was |
an arson attempt on a synagogue in Minsk, during which the door to the structure sustained minor damage, and the graffiti, "Kill Yids, save Russia," was spraypainted on a wall. |
However, police reportedly responded quickly. In reaction to the incident, the State Committee on Religious and National Affairs agreed with the head of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations to |
a four-point plan to combat anti-Semitism. It remained unclear at year's end to what extent the Government would implement this plan. According to the Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish |
Congress, in March 1998 government-controlled radio broadcast material from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion on a religious program. In spite of protests from the Jewish community, the program |
was rebroadcast in May and again in July. Following a written complaint from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the chairman of the State Committee on the Press noted publicly on May |
4 that local newspapers that publish anti-Semitic material would be given official warnings. In June an official warning was given to Lichnost, one such local newspaper. Under the December 1997 |
amendments to the Law on Press and Other Media, newspapers can be banned if two warnings are issued (see Section 2.a.). According to the Anti-Defamation League and World Jewish Congress, |
a number of newspapers regularly print anti-Semitic material. On October 15, the Belarusian Judaic Religious Association (JRA) spoke out publicly against an anti-Semitic article that appeared in the newspaper Slavyanski |
Nabat, written by National Assembly deputies Valery Drako and Sergei Kostyan. Drako and Kostyan asserted in their article that many Jews held high rank in the Nazi Wehrmacht and equated |
Zionism with fascism. A number of Jewish cemeteries and sites have been desecrated in recent years. In February a cemetery was desecrated in Rechitsa, which had also been vandalized in |
1997. Cemeteries were desecrated in Borisov and Orsha in April 1998, and in Gomel and Berezino in July 1998. In August 1998, a memorial to Holocaust victims in Brest was |
desecrated. A 15-year-old skinhead was caught in connection with the Brest desecration. Local officials reportedly have failed to come up with any leads in the other cases. In September the |
head of a local Jewish organization in Brest issued a statement complaining about continued incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti appearing in the city, and what he claimed to be the apparent |
indifference of local authorities. As of year's end, there were no reports of action by the authorities. Many members of the Jewish community remain concerned that the Lukashenko Government's plans |
to promote greater unity with Russia may be accompanied by political appeals to groups in Russia that tolerate or promote anti-Semitism. Lukashenko's calls for "Slavic solidarity" are well received and |
supported by anti-Semitic, neo-Fascist organizations in Russia. For example, the organization Russian National Unity has an active branch in Belarus, and its literature is distributed in public places in Minsk. |
On February 5, members of this organization severely beat Charter '97 human rights activist Andrei Sannikov when he objected to their distribution of leaflets on a public square in downtown |
Minsk. A criminal case against Sannikov's assailants was later suspended on the grounds of lack of evidence. The country's small Muslim community, with roots in the country dating to the |
Middle Ages, does not report significant societal prejudice. However, on August 9, the Slonim mosque – the first mosque to open in the country during the last 60 years – |
was vandalized just prior to the holding of a Tatar youth convention in the city. Section 6. Worker rights a. The Right of Association The Constitution upholds the right of |
workers, except state security and military personnel, to form and join independent unions on a voluntary basis and to carry out actions in defense of worker rights, including the right |
to strike; however, these rights are not respected in practice. The independent trade union movement is still in its infancy. The Belarusian Free Trade Union (BFTU) was established in 1991 |
and registered in 1992. Following the 1995 Minsk metro workers strike, the President issued a decree suspending its activities. In 1996 the BFTU leaders formed a new umbrella organization, the |
Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU), which encompasses four leading independent unions and is reported to have approximately 15,000 members. On December 9, a branch of the independent Free Union |
of Metal Workers (FUMW) was evicted from its offices at the Minsk Automobile Factory. On December 16, six independent union representatives, including FUMW activist Dimitry Plis, were arrested at the |
Minsk Automobile Factory for picketing its entrance. Some later were found guilty of holding an unsanctioned rally and fined. The Government has taken measures to suppress independent trade unions. For |
example, members of independent trade unions have been arrested for distributing union literature, had material confiscated at the borders, have been denied access to work sites, have been subjected to |
excessive fines, and have been pressured by their managers and state security services to resign from their jobs because of trade union activities. Despite the repeal by the Government of |
its illegal ban on the BFTU, as well as the Ministry of Justices' reregistration of the BFTU and BCDTU (following a Presidential decree issued in January requiring that all public |
organizations, including unions, reregister), government authorities have continued to threaten and harass independent union members. For example, according to the BFTU, Georgy Mukhin was fired by the Minsk Tractor Works |
in early March as a result of his activism on behalf of the FTUMW. Sergei Antonchik, a union organizer affiliated with the BFTU who heads the National Strike Committee, was |
detained briefly on March 6 for organizing an unsanctioned demonstration in the city of Orsha. He subsequently was fined by a local court. Antonchik's Minsk office also was raided by |
government security officials who confiscated antigovernment bulletins. In October the Ministry of Justice turned down the application of the Belarusian Independent Association of Industrial Trade Unions (BIAITU), which represents approximately |
340,000 workers and is composed of 3 large official unions that have been critical of the Government's economic policies, to reregister as a legal organization. The decision apparently was based |
on a finding that the BIAITU's charter was inconsistent with its status as an umbrella organization of different unions. In early November, Minsk city authorities refused a request submitted by |
BIAITU leaders for permission to hold a public demonstration to protest the Ministry of Justice's decision. The Government continues to discourage employees at state-run enterprises from joining independent trade unions. |
Lukashenko signed a new restrictive Presidential decree (number 29) to "tighten labor discipline" July 26. The decree, which has as one of its aims the placement of all workers on |
individual rather than collective contracts, was criticized heavily by both independent and official union leaders, who believe that it was designed principally to enable the presidential administration to increase its |
control over the labor sector. The Official Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB), formerly the Belarusian branch of the Soviet Union's All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, consists of |
approximately 4.4 million workers (including retirees) and is by far the largest trade union organization. According to official union federation figures, 92 percent of the workforce is unionized. Although wary |
in the past of challenging the regime seriously, some FTUB leaders are becoming increasingly vocal in their criticism of the polices of the Lukashenko regime. In retaliation, some FTUB officials |
claim they have been subjected to threats and harassment from the Government. In late January the BFTU and FTUB-affiliated automobile and agricultural equipment manufacturing union held a joint demonstration in |
Minsk to protest falling living standards. On September 30, the FTUB held a demonstration in Minsk, also supported by independent unions, to protest presidential decree number 29. However, Minsk city |
officials allowed the protest rally to take place only in a location away from the city center. Prior to the demonstration, President Lukashenko ridiculed the leaders, accusing them of manipulating |
popular hardship for political advantage, and warning them that persons who did not adhere to the Government's restrictions in the demonstration would "get it in full." Although sometimes willing to |
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