Possible ''Disappearances'' — Dmitry Zavadsky

AI learned in May that several past and present members of the elite Almaz police unit were being held in custody, charged in connection with the kidnapping and possible murder of Russian Public Television (ORT) cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky. Valery Ignatovich, Maksim Malik, Aleksey Guz and Sergei Savushkin were expected to come to trial at Minsk Regional Court in July. In contravention of various international human rights standards the trial was reportedly going to be held behind closed doors.
Dmitry Zavadsky went missing on the morning of 7 July 2000, after he drove to a Minsk airport to meet a journalist colleague, Pavel Sheremet, who was arriving on an aeroplane from Moscow (see AI Index: EUR 01/001/2001). Even though Dmitry Zavadsky's car was found parked at the airport no trace has ever been found of the 27-year-old cameraman. Dmitry Zavadsky's wife, Svetlana, informed an AI delegation in March that she and their young son have received no word from him since his whereabouts became unknown.
The investigations into the apparent ''disappearance'' of Dmitry Zavadsky as well as the other missing opposition leaders Yury Zakharenko, Viktor Gonchar and his companion Anatoly Krasovsky have been cloaked in controversy, eliciting domestic and international criticism relating to their perceived transparency and impartiality (see AI Index: 49/002/2001). In March, the Parliamentary Troika, composed of members of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe, which had visited Belarus from 5 to 7 March, also expressed ''... its continuing concern about the human rights situation'' and particularly ''... at the lack of progress in investigating the disappearances of political opponents, Mr Zakharenko, Mr Gonchar, Mr Krasovsky as well as the journalist Mr Zavadsky'' (11).
Toward the end of the period under review there were reports that two officials of the Prosecutor General's Office, Dmitry Petrushkevich and Oleg Sluchek, assigned to investigate the possible "disappearances", fled to the USA in June, where they obtained asylum. They alleged that officials in President Lukashenka's immediate circle of appointees had employed the elite Almaz police group to eliminate a number of Belarus' opposition. The missing men are reportedly buried in a graveyard to the north of the capital, Minsk.

Prisoner of conscience — Professor Yury Bandazhevsky

On 18 June 43-year-old Professor Yury Bandazhevsky was sentenced by the Military Collegium of the Belarusian Supreme Court in Gomel to eight years' imprisonment in a strict penal colony with confiscation of property for allegedly taking bribes from students seeking admission to the Gomel Medical Institute, of which he is the former rector (see AI Index: EUR 49/008/2001). AI believes that his conviction is related to his outspoken criticism of the Belarusian authorities' reaction to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 1986, and considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
International and domestic trial observers considered not only that the basis of Yury Bandazhevsky's conviction appeared extremely weak, but also that his right to a fair trial had been repeatedly violated. The Advisory and Monitoring Group of the OSCE in Belarus, which had observed the entire duration of the trial, noted eight different infringements of the Belarusian Criminal Code during the pre-trial investigation and trial. These included the violation of Yury Bandazhevsky's right to defence, as he was denied access to counsel during the entirety of his six months in pre-trial detention. At the time of writing Yury Bandazhevsky was imprisoned at the UZ 15/1 prison in Minsk, where he was being held in a dormitory-type prison cell with around 150 other prisoners, sleeping in three-tiered bunk beds.

The release of prisoner of conscience. Vladimir Koudinov

On 5 February prisoner of conscience Vladimir Koudinov was released in an amnesty after serving four years' in prison. He was originally sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in August 1997 on the charge of allegedly bribing a police officer (see AI Index: EUR 49/14/00). As a deputy of the dissolved Belarusian parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet, Vladimir Koudinov had taken an active role in attempting to impeach President Alyaksandr Lukashenka for dissolving parliament in November 1996. AI believed that he — like other deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet — had been imprisoned for his opposition activities. In early March he informed an AI delegation visiting Minsk about the egregious conditions of his detention and how he felt that he had been adversely treated by the prison authorities on account of his political status.

Human rights defenders

For 12 days at the end of February and the beginning of March an AI delegation visited the Belarusian cities of Brest, Gomel, Minsk, Mogilov and Vitebsk, conducting interviews with a range of human rights defenders. The report of the visit, In the Spotlight of the State: Human Rights Defenders in Belarus (AI Index: EUR 49/005/2001) highlights the considerable obstacles faced by individuals engaged in human rights defence and promotion in Belarus.

Prisoner of conscience — human rights defender Valery Schukin

On 12 June 60-year-old Valery Schukin the veteran human rights defender, independent journalist and member of the dissolved Belarusian parliament began a three-month prison sentence. He was convicted by Minsk City Court on 17 April for his role in organizing the October 1999 pro-democracy Freedom March, and for alleged hooliganism relating to an incident which occurred on 16 January, when police officers refused him entry to a press conference given by the Minister of the Interior, Vladimir Naumov, in Minsk. A struggle reportedly ensued between the human rights activists and guards policing access to the conference, who violently forced him to the ground. In early July Valery Schukin was transferred to Zhodino prison where prison officials allegedly forcibly shaved off his long beard using a blunt razor.

New legal restrictions of the rights to freedom of association and assembly

AI expressed concern about the introduction of two presidential decrees, apparently designed to hamper the peaceful protest activities of Belarus' opposition in the run-up to the presidential election, planned for 9 September. On 14 March President Alyaksandr Lukashenka issued the decree ''Several Measures on Improving Distribution and Use of Foreign Humanitarian Aid'', which effectively prohibited the use of foreign funding for pro-democracy purposes. The decree prevents foreign monetary and non-monetary aid given to non-government organizations (NGOs) and political parties from being used for a broad range of activities, including the organization and monitoring of elections and various protest actions. NGOs will run the risk of incurring fines and closure if they violate the broadly-sweeping legislation.
On 11 May Presidential decree, ''On Certain Measures to Improve Procedures of Holding Meetings, Rallies, Street Processions, Demonstrations and other Mass Actions and Pickets'', also came into effect, which imposes new restrictions on the right of freedom of assembly. Under the decree the body organizing a sanctioned event will be held entirely responsible for the action and may be fined or de-registered if public order is deemed to have been violated.

Arbitrary detention of Zubr human rights activists

During the period of review a significant number of activists of the newly emerged youth pro-democracy and human rights organization, Zubr, served periods of imprisonment after being arrested on account of their peaceful protest activities. On 5 March three Zubr activists were detained outside the Presidential Administration Building in central Minsk for protesting against the spate of possible ''disappearances'' in Belarus. One of the three youths, Anton Telezhnikov, was sentenced to 15 days' imprisonment. AI considered him to be a prisoner of conscience.
In the early hours of 5 April four Zubr activists, Aleksey Shidlovsky, Timofey Dranchuk, Dmitry Drapochko and Ales Apranisch, were detained in Minsk for allegedly spray-painting on the wall of a factory: ''Where is Gonchar? Where is Zavadsky? Where is Zakharenko?''. They were released late the following day and were allegedly not given prompt access to a lawyer. The youths are currently facing criminal charges and were expected to be tried later in 2001. In February 1998 Aleksey Shidlovsky was sentenced to 18-months' imprisonment for a similar offence and was adopted by AI as a prisoner of conscience.
On the same day, another Zubr youth activist, Nikita Sasim, was reportedly detained in the town of Baranovichi, south-west of Minsk, by two police officers for writing the word 'Zubr' on walls. He was held overnight. According to the human rights organization Spring-96, the police officers beat the handcuffed youth and poured paint over his head. During his interrogation on 6 April the police officers allegedly forced the youth to the floor of the prison cell and threatened to torture him with electric shock treatment. He was released later that day when his mother collected him from the Moskovsky District Department of Internal Affairs, where he was being held.
On 21 April 33 young people were detained during a peaceful anti-presidential event in Gorky Park in Minsk. A number of the detainees alleged that police officers used excessive force to detain them or otherwise ill-treated them. Fourteen of the 33 youths remained in detention at Okrestina detention centre in Minsk until 25 April when they were brought before a court, which sentenced them to three days' imprisonment. Having remained in Okrestina detention centre since 21 April they were allowed to go free. Participants Sergei Pyanukh and Valery Zherbin were later sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment in May. AI considered them to be prisoners of conscience.
In the period under review AI learned of significant numbers of other pro-democracy and human rights activists who were arbitrarily deprived of their liberty. On the peaceful Day of Freedom demonstration on 25 March around 15 demonstrators were detained in Minsk for organizing or participating in an unsanctioned demonstration. While most of the detainees escaped imprisonment with a fine, several others including 20-year-old Dmitry Chubarenka, Spring-96's Ales Byalytski and Vincuk Via…orka were subsequently sentenced to between 10 and 15 day terms of imprisonment. AI considered them to be prisoners of conscience.
In the morning of 18 May, police officers reportedly detained approximately 30 protestors outside the Palace of the Republic building in Minsk. The protestors - who belonged to the Belarusian Conservative Christian Party - reportedly carried posters of the men who have apparently ''disappeared''. Other protestors reportedly held placards and distributed leaflets contesting the proposed union of Belarus with Russia. Plain-clothes police officers are alleged to have used force to disperse the peaceful protestors and ill-treated a number of them, resulting in one man, Vladimir Yukho, suffering a broken arm and another man reportedly experienced severe heart problems. Throughout the day and evening plain-clothes police officers reportedly detained other peaceful protestors from the Youth Front of the Belarusian Popular Front and the United Civic Party. Both groups of protestors lined Minsk's main thoroughfare, Prospect Frantsysk Skaryna, at different times of the day holding placards of the missing opposition figures. The plainclothes police officers reportedly detained around a dozen protestors, seven of them youths, one of whom was allegedly seriously beaten.

Possible harassment of opposition family members

The sons of two of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's political opponents were arrested in the period under review. AI is concerned that the two men may have been deliberately targeted by the Belarusian authorities in order to put pressure on their families. Former prisoner of conscience Mikhail Chigir's son, Alyaksandr Chigir, was arrested on 10 February, accused of dealing in stolen motor vehicle parts. Members of Belarus' opposition have stated that the arrest was to put pressure on Mikhail Chigir, who had planned to stand as a candidate in the 2001 presidential elections. Since his arrest he has been held in pre-trial detention, reportedly sharing his cell with 26-year-old Sergei Vinnikov, son of the former Chairperson of the Belarusian National Bank, Tamara Vinnikova, who escaped to Britain from under KGB house arrest in April 1999. Her son was reportedly charged with the possession of drugs on 21 March and remains in pre-trial detention in Minsk.

Freedom of the media

AI continued to receive reports about the harassment and intimidation of Belarus' community of independent journalists. The offices of several independent newspapers were raided by the tax officials, including Borisovskie Novosti on 16 March and Nasha Svaboda on 19 June. The home of the Den and Belarusky Chas journalist, Sergei Anisko, were also raided by police on 20 June. Individual newspaper vendors selling the independent press reportedly suffered newspaper confiscations. In the first six months of 2001 particular concern was also expressed about the draft law, Law on Information Security, which — if adopted in its draft format — would confer on the Belarusian authorities a range of powers by which to censor the media and stifle media freedom.