In a resolution on the situation of human rights in Belarus, adopted by a roll-call vote of 23 in favour and 13 opposed, with 17 abstentions, the Commission expressed deep concern at reports from credible sources implicating senior officials of the Government of Belarus in the forced disappearance and/or summary execution of three political opponents of the incumbent authorities and of a journalist; about the electoral process and legislative framework in Belarus, which remained fundamentally flawed; about continued reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions; about persistent reports of harassment and closure of non-governmental organizations, national minority organizations, independent media outlets, opposition political parties, and independent trade unions; and about increased restrictions on the activities of religious organizations. The Commission decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus.

According to official information, on May 7, 1999, Yury Zakharenko was kidnapped on his way home, during the night time, under unascertained circumstances, by unidentified persons, through violence, and taken in a passenger car in an unknown direction.

FOR REFERENCE: Mr. Zakharenko, Yu. N., former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus (in 1994-1995), Major-General, Member of the National Committee of the United Civil Party, founder of the Union of Officers of Belarus. On the eve of his disappearance, Mr. Zakharenko headed the electoral headquarters of Mr. Mikhail Chigir, former Prime Minister and a candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus.

Mr. Gonchar, Victor Iossifovich, and his close friend Mr. Krassovskiy, Anatoly Semyonovich, on September 16, 1999, at about 10:35 p. m. when taking a car were seized by a group of the people through violence, pushed into cars and driven in an unknown direction.

FOR REFERENCE: Mr. Gonchar, N. I., Candidate of Legal Sciences, worked as Vice-Premier in the Government of the Republic of Belarus (in 1994-1995), General Secretary of the CIS Economic Court, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus of the 13th Convocation, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Belarus, Member of the Political Board of the United Civil Party. On the eve of his disappearance, Mr. Gonchar acted in the capacity of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet; for September 19, 1999, an expanded sitting of the Supreme Soviet under the chairmanship of V. Gonchar was appointed, the agenda of which included consideration of the conclusion of the Special Commission of the Supreme Soviet on committing by President Lukashenko, A. G., of a series of grave crimes, entailing the procedure of impeachment.

Mr. Krassovskiy, A. S., Candidate of Philosophy, founder and manager of the "Krasiko" Private Enterprise.

In the afternoon of July 7, 2000, when driving from his office to the "Minsk-2" National Airport, Mr. Zavadskiy, Dmitry Alexandrovich, was seized by a group of 5-6 armed persons, among whom there were Mr. Malik, M. M., a then active soldier of the "Almaz" Special Detachment to Fight Terrorism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Mr. Ignatovich, V. A., a former officer of the same detachment, who had earlier served as a reconnaissance hand bomber at the 22nd Brigade of the Chief Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Military Unit 11659, Mozdok, the Chechen Republic).

FOR REFERENCE: Zavadskiy, D. A., a cameraman of the Public Russian Television ONT), former personal cameraman of President A. G. Lukashenko.

On the fact of disappearance of the above persons and on the basis of the data obtained through operative investigations, criminal cases were initiated on essential crime elements envisaged by Article 101 of the Criminal Code (in edition of 1960) – a felonious homicide:
- on September 17, 1999, in relation to disappearance of Yu. Zakharenko;
- on September 20, 1999, in relation to V. Gonchar and A. Krassovskiy;
- on July 8, 2000, in relation to D. Zavadskiy.

According to the sentence of the Minsk Regional Court dated March 14, 2002, Ignatovich, V. A., and Malik, N. M., were adjudged guilty and convicted for kidnapping D. Zavadskiy and illegal deprivation him of freedom under points "b" and "zh", part 2, Article 123, the Criminal Code, and part 1, Article 124, of the Criminal Code (in edition of 1960) to ten years of imprisonment each. However, the Court failed to establish the further destiny of D. Zavadskiy.

The terms of investigation of these cases were repeatedly extended. The preliminary investigation on the cases was suspended under the pretext of a failure to establish the person (persons) subject to attraction as an indictee, or of a failure to find the extinct person, and then resumed again.

Upon the demand of the victims – relatives of those disappeared, the following was recognized judicially: V. Gonchar and A. Krassovskiy – as missing persons; D. Zavadskiy – as deceased. The civil case on recognition of Yu. Zakharenko as a deceased person is now at proceedings by the Frunzenskiy District Court of the city of Minsk.

Pursuant to part 1, Article 27, of the Criminal-Procedural Code, "…the body of criminal prosecution shall initiate, within the limits of its competence, a criminal case in each case of detecting a crime, to take all the measures envisaged by the law to establish a socially dangerous offence, to reveal the persons guilty of committing the crime and to punish them..." According to part 1, Article 28, of the Criminal-Procedural Code, the victim shall have the right to participate, in the established order, in criminal prosecution of the convict.

However, these requirements of the law are ignored by the bodies of criminal prosecution, and the rights of the victims and their representatives (Gary Pogoniailo, Oleg Volchek) are violently suppressed. None of the petitions lodged by the victims earlier and directed at a comprehensive, complete and objective investigation of the circumstances of criminal cases, which are in production of the bodies of the Prosecutor's Office, has ever been considered.

Such actions of the investigators and supervising public prosecutors are caused, in the judgement of the BHC, by the fact that the highest officials of the state are suspected of implication in a crime of organisation of kidnapping and possible physical liquidation of the disappeared persons. In particular: Sheiman, V. V., former Secretary of the Security Council, nowadays the Prosecutor General; Sivakov, Yu. L., former Minister of Internal Affairs, nowadays the Minister of Sports and Tourism; Vassilchenko, N. V., former head of the security service of the President of the Republic of Belarus; lieutenant colonel Pavlichenko, D. V., commander of the military unit 3214; Naumov, V. V., Minister of Internal Affairs and others.

The reasons for such suspicions are confirmed by the documents, published in mass media and containing information on the outcomes of the operative-searching activities and execution of a number of investigatory actions. Among them: the official report of Lapatik, N. I., dated 21.11.2000; the official report of Alkayev, O. A., dated 23.11.2000; the minutes of his interrogation as a witness dated 24.11.2000, conducted by the Kazakov, E. G., deputy department head at the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus; the minutes on confiscation a pistol and the log-book of issuance-acceptance of weapons and ammunition to the personnel of the SIZO-1 of the Department of Interior of the Minsk City Executive Committee in 70 pages with the respective records from 03.05.1993 to 24.11.2000; the minutes on examination of the said log-book; the order on appointing a criminalistic examination on the pistol "PB-9" No. RO57S dated 27.11.2000, issued by Branchel I. I., head of the investigation-operating group, on criminal case No. 414100; the expert's conclusion No. 184 dated 27.11.2000 on criminal case No. 414100; the receipt of the colonel of internal service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Alkayev, O. L., dated 28.11.2000, on receipt from Branchel, I. I., of the pistol "PB-9" No. RО57S in the pistol holster with a spare magazine and a silencer, and also a log-book of weapon issuance; the order on application of preventive detention dated November 22, 2000, in relation to Pavlichenko, D. M., commander of the military unit 3214 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, signed by Matskevich, V. A., Chairman of the Committee of National Security, and sanctioned Snegir, M. V., Deputy Prosecutor General.

The authenticity of the existence of the above documents and of the information, given in them, on the circumstances of disappearance and, probably, physical liquidation of Yu. Zakharenko, V. Gonchar, A. Krassovskiy and D. Zavadskiy, has never been challenged by anybody of the competent officials and bodies of the Republic of Belarus.

In Lapatik's official report it is stated that Sheiman, V.V., gave an order to Pavlichenko, D. V., to physically liquidate Yury Zakharenko, former Minister of Internal Affairs, and supply of information of Zakharenko's location was imposed on the structure headed Vassilchenko, N. V. (Security Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus) "The operation of kidnapping and subsequent killing of Zakharenko was executed by a group special detachment servicemen headed by Pavlichenko. Under a similar plot on 16.09.1999 Pavlichenko and his group executed kidnapping and killing of V. Gonchar and A. Krassovskiy", runs the official report. It also states that the burial place of the bodies of Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krassovskiy is a special section at the Northern Cemetery of the city of Minsk.

The circumstances, given in the official report of Lapatik, N. I., are confirmed by the information contained in the official report to the name of Naumov, V. V., Minister of Internal Affairs, submitted by Alkayev, O. L., head of SIZO No. 1 on 23.11.2000, and also by the minutes of his interrogation as a witness dated 24.11.2000, on criminal case No. 414100. In these documents Alkayev, O. L., asserts that indeed, at the request of Yury Sivakov, former Minister, he admitted Pavlichenko, D. V. (commander of SOBR detachment of the military unit 3214) to carry out the sentence and twice (on 30.04.1999 and 16.09.1999) handed over to Sivakov, Yu. L., via Dik, V. N., and Kolesnik, V. P., the so-called, "shooting" pistol "PB-9" No. RO57S with a silencer, which was used for carrying out death sentences.

The "Narodnaya Volya" newspaper No. 154 of August 22, 2001, an article by M. Koktysh was published "When they shot these people, they killed them 'in the name of the president'…" It gives an interview with a SOBR soldier (military unit 3214), who wished to remain anonymous. In his evidences he refers to the fact that the following servicemen of military unit 3214 took part in kidnapping and, probably, killing of Yu. Zakharenko, V. Gonchar and A. Krassovskiy: lieutenant Koklin, warrant officers Balynin, Mourashko, extended servicemen, owners of madder bonnets Yury Budsko, Vladimir Novatorskiy, a soldier from the automobile regiment Mekiyanets, etc., headed by D. Pavlichenko, commander of the SOBR regiment. During their travels to Minsk they used red BMV, Audi and other cars available at the car fleet of the military unit.

The facts and events described by the anonymous respondent in the said article are confirmed by the information obtained during interrogation of the witness Alexander Metelskiy, a former SOBR soldier (military unit 3214).

It follows from the official report of Alkayev, O. L., head of the institution, dated 23.11.2000, his interrogation minutes as a witness dated November 24, 2000, and the minutes of examination of the log-book of weapons issuance, that the above mentioned pistol was issued twice, on demand of Sivakov, Yu. L., ex-Minister of Interior, to Dik, V. N. – on 30.04.1999 (returned on 14.05.1999), and to Kolesnik, V. P. – on 16.09.1999 (returned on 18.09.1999).

Thus, it has been established that the pistol was given out on the eve of disappearances of Yu. Zakharenko (at night on May 7, 1999), and of V. Gonchar and A. Krassovskiy (at night on September 17, 1999) and returned after these events.

From the order of Branchel, I. I., head of the investigation-operating group, on appointing a criminalistic examination dated 27.11.2000 on criminal case No. 414100 and other materials of this case, it is seen that the pistol "PB-9" No. RO57S taken away from the institution UZh-15/IZ-1 could have been used under the circumstances of killings the family of Nasibovs, the Agayevs brother and sister; the leader of non-registered Belarusian regional organisation "Russian National Unity" (RNE) Samoilov, G. V.; inhabitants of the towns of Borissov and Maryina Gorka Yasko, L. I., and Soiko, L. V.; at kidnapping of Grachov, A. V., Chief Auditor of the Ministry of Culture, Bykov, P. N., a businessman; at kidnapping, followed by disappearances of the following people: Zavadskiy, D. A., operator of the Belarusian office of the Russian Television Company "Public Russian Television", Kotov, V. A., director of the Maryina Gorka motor transportation enterprise, and in other crimes.

According to the conclusion of criminalistic examination No. 184 dated November 27, 2000 (expert – head deputy of 80th Central Military Forensic Medical Laboratory of the Ministry of Defence Major of Medical Service Goroshko, I. I.), the pistol "PB-9" No. RO57S, presented for examination, was technically sound and fit for fire; shooting from the said pistol without clicking a trigger is impossible; shooting from the pistol, submitted for examination, was made after the last cleaning.

From the sentence of the Minsk Regional Court dated 14.03.2000 on the criminal case to charge Ignatovich, V. A., Malik, N. M., Gouz, A. V., Saushkin, S. N., who were convicted, in particular, for kidnapping Dmitry Zavadskiy, ORT cameraman, and also from the materials of the cases, singled out from the said case into separate production, it is seen that the gang of Ignatovich, V. A., and other persons, unidentified by the investigation, were armed at committing their crimes, including, with silent fire pistols. Thus, at assault on Tolstik, L. M., her cohabitant Borissov, I. P. (Zhodino, Minsk Region), Yasko, L. I. (Borissov), Ignatovich, V. A., was armed with a pistol with a silencer, a similar pistol with a silencer was with a member of his gang Malik, N. M. It is necessary to mention here that Malik, N. M., during committing the incriminated was a valid soldier of the special regiment to combat terrorism "Almaz" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, while Ignatovich, V. A., is a former serviceman of the same special detachment, and the convict Gouz, A. V., was a cadet of the Academy of the Interior.

According to the order on application of preventive detention dated November 22, 2000, Matskevich, V. A., Chairman of the Committee of National Security, having considered the materials of the case of the group operative development "Ekipazh" (Crew), had recognized the presence in them of valid data that "Pavlichenko , Dmitry Valerievich, was the organiser and head of a criminal group engaged in kidnapping and physical liquidation of citizens."

In connection with the circumstances, established during the investigation of criminal case No. 414100, Pavlichenko, D. V., who was interrogated as a witness and a suspect, was detained and placed into the SIZO of the KGB upon a sanction of the Deputy Prosecutor General with reference to the norms of the Decree of the President dated 21.10.1997 No. 21 "On Urgent Measures to Combat Terrorism and other Especially Dangerous Violent Crimes." His interrogations were conducted with usage of video recording in the order established in Articles 192, 193 and 219 of the Criminal-Procedural Code. However, then within 24 hours, under a personal direction of Sheiman, V. V., Pavlichenko, D. V., was liberated from custody without submission to the administration of the SIZO of any procedural document of the inspector or the public prosecutor.

It is not excluded that a part of the materials obtained in the operative-investigatory way and certifying the implication in these crimes of the higher officials of the Republic of Belarus and special services, are being deliberately concealed by Prosecutor General Sheiman, V. V. He and his dependent officials of the bodies of the Prosecutor's Office are blocking a proper investigation of the initiated criminal cases on the facts of disappearance of citizens.

These circumstance give us the grounds to state that the actions of Sheiman, V. V., Sivakov, Yu. L., and other higher officials contain indications of a crime against human safety, namely: systematic executions without court, kidnapping, followed by disappearances of people in connection with their political convictions.

The relatives of the missing people and their representatives have exhausted all the possibilities of national mechanisms of investigation of violent disappearances and attraction of the guilty persons to responsibility and are intended to take advantage of the international jurisdiction of courts of other countries to launch proceedings against certain high-ranking Belarusian officials for possible murder on political motives of one or more out of the four disappeared persons.

The materials, available at the disposal of the BHC, have been handed over to Mr. Christos Purgurides, Special Rapporteur of the PACE.