UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
(HELSINKI
COMMISSION) HOLDS BRIEFING ON BELARUS
DECEMBER 4, 2007
COMMISSIONERS:
REP. ALCEE L. HASTINGS, D-FLA., CHAIRMAN
REP. LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER,
D-N.Y.
REP. MIKE MCINTYRE, D-N.C.
REP. HILDA L. SOLIS,
D-CALIF.
REP. G.K. BUTTERFIELD, D-N.C.
REP. CHRISTOPHER H.
SMITH, R-N.J.
REP. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, R-ALA.
REP. MIKE PENCE,
R-IND.
REP. JOSEPH R. PITTS, R-PENN.
SEN. BENJAMIN L.
CARDIN, D-MD., CO-CHAIRMAN
SEN. CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, D-CONN.
SEN. RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, D-WIS.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.
SEN. JOHN F. KERRY, D-MASS.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK, R-KAN.
SEN. GORDON H. SMITH, R-ORE.
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, R-GA.
SEN.
RICHARD BURR, R-N.C.
WITNESSES/PANELISTS:
ALEKSANDR MILINKEVICH,
MOVEMENT FOR FREEDOM
ANATOLIY LEBEDKO,
UNITED CIVIC PARTY OF BELARUS
PAVEL SEVERINETS,
MALADY FRONT OF BELARUS
SERGEY KALYAKIN,
BELARUSIAN PARTY OF COMMUNISTS
ANATOLIY LEVKOVICH,
BELARUSIAN SOCIAL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
[The briefing was held at 2:01 p.m. in Room
1539 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, D.C., Rep. Alcee L.
Hastings, chairman, moderating]
[*]
HASTINGS: I'd like to call this
meeting to order.
I thank you all for being here and welcome you to this
Helsinki Commission
briefing, "Examining the Prospects for Democratic Change
in Belarus," a country
located in the heart of Europe, but which has the
unfortunate distinction of
having one of the worst human rights and democracy
records in the European part
of the OSCE region.
I'm very pleased that we
have with us today a delegation of courageous
leaders of Belarus' democratic
opposition and leading human rights and democracy
activists.
The
delegation is being hosted by the International Republican Institute,
and I
genuinely appreciate their help making their presence here possible.
I must
say that I feel a special connection with our speakers, as all were
closely
involved in the March 2006 presidential elections. As president of the
OSCE
parliamentary assembly at the time, I led the OSCE election mission to what
I
perceived as deeply flawed elections.
Our first speaker, Aleksandr
Milinkevich, is leader of the Belarusian
nongovernmental organization For
Freedom. He was candidate for president of the
United Democratic Opposition
Party in the 2006 elections and was a recipient of
the European parliament's
2006 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Our second speaker, Anatoliy
Lebedko, heads the United Civic Party and co-
chairs the United Democratic
Forces. We first met in the 1999 OSCE
parliamentary assembly annual session.
He is an outspoken defender of democratic rights. Anatoliy has been
harassed, imprisoned and beaten by the authorities in Belarus.
I'm also
pleased to welcome Enira Bronitskaya, a human rights advocate,
civil society
activist, and former political prisoner who was jailed for six
months last
year for her work as co-leader of the elections monitoring NGO
partnership.
The partnership was banned the Belarusian authorities after it wrote a
report and presented evidence of election fraud.
Following the
presentations of our speakers, other members of the
delegation will come up to
the dais and be available to answer questions from
the audience.
If you
have not yet done so, you are welcome to pick up our speakers'
biographies on
the table.
At the post-election press conference the day after the 2006
elections, I
stressed, and I quote what I said then, "The Belarusian people
deserve better,
indeed, better than the status quo."
Regretfully, in light
of the intervening 20 months of continued repression
and stagnation, this
remains my message today.
I would like to say that when I was in Belarus,
the authorities treated me
well. I remember saying to the foreign minister
that, coming from Florida, if
the Belarusian election was flawed, I certainly
would call it like I see it.
Mr. Lukashenka has missed opportunities to
liberalize the economy and the
political system. Rather, he has chosen to
maintain tight control over these
and other aspects of society, especially
when it comes to the media.
Finally and most importantly, I want to
commend the courage and commitment
of the members of the delegation present
here today, who, along with their
colleagues, are struggling for democracy,
freedom and respect for human rights,
under very trying circumstances.
Indeed, some of their colleagues, including Alyaksandr Kazulin and Andrei
Klimov, continue to languish in prison, while other are disappeared nearly a
decade ago without a trace.
I look forward to hearing from our speakers
about the situation in their
country and their agenda for change, especially
in advance of parliamentary
elections scheduled for next year.
Mr.
Milinkevich, the floor is yours.
MILINKEVICH: Thank you very much. I am
Aleksandr Milinkevich, from
Belarus and the movement For Freedom. This is my
presentation in English.
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Political (INAUDIBLE) and
political repression are
hot topics for Belarus. During the last year, the
practice of preventive
detentions has become popular (INAUDIBLE) political
actions. For instance, the
police did not detain any participants of the
European march in October.
However, according to human rights defenders, 50
people were detained and
received fines and short jail sentences 30 days
before the rally.
This figure does not include the people who were detained
up to three
hours. It is not always easy to collect all information about
such cases, but
we know about more than 100 of such cases.
Mainly,
pro-democratic activists are charged with (INAUDIBLE) conduct and
participation in unauthorized gatherings. Most often, police officers testify
as witnesses in such trials or verdicts are made without any testimonial
evidence.
It is not always possible to provide legal assistance to them.
Attention
to such cases is insufficient. As of today, the solution to the
problem of
preventive detentions has not been found. People continue to talk
about it as
political prisoners.
Mikalay Autukhovich, who was sentenced
three years and six months of
imprisonment for an economic crime. Dmitry
Dashkevich was sentenced to 1.5
years of imprisonment for participation in an
unregistered organization. Less
than a month ago, Dmitry Dashkevich was tried
again. The authorities charged
him with refusal to provide testimonial
evidence. This time he was punished
with a fine, but the trial deprived him
of the hope for early release or
amnesty.
Alyaksandr Kazulin was sentenced
to 5.5 years of imprisonment for
malicious hooliganism and participation in
actions that breached public order.
Andrei Klimov was sentenced to 2.5 years
for an article on the Internet,
which, in the opinion of the authorities,
called for the overthrow of the
constitutional system. The trial over Andrei
Klimov was held in complete
information blackout. His family was (INAUDIBLE)
concerns about Andrei's life.
Klimov had a stroke during the investigation.
A month ago, he was
transferred to (INAUDIBLE) prison and his family did not
receive his letters for
a long time. Klimov is the first political prisoner
in Belarus who was given a
sentence in the medium security prison.
Yury
Lyavonau was sentenced together with Mikalay Autukhovich for 3.5
years of
imprisonment on charges of an economic crime.
Artur Finkevich was sentenced
to two years of (INAUDIBLE) for political
graffiti. Less than two months ago,
Artur Finkevich was charged with violation
of the prison regime. The case has
already been sent to court. Artur faces a
new sentence of up to three years
of imprisonment.
Release of all political prisoners is a necessary demand
made to the
regime. However, at present, some countries of the European Union
have active
communications with our authorities and do not insist on this
condition.
In the end, I want to speak about solidarity, solidarity and
support of
every repressed citizen and every civic activist (INAUDIBLE) fear.
We are doing
that inside the country, but international campaigns of
solidarity are also very
important.
This creates both the international
response and much needed support to
Belarusian democratic activists.
HASTINGS: Mr. Lebedko?
LEBEDKO: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) I would like to
start with a word of
thanks to Mr. Chairperson of the commission on behalf of
all our delegation for
organizing this meeting, for real actions which the
Helsinki Commission is doing
for Belarus.
Last time we met in Kyiv during
the parliamentary assembly of OSCE, which
adopted a resolution on Belarus,
which is very important for Belarus, and we
would like to thank you for that,
as well.
To save time, it is a great honor for me to speak in the U.S.
Congress.
The hearings today are direct testimony of the fact that Belarus is
still on the
international agenda.
I represent the team of political
optimists in Belarus. Possible
pessimist (INAUDIBLE) a little bit more
accurate, but I am convinced that only
optimists will be able to bring changes
to Belarus.
For the sake of objectivity, I suggest considering all arguments
and
perspectives. I will start with existing risks and threats.
One,
Belarus continues to remain a test laboratory for production and
distribution
of a neo authoritarian ideology of Lukashenka in Eurasia and
Lukashenka
remains the leader of revenge forces in the former USSR.
This situation is
a central underestimation of the situation in Belarus by
the international
community.
Two, the authorities continue to stake their power on repression
and
violent solutions to problems. We have clearly declared that UDF is in
support
of dialogue with the authorities, but we cannot shake a hand which is
balled
into a fist. We cannot shake a hand that holds the keys to the prison
cells of
Alyaksandr Kazulin and Andrei Klimov (INAUDIBLE) and other political
prisoners.
We maintain that the real dialogue about concrete issues of
political
prisoners and free and fair elections is substituted for never
ending talks.
There is a danger that the international community will be
stuck in this
conversation, which has neither a time limit nor agenda.
Three, the regime demonstrates certain signs of (INAUDIBLE). The evidence
is
the newly created pro-presidential political structure in Belarus and the
formal transfer of power to Lukashenka's son, Viktar, (INAUDIBLE), while the
real ruler continues to rule.
The consequence of such a scenario will be a
continuation of the situation
in Belarus for another five years.
(INAUDIBLE) that reflect an optimistic future outlook. There is a
distinctive
(INAUDIBLE) situation. People demonstrate (INAUDIBLE) to listen and
to hear
the positive alternative proposed by the United Democratic Forces for
the
demand for alternative growth.
It is connected to energy problems with the
atmosphere of the (INAUDIBLE)
relations with Russia, with the cut in social
benefits and guarantees for 5.5
million of Belarusian citizens. As a
consequence, the popularity of Lukashenka
after the presidential campaign
declined 21 points.
Two, despite the focus of the pessimists and contrary to
the efforts of
the authorities, the UDF did not split after the presidential
elections. The
congress of the Democratic Forces, which took place in May
this year, pressed a
new strategy.
According to the (INAUDIBLE) the
coalition is to implement three campaigns
-- the European campaign, the social
campaign, and the campaign for free
elections. Each political entity signed
the agreement about preparation for the
election campaign, according to which
the single list of UDF candidates is
formed and the single message to the
voters is worked out.
The national committee of UDF is preparing a package
of positive
alternatives for Belarusian citizens, including concrete proposals
from the
European Union.
Three, lack of the formal (INAUDIBLE). Four,
existence of serious
contradictions between the Kremlin and the (INAUDIBLE).
The (INAUDIBLE) for action. One, political prisoners and Europe are two
notions that are incompatible both geographically and politically. This problem
demands unity of efforts of both supporters of change in Belarus and the
international community.
We expect an increase in (INAUDIBLE) through the
diplomatic channels, an
all different means of influence on the Belarusian
authorities. While there are
two political prisoners in Belarus, it is not
possible to hold free and fair
elections (INAUDIBLE) there are no grounds for
withdrawal of sanctions against
certain Belarusian officials.
Investment
in democracy is the most useful and effective investment of the
capital.
Today we speak about the necessity to significantly increase
assistance for
the structures of the civic society and independent mass media.
The
democracy support acts have a long-term effect. Efforts of the U.S.,
EU, OSCE
and European Council need to be joined. All this will combine
diplomatic
efforts that we hope to win over the regime and see change occur.
(INAUDIBLE) with the standards (INAUDIBLE) political prisoners, et cetera.
In
particular, Lukashenka needs to understand that if (INAUDIBLE) parliamentary
elections are not free and fair, there will be more consequences in addition to
those actions already taken and sanctions currently in place.
Lukashenka
should have a choice -- either a special conference in Belarus
to create
conditions necessary for holding elections under OSCE standards or an
international tribunal over the Belarusian regime and ideology of Lukashenka.
The (INAUDIBLE) and coordination of a common strategy of the United States
and the European Union regarding Belarus. Our recommendation is to return to
the practice of joint leaders or representatives of the European Commission and
the U.S. State Department to Minsk. It is better to have a common voice and a
coordinated position when speaking to the official Minsk.
I a ashamed that
Belarus remains the last enclave of dictatorship on the
map of Europe. I know
that Belarus and its people deserve better. This better
is democracy and
European (INAUDIBLE) values and standards.
The solution of the Belarusian
problem is in Minsk, not Washington, D.C.,
Moscow or Brussels. No one will
solve our problems for us. We do not expect a
miracle to happen in 2008.
This year is very special for us. This is the year of the 90th
anniversary
of the Belarusian People's Republic and the year of the
parliamentary election
in Belarus.
It places special responsibility on all change supporters. As
the leader
of political optimists, I believe in the inevitability of change
and in the
future of Belarus.
HASTINGS: Thank you very much.
Although
she is obstructed from me over there, we do have present with us
the United
States ambassador to Minsk, Karen Stewart. Ambassador, welcome. I'm
delighted that you're here.
And we've also been joined by my colleague in
the House of Representative
and on the Helsinki Commission, Congressman Mike
McIntyre, from North Carolina.
Mike, we've had two of our presenters
already and, if you'd like, at this
time, before we go to Enira, to make any
statement you may wish.
We are working with an interpreter. So use your
North Carolina drawl.
MCINTYRE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I did have
the privilege of being at the parliamentary assembly this past
summer, when we
did have some issues come up about Belarus, and, of course, I'm
speaking about
the assembly we held in the Ukraine.
One of the concerns I had and, in fact,
had an amendment about was the
concern of protecting religious freedom in
Belarus. And so I will read with
interest the statements already given today
and, also, listen with interest to
the next statement, in particular, to make
sure that religious freedom is being
allowed and that religious freedom is not
being oppressed in Belarus.
Thank you very much.
HASTINGS: Thank you
very much, Congressman McIntyre.
We now will hear from Ms. Bronitskaya.
Thank you for being here, Madam.
BRONITSKAYA: Thank you for this
opportunity to speak here. I would like
to speak about oppression against
youth in Belarus and the specific area of
freedom, the right to education,
(INAUDIBLE).
Youth is the most active group in Belarus. They are the most
active
participants of the (INAUDIBLE) in March 2006 and mainly the youth from
19
through 25. So they are students of different universities and colleges.
Young people in Belarus are not afraid anymore to be arrested and the
authorities are looking for new possibilities of oppression. Unfortunately,
Belarusian authorities have a lot of possibilities to press on youth. From
2005, all the students were going to start foreign establishments of higher
education on a temporary or exchange basis (INAUDIBLE) permission from the
minister of education.
Universities in Belarus are more and more (INAUDIBLE)
education, but for
preparing ideologically right people. The minister of
education of Belarus has
prepared a decree that now is waiting to be signed by
the president, according
to which, in the next year, university entrants will
need, before exams, to have
interviews in the local ideological departments
and (INAUDIBLE).
Five months ago, students were deprived of social
benefits, but the
government wants to establish (INAUDIBLE) for those who have
basic (INAUDIBLE)
situations and the tendency is that university
administration will be such
(INAUDIBLE) who will decide who needs this
supplemental financing.
The majority of universities have (INAUDIBLE) the
right to exclude
students after administrative or criminal cases, but it's
just a right that
universities use according to their interests.
From
the spring 2006, the practice of excluding students from universities
for
their political views started to be regular. We know 200 students who were
expelled after the march event, but real figures can be much higher.
A
(INAUDIBLE) for students include the following -- breaking rules of
internal
educational establishment regulations and For Progress, the real
reasons where
(INAUDIBLE) under administrative law through deprivation of
liberty from
(INAUDIBLE) the administrative law to seek membership in democratic
youth
organizations, membership in political parties, distribution of education
materials during presidential campaign of (INAUDIBLE).
There are several
ways of excluding and the last was just before and after
the European march in
October 2007 and just now, while we are here, the
administration of both the
university are trying to exclude youth activists of
(INAUDIBLE) from the
university and we're told that just because of attention
(INAUDIBLE)
democratic community and international community, she will receive
the
possibility to continue her education.
Non-European countries have
(INAUDIBLE) to the repression of Belarus
students by opening scholarship
programs for expelled or repressed Belarusians.
From 2006, because of
political reasons, about 430 students studied their
education abroad.
During the last three years, there were only two students who protested
against their exclusion to the court. They both lost. The (INAUDIBLE) in these
cases were to prove that these students were expelled because of political
reasons, and we hope that such practice, such court practice will be widened.
During last year, we regularly received information about pressure on
school
children. The (INAUDIBLE) of the Belarusian educational establishment
(INAUDIBLE). More attention should be paid to these cases. Each case of such
pressure and exclusion must be known and criticized by democratic forces in
Belarus and the international community.
We can see that (INAUDIBLE) of
European Union structures (INAUDIBLE)
university administrations that conduct
political repression (INAUDIBLE).
Thank you.
HASTINGS: Thank you very
much.
I do take cognizance of the work of young people. I, when in Belarus,
was
mindful of the very active youth and it brought to mind my own work here
in this
country as a young man.
It took a lot of time, but we did make a
lot of change. So if that model
is any example for you, then I sure hope that
you continue your efforts, as we
did.
I'm going to ask now if Pavel
Severinets and Sergey Kalyakin and Anatoliy
Levkovich and Dmitriy Fedaruk
would join us. They will be available to answer
our questions.
Before
going to questions, and I invite you all, ladies and gentlemen, to
ask
questions of our presenters, I'd like to thank our interpreter, Alina
Stefanovich (ph). I've worked with her before, and I deeply appreciate your
efforts.
Alina (ph), don't bother to interpret this. This is just my
musing. In
Boston, about two months ago, I met the father of a child and the
child, his
name was Mendel (ph), and Mendel (ph) was born in Sweden. His
father is Spanish
and is head of "Radio Free Europe," broadcast in Spanish.
And he, along the way, learned Swedish, Spanish, German, and his father
and
mother are Jewish, Hebrew and English. And this little thing is almost six
years old and I'm talking with he and his cousin, who is seven, that speaks
three languages.
And I say to him, "Well, Mendel (ph), count for me in all
five of those
languages," and he did one through ten just like that. And so
then he turned to
me and he said, "You count for me in one language." So I
tried German, I did
pretty good in German. And he said, "One more." I said,
"I don't know
anymore." He says, "Why?" I said, "I don't know," I said, "but
you've
encouraged me. I'm going to try to learn to speak Spanish." And he
said,
"Good. By the time you speak Spanish, I'll be speaking Chinese."
That's a great story. So it's like I marvel at all of you that are
multilingual. It's one thing human society and our world needs to learn more of
the languages and cultures of respective countries.
So if I could start
and then, Mike, if you will join me with the
questions. Why don't we just put
a couple out there and have our guests
respond?
One of the things that I'm
interested -- and now if you would interpret
for me at this point.
Do you
think some of these elections in Russia will have any kind of an
impact on
your parliamentary election?
And I'd also be interested, since we do things
-- I'm sorry. Go ahead.
And as you know, about a year ago, we passed, here
in the House, the
Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act. How would you assess
the impact of that?
Any response? Yes, Mr. Milinkevich.
LEBEDKO: I
will start. As for election campaign in Russia, it is easy
for me to answer
this question, because our party made a special statement about
that.
Unfortunately, I would have to say that we will witness the purpose of the
Russian Federation becoming in the country where Lukashenka rules. What we
experienced 10 or 12 years ago now we see happening in Russia.
Independent
television is disappearing. Self-censorship becomes deputy
editor-in-chief of
main Russian newspapers, and this is a very dangerous
tendency.
And my
impressions about the last speech by Putin, it seems to me that
Alyaksandr
Lukashenka writes speeches for Mr. Putin now. I think now Russia
will be busy
with its own internal election campaign.
(INAUDIBLE) even more incites the
heads of the political regime in
Belarus. It's one thing that there was an
impression that Lukashenka is only
one dictator in Europe. It is a different
situation if such a tendency starts
growing and (INAUDIBLE) in Russia. This
would be in a simply different context
of the situation.
This is why we
express our solidarity with the democratic forces in
Russia. I also think the
absence of a real democratic party in the state Duma
also (INAUDIBLE) for
Russia.
On the 13th and 14th, Putin comes to Minsk to meet with Lukashenka.
So
many things will become clear after this visit.
Maybe somebody else
could visit the second question.
MILINKEVICH: Or just add a couple of
words to what Anatoliy has just
said.
I think that all countries of the
world, especially neighboring countries,
are interested in Russia being
democratic. The things that are happening are
really sad.
But it seems to
me we should look for the key to democratization in
Russia, not only in
Russian subs. I'm absolutely convinced that if Belarus,
Ukraine and Georgia
will be really democratic and independent, it will be a lot
easier to make
Russia democratic.
Of course, the behavior of Russia is, in many things,
determined by a
post-imperialistic reaction. The hopes to restore the empire,
actually, in many
terms, determine the foreign policy of Russia.
As for
the Freedom Support Reauthorization Act, it is a very important
document.
This is huge moral support for the people who are fighting for
freedom in our
country.
It is also important that such acts will have a concrete result.
We
completely support targeted political sanctions against Belarus. But when
we
talk about economic sanctions, one should do them very carefully and
accurately,
because no (INAUDIBLE) intentions will be interpreted by us or
you, but by
Belarusian propaganda.
But it is very important for us so that
the Belarusian people understand
why sanctions have been imposed. This is why
we are for sanctions, yes, but
every time we need to have consultations before
imposing them.
As far as support to civil society and media in Belarus,
state support of
civic society and media, we think such support is extremely
effective. But we
also would like to stress that we would like as many means
as possible to
(INAUDIBLE) for activity inside the country, so they are not
sent, as it often
happens that the majority of them are sent somewhere abroad
in a neighboring
country.
Unfortunately, the regime did everything
possible to cut down all possible
internal sources of resources.
Thank
you.
HASTINGS: Thank you very much.
I would point to Sunday's election
and the fact that the parliamentary
assembly of OSCE and the Council of Europe
jointly declared that the Russian
elections were not free and fair and did not
meet OSCE standards.
Congressman McIntyre?
MCINTYRE: Thank you very
much.
In the time that I have here today, I did want to ask the follow-up on
my
opening statement about the religious freedom issue, which I think goes to
the
core of human rights, of who we are and who we believe ultimately in this
time,
as well as for all eternity.
And so I would like to ask, with regard
to persecution of the minority
religious communities in Belarus, why is the
government continuing to escalate
pressure on minority religious communities
and to what extent do we find those
of non-orthodox denominations being
threatened or repressed?
SEVERINETS: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Thank you, Mr.
McIntyre, for this
question, because this is very urgent for Belarus.
I
represent the Belarusian Christian Democracy and we work with believers
of
different Christian denominations.
MCINTYRE: I'm sorry. Tell me the name
again, the what?
SEVERINETS: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Belarusian Christian
Democracy.
MCINTYRE: Thank you.
SEVERINETS: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR)
During the last five years, when the
small repressive law was introduced about
religious freedom in Belarus, there
are hundreds of cases of violations of the
freedoms and rights of believers in
Belarus.
According to this law, if
you read the bible or pray somewhere not in a
church, you can be arrested, you
can get a fine, or you can even get a short
jail sentence.
The regime does
not register hundreds of religious communities, especially
Protestant
communities. It refuses to register them and also deports Christian
pastors
and Catholic priests.
Last year, the regime tried to confiscate the church
building from one of
the Protestant groups in Belarus. It's called New Life
Church and the
believers, about 200 people, had to go on a hunger strike of
protest and they
actually sit in this building as a fortress and tried to
escape officials and
police.
Christians, and, first of all, I'm talking
about Protestants and
Catholics, they are coming on the side of the
opposition, trying to help fight
with the regime, because they (INAUDIBLE) the
regime as pressure on their side.
In July of this year, when a Protestant
pastor was arrested and kept in
jail for three days, about 4,000 believers of
all Protestants in the nation came
to a rally of protest and a rally of prayer
and the heads of all Protestant
churches were there.
There are also cases
when Protestant pastors are deported from the country
and they lose their
family, because the family stays in Belarus, as Belarusians,
and the pastors
would be, for example, Polish and he has to stay in Poland. He
cannot come
back to Belarus with his family.
MCINTYRE: If I may ask, is the situation
worsening or getting any better
at all?
SEVERINETS: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR)
The situation is significantly
worsening. And just one example, now believers
are gathering signatures,
together with us, for the fact that the law would be
recalled, somehow canceled.
So there are about 40,000 signatures already
collected.
And, of course, we would really greet some support from you, like
prayer
support, solidarity support, political support of the Belarusian
Christians.
MCINTYRE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for addressing
that very
important issue. We'll do what we can to support you and definitely
be praying
for you.
HASTINGS: Thank you, Congressman.
We now go to
you, ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate your patience. And
if any of you
have questions, and I invite those of you in the audience and the
media, if
you have questions, to put them to our presenters.
And I would ask, if you
have a question, that you use the podium and tell
us who you are.
The
Congressman and I have a lot of questions, but we'd like to try, in
our
briefing, to have as much participation from the audience as possible.
QUESTION: My name is Mary Mulliman (ph). I work with the Bosnia Support
Committee.
I just had a question about the (INAUDIBLE) and whether it has
any
influence on Belarus and Belarus democracy.
Does Belarus want to be
part of the EU and would it accept any conditions
that the EU would set?
LEBEDKA: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) I thank you for the question.
Now we have a
clear tendency of increase of the number of pro-European
people in Belarus,
mainly the young people. People have an opportunity to
travel, to travel
abroad to European countries and certainly such people want to
be present in
Europe not only geographically, but also to be integrated into the
European
political and economic sphere.
But still, in my opinion, this issue is not
in Brussels, but in Minsk in
Belarus. We do not want to be so-called accepted
somewhere or to get some
credit. We will come to Europe, but we need to make
several steps for that, and
the first step will be European values.
The
second step would be European standards of human rights, freedoms,
economic
standards. When we make the second step, then we will have the
political and
moral right to raise this issue of becoming an EU member, because
then we will
meet the Copenhagen criteria.
As for support from the European Union, we
have to recognize that there
are partners with different interests in Belarus.
With Poland, with Ukraine,
there are northern countries who show greater
interest and there are some other
countries which are a longer distance from
Belarus and they show less interest.
When we speak about democracy, it never
happens that there is too much
help. But I would like to stress again that
Belarus is a European country, with
a European history and we do not have to
go anywhere. We need to return
democracy back to Belarus.
HASTINGS:
Thank you very much.
Questions?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
HASTINGS: If
you would speak loudly, we would appreciate it.
QUESTION: My name is
(INAUDIBLE). I'm from Belarus myself.
My question, I will ask it in
Belarusian.
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) My question is about mass media. How do
you think
mass media are important for Belarus and do you think the support to
mass media
to independent TV and radio is sufficient or not?
KALYAKIN:
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Unfortunately, in Belarus, practically
100 percent of
all mass media are monopolized. There are no independent TV
channels or
radios which would be independent from the state and from the state
propaganda.
There are only seven types of independent newspapers left in
Belarus,
which the general circulation of which is not more than 70,000 copies
per week
total circulation.
The state actually bans distribution of the
newspapers because the system
of -- retail system of distribution is also
state owned the shops just refuse to
conclude agreements for distribution of
the newspaper, and the same goes for
subscriptions for newspapers.
The
Internet sphere is relatively free still. We need to say that about
30
percent of Belarusian citizens use the Internet regularly. So this is a lot
less than in Europe and the United States. But when we talk about some kind of
political information, then less than four percent of Belarusian citizens get
such information from the Internet.
So Belarus has signed the universal
declaration of human rights, among
which there is freedom of press, and, also,
other international documents, does
not meet its obligations and this is a
very hot issue for Belarus right now.
So we support all kinds of ideas and
projects of aid to independent
television, independent (INAUDIBLE), and, also,
some kind of support for
independent reporters and newspapers and we also
think that this support is not
enough.
And we think until we, Belarusian
citizens, have the freedom of mass
media, until they can read independent
newspapers and other media, we cannot
talk about freedom of elections in
Belarus, because if people do not have
objective and political information, we
just cannot talk about respect of
freedoms in Belarus.
MILINKEVICH:
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) I will add a couple of words. All
media which work in
Belarus need support. Certainly, I'm speaking about
independent media.
In a week, the televisions of Belarus will start broadcasting. This
television is financed by the Polish government. We really hope this will be a
breakthrough in the information on film.
Now, when we were asked for
support on this project, the television
project, within the framework of the
Freedom Support Act, this project really
becomes international, because
(INAUDIBLE) is difficult for the (INAUDIBLE) to
carry alone.
HASTINGS: We
signed letters recently concerning BelSat here in the
Helsinki Commission.
You have a question, sir.
QUESTION: Yes, I do. First of all, my name is
Matt Karlaborski (ph) and
I come from the Fund for American Studies. Every
summer, in Prague, I have the
opportunity to work with 130 higher education
students from central and eastern
Europe, as well as central Asia.
I just
wanted to say I have a deep appreciation for what you have
experienced
fighting for democracy and freedom within your country.
And Americans,
especially of my generation, really cannot comprehend what
you have
experienced in a lifetime, so I want to thank you.
My question now concerns
Russian interference in Belarusian politics. For
example, after 2006, I know
Russia raised the energy prices to Belarus.
Has Belarus done anything to
counteract that and how much is Russia really
interfering in your work
specifically?
LEVKOVICH: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) The problem for oil and gas
prices for
Belarus, I know that the Belarusian regime receives money from the
difference of
prices for Russian oil and (INAUDIBLE) and this was real help of
Russia to
Belarus, and there were some countries that were saying that the
Kremlin was
kind of paying for the regime, for the Belarusian regime.
I
know really well that serenity costs much and for over ten years, the
regime
actually kept itself the difference of prices. It was about five to
seven
billion every year.
And I don't think the main problem is that Russia
finally started
increasing prices. I think the main problem is that the
regime, for so many
years, enjoyed the situation and did not modernize the
economy.
Today's (INAUDIBLE) from the Kremlin and Belarus needs to learn how
to
live without these drug needles. This is the reality that we need to take
into
account.
Thank you.
SEVERINETS: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) I will
add that Russia has played and
is playing a very negative role in Belarusian
(INAUDIBLE). The goal of the
current leadership of the Kremlin is to follow
Belarus as a country.
The military strategic cooperation which goes on
between the Kremlin and
the official Minsk does not depend on the prices of
oil or gas and it really has
a very clear anti-Western, anti-American
character.
Maybe Russia is already tired of paying utility bills for
Belarus, so to
speak, but they still want to swallow Belarus up and they will
do everything to
do that, and Belarus hopes that, together with other
countries, with the United
States, Ukraine and other countries, we will be
able to fight against that.
HASTINGS: I'd like to hear from the young man
on the end. He didn't come
all the way here not to say anything.
So
perhaps I would ask you, what do you think the top human rights
concerns are
of young people in Belarus? And since you are a part of the
opposition
democratic forces, what do you believe are the greatest needs at this
time?
And I invite the other presenters, as well, but, sir?
FEDARUK: (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR) Thank you for the question.
Certainly, the greatest danger for
young people in Belarus right now in
the sphere of human rights is this law
which was passed right after the
presidential election in 2006, which bans
participation in unregistered
organizations.
I represent Young Front here.
In our organization, we have about 20
people who are criminally prosecuted
under such charges. Today, Dmitry
Dashkevich, the chairperson and leader of
Young Front, is in prison just for
fighting for Belarus and believing in God.
It seems it's supposed to scare young people. It seems the regime can use
this mechanism to intimidate people to imprison the most active young people.
But despite this fact, there are many young people who continue to fight. Young
people grow up and they continue the fight of the older generation.
We
would like to thank you for your support, because the fact that
(INAUDIBLE),
who also served a prison term for organizing protest actions after
the
referendum in 2004, the fact that he is here and the fact that I am here is
also your support.
We really need your support from here. What do we need
today in Belarus?
Because really every citizen in Belarus knows about Young
Front right now, after
all the criminal cases, after all the trials, all young
people know about Young
Front.
And now we really need an opportunity to
deliver information about our
ideas to grow circles of the population, because
we see an alternative not only
with fighting the Lukashenka regime, because we
are sure that evil cannot be
overcome with evil.
We want to present a new
generation of Belarusian youth which will join
the Front, young people who
believe in God and love their country, because such
features were very usual
for the people who also founded your country. So we
have a good example
before our eyes.
Build the democratic Belarus we all want to see.
HASTINGS: I'm glad I asked. I also would be interested to know, roughly,
what are the estimates of political prisoners that are currently in confinement
and is the united opposition involved in their defense?
BRONITSKAYA:
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) We do everything that we can.
Unfortunately, we cannot
do much for these people. Unfortunately, now, we have
six people who are
recognized prisoners of consciousness by the international
community.
They are imprisoned and, unfortunately, the only thing we can give them
today
is our moral support. Inside Belarus, we organize regular solidarity
actions.
This is the condition, release of political prisoners, should always
be set
in context with our government.
Unfortunately, as has already been stated,
some European countries, some
countries of the European Union are quite active
in contacts with the government
in our country.
Inside the country, we are
also supporting the families of the political
prisoners. There is also a
solidarity problem right now where we support not
only the families of the six
imprisoned people, but, also, other people who have
been repressed, because
for us, repressions are not only long-term imprisonment
repressions, there are
also some kind of everyday repressions.
HASTINGS: Ms. Bronitskaya, are
women in Belarus actively involved in
opposition? I know you are. And how
about women overall?
BRONITSKAYA: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) I think our women
are very strong. In
many cases, they are stronger than men. They participate
in their own way.
Maybe they're not always playing the leading role, but I
think without
women who participate in our opposition forces today, the
position would not be
as strong as it is now.
Just one example. When I
was tried with my colleagues who were
imprisoned, I think the greatest work
was done by our mothers. I regularly meet
others, women mothers of the people
who were repressed and I really think they
can do a lot.
LEBEDKA:
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR) For the presidential election, we've had
more than 1,000
people behind bars at one moment. Today, human rights
defenders, it's about
six political prisoners. I'm sure if you count the
activists of Belarusian
(INAUDIBLE), but even if they have one political
prisoner, it is still a
number one issue for us.
When a person receives 5.5 years of imprisonment
just for participation
for running as a president candidate, just one example,
(INAUDIBLE) should unite
all its people all over the world.
The fact
that a former MP was imprisoned for 2.5 years just for a
publication on the
Internet, it should make us all unit. But I should also
speak about some
success. In Belarus, practically every week, hundreds of
people come out to
the streets with portraits of political prisoners. We know
about such actions
which are happening not only in Belarus, but also in
Washington, D.C., in
Brussels, in Vilnius, in Warsaw.
And thanks to solidarity, we managed to
liquidate this chain of death (ph)
which kidnapped and then physically
liquidated (INAUDIBLE). We are very
grateful to you, Mr. Chairman, that
during your opening statement, you mentioned
the disappearance of opponents of
the regime, because we should not forget about
it.
HASTINGS: I'm deeply
concerned about that issue. I would like to say and
ask you to convey my best
wishes to all of the families and especially to
Alyaksandr Kazulin's wife, who
I met when she was here.
I asked her the question whether our speaking out
about her husband in
prison helped or hurt and her response was, "Please
continue and he wants you to
continue to speak out."
So I take this
opportunity today to send a message to Mr. Lukashenka and
his government that
holding Alyaksandr Kazulin until the year 2011 is wrong in
the eyes of the
world.
And I also would send a message to young people in Belarus that you
do
make a difference and even though I'm an older man now, I participated in
civil
rights demonstrations very actively in this country when many thought
that this
country would not change.
Last Sunday, I drove down the street
after coming from Madrid, that I saw
the sign in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that
said "No Jews, Niggers and Dogs
Allowed." That was 40 years ago. Today, I
represent that same street as their
congressperson.
So I encourage
especially all the young people and all people to continue
your pursuit of
freedom.
Time won't permit us to go into every aspect, but I do believe
that the
OSCE mission in Minsk plays a constructive role in promoting
democracy in
Belarus.
I also believe that the nongovernmental
organizations, particularly IRI
and NDI, when they are on the ground, make for
substantial positive changes.
It's also important -- I was glad, Anatoliy,
when you mentioned Vilnius
and Warsaw, I was going to ask you about the
cooperation level of other areas
that are in the near abroad of Belarus,
particularly Latvia and Ukraine.
And I personally will be attending as a
representative of the OSCE the
elections in Georgia on January 5th. And I
have witnessed the union of young
people as far away as Lebanon communicating
with people in Ukraine and Georgia.
I won't carry on. I'm leaving in a
few minutes with the Slovakian
ambassador to the United States. Tomorrow I
speak with the Tajik ambassador and
representatives from Tajikistan.
I
began my day speaking with the secretary of state of Kazakhstan, the
former
ambassador here, Saudabayev. We in the Helsinki Commission will keep a
lamp
on these issues and we will act frequently and fervently to promote not
only
Belarusian democracy-seekers, but democracy-seekers all over the world.
I
thank you, my friends, for your courage and deeply appreciate your being
here.
Mr. Milinkevich?
MILINKEVICH: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Mr. Chairman, I
would like to thank
you and the Helsinki Commission for what you are doing on
behalf of the whole
group.
When I was flying here to Washington, D.C., I
had a young woman sitting
next to me, not dealing with politics, she's doing
science. She was flying to a
scientific conference. And we started to talk
to each other and she said, "You
know, during the protest last year on the
square, I was there, as well."
I asked her, "Why were you there? What
brought you there? It was so
scary." And she just said, "Well, I felt that
if I want to defend my dignity,
human dignity, I should be there and I also
feel that sometime my children might
ask me, 'During the struggle for freedom,
did you help fight the regime, as
well?'"
And the majority of people on
the square were like her and the fact that
there are more and more of such
people is also part of your participation.
Thank your for solidarity and
for support.
HASTINGS: Thank you very much.
We will adjourn the
briefing. Thank you all so very much.
[Whereupon the briefing ended at 3:34
p.m.]
END
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