BelarusCountry Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 8, 2006
Under its constitution, Belarus is a republic with a directly elected
president and a bicameral National Assembly (parliament). The country had
a population of just under 10 million. President Aleksandr Lukashenko,
first elected in 1994, systematically undermined the country's democratic
institutions and concentrated power in the executive branch through flawed
referenda, manipulated elections, and undemocratic laws and regulations.
Parliamentary elections and a referendum that removed term limits on the
presidency in October 2004 failed to meet international standards. The
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the
security forces; members of the security forces committed numerous human
rights abuses. The government's human rights record remained very poor and worsened in
some areas with the government continuing to commit numerous serious
abuses. The following human rights problems were reported: RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life There were no confirmed reports that the government or its agents
committed any politically motivated killings; however, at least two
persons died in police custody under unexplained circumstances, while
unknown persons tortured and killed another at a time when the government
was denouncing her NGO, and a journalist died under unexplained
circumstances. On January 7, police detained 18-year-old Maxim Mois for urinating in
public. He died the same day under unexplained circumstances at a
government detoxification facility. When family members went to collect
his body, they reported his arms and legs were tied. On June 20, 68-year-old Jozefa Waraksa was tortured and killed in the
village of Rakov. Her tongue was split lengthwise before she was killed.
Waraksa was a local leader in the Union of Belarusian Poles; she was
killed during a period in which the government was loudly denouncing the
organization and attacking it in the state media (see section 2.b.).
Police charged a local resident, A.S. Pototskiy, with murdering her while
drunk, and a court sentenced Pototskiy to 15 years in prison. In August Vasiliy Shevelenko was killed in a government detoxification
facility in Svetlogorsk. His father claimed Shevelenko was beaten on the
head and neck and that his nose was broken and his arms bruised.
Authorities initiated a criminal case against an employee of the facility
for abusing his authority in connection with the killing; authorities had
not completed the investigation at year's end. On October 18, independent journalist Vasily Grodnikov was found dead
in his apartment in unexplained circumstances. Authorities ruled that no
crime had been committed (see section 2.a.). Authorities reportedly blocked investigations into the killing of
several servicemen by unknown persons. b. Disappearance There were no confirmed reports of politically motivated disappearances
during the year. On April 7, authorities announced they reopened the investigation into
the disappearance and presumed killing of television journalist Dmitryy
Zavadskiy in 2000. However, the government did not make a serious effort
to solve the case.Credible evidence indicated that government agents may
have killed Zavadskiy for his reporting that government officials may have
aided Chechen separatists. In August President Lukashenko granted the
order of For Service to the Motherland to Colonel Dmitry Pavlichenko,
named in a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe report as
having played a key role in the disappearances. On April 14, the UN Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR) approved its
third resolution on human rights in the country, urging the government to
conduct an impartial investigation into the disappearances of Zavadkiy,
opposition figures Yury Zakharenko and Viktor Gonchar in 1999, and
businessman Anatoliy Krasovskiy in 1999. The report recommended the
suspension of those senior officials suspected of involvement. The UNCHR
also extended the mandate of its special rapporteur to examine the
country's human rights performance (see section 4). c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment The law prohibits such practices; however, police and prison guards on
occasion beat detainees and prisoners. On March 11, a police officer in Orsha seriously beat Vasiliy
Sinkovsky, detained on suspicion of theft, breaking four of his ribs and
piercing a lung. Criminal charges were filed against the officer for
abusing his authority. At his May 31 trial, opposition party leader Nikolay Statkevich claimed
that, after his arrest, he was placed in a cell with a prisoner suffering
from dysentery (see section 1.e.). He also complained that authorities did
not provide him food for the first day of his detention. Mogilev police detained youth Zubr activist Evegeniy Suvorov without
charge on August 28. Suvorov complained that his hands and feet were
shackled behind him and he was held overnight and bent backwards in the
"swallow" stress position. Suvorov had previously been arrested for
distributing independent newspapers. There were no reports of police coercing confessions through beatings
or psychological pressure during the year. Police and plainclothes officers occasionally beat individuals while
arresting them or holding them in detention for organizing or
participating in public demonstrations (see section 2.b.). In October 2004
police used truncheons and other force to break up a protest following the
constitutional referendum and arrested at least 150 protesters. Police
severely beat United Civic Party (UCP) leader Anatolyy Lebedko and a
journalist. There were credible reports that, in March, authorities allowed
imprisoned opposition activist Mikhail Marinich to remain in his prison
bed for three days after suffering a stroke before providing him medical
treatment (see section 1.d.). Credible reports indicated that police and prison officials continued
to mistreat and torture prisoners. Reports from the Mozyr prison in
particular claimed that beatings and mistreatment were common practices.
Additionally, human rights groups reported prisoners did not receive
adequate food, sufficiently warm clothing in winter, and were often denied
a bed. As a result, tuberculosis, pneumonia and other diseases were
widespread. On March 14, guards at the Mozyr prison severely beat prisoner Ramazan
Mamedbekov, reportedly on orders from warden Yury Zborovskoy, for refusing
to perform unpaid work. On March 24, prison guards used excessive force
against five convicts in Mozyr, in the process of which Major Shulga
reportedly broke the arm of one prisoner. In protest of this abuse, 50
convicts went on a hunger strike. The practice of hazing new army recruits through beatings and other
forms of physical and psychological abuse reportedly continued.
Authorities blocked efforts by family members and human rights observers
to investigate reports of hazing of servicemen. Prison and Detention Center Conditions Prison conditions remained austere and were marked by occasional
shortages of food and medicine and the spread of diseases such as
tuberculosis, syphilis, and HIV/AIDS. Leila Zerrougui, the chairperson of
the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, who visited the country in
2004, noted that conditions in detention centers were worse than those in
prisons because of improper sanitary and living conditions, restrictions
on detainees' rights to make phone calls and receive parcels, and pressure
to confess to wrongdoing. According to human rights monitors, conditions
in prison hospitals were also poor. Overcrowding was not a serious problem in the country's prisons, which
held approximately 33 thousand prisoners. However, many of the work
release prisons, which housed those serving khimya (restricted
freedom and labor in a remote area), were severely overcrowded. For
example, the 74-bed khimya facility in Vitebsk housed over 200
prisoners. Facilities in Polotsk, Beryoza, and Zaslavl were also
reportedly very overcrowded, causing them to violate sanitary, disease,
and fire safety regulations. In many cases, food provided in prisons did
not meet individual nutritional requirements. Pretrial detainees were sometimes held with convicted prisoners.
Authorities frequently kept those arrested for political activities in the
Okrestina detention center in Minsk. Former detainees reported being
placed in greatly overcrowded cells and being forced to take turns
sleeping, as there was not room for everyone to lie down. Insufficient
food was provided, although families and friends were often permitted to
bring detainees food and hygiene products. The cells were damp,
underheated, and poorly ventilated. Authorities sometimes granted human rights observers access to prisons;
however, no such visits occurred during the year. In August 2004
authorities provided a delegation from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention general access to prisons and detention centers, but denied the
group access to a Committee for State Security (BKGB) detention center on
the grounds it had not requested the visit in advance. The delegation
indicated that it had not been informed of a notification requirement.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention The law limits arbitrary detention; however, the government did not
abide by these limits. Authorities continued to arrest individuals for
political reasons and use administrative measures to detain political
activists before, during, and after protests (see section 2.b.). Role of the Police and Security Apparatus The Ministry of Interior has authority over the police, but the BKGB
and presidential security forces also exercise police functions. The
president has the right to subordinate all security bodies to his personal
command. Petty corruption among police was widespread, although the
government made attempts to limit official corruption. Impunity remained a
serious problem. While the law gives individuals the right to report
police abuse to the prosecutor, the government often did not investigate
abuses by the security forces or hold perpetrators accountable. Arrest and Detention Police frequently arrested individuals without a warrant. However, to
detain an individual for longer than three hours, police must obtain an
order from an authorized individual. The law requires that police provide an explanation when making a
detention; in practice police often detained individuals for several hours
for the ostensible purpose of confirming their identity. Authorities
frequently used this tactic to detain opposition members and
demonstrators, prevent the distribution of leaflets and newspapers, or as
a pretext to break up civil society meetings (see section 2.b.). For
example, on October 3, police detained and fingerprinted Andrey Malasay of
the environmental NGO For a Clean Borisov for passing out schedules for
independent television news. On August 24, police in Gomel disrupted a
meeting of local NGOs for nearly an hour, demanding to verify everyone's
identity. On July 30, police in Dokshitsy detained two Belarusian Popular
Front members and seized copies of independent publications. Police also
disrupted opposition meetings by detaining organizers for identity checks
in Svetlogorsk on June 15, in Sianno on July 3, and in Pinsk on July 10.
All were released without charge. The law allows police to detain a person suspected of a crime for up to
10 days without a formal charge and for up to 18 months to conduct an
investigation once charges are filed. The law allows prosecutors and
investigators to extend these periods without consultation with a judge.
The law gives detainees the right to petition the court to determine the
legality of their detention. In practice appeals by suspects seeking court
review of their detentions were frequently suppressed because detention
officials were unwilling to forward the appeals. The law provides for
bail, but bail was not granted in practice. Despite legal protections, investigators routinely failed to inform
detainees of their rights and conducted preliminary interrogations without
giving detainees an opportunity to consult counsel. While the law requires
the government to provide indigent persons with legal counsel from time of
detention, authorities did not do so in practice. Information obtained
from such interrogations was used against the defendants in court.
Suspects were at times denied access to a lawyer. The government
frequently failed to notify family members when a detention occurred,
including that of a juvenile. There were a number of individuals detained for political reasons
during year. The government arbitrarily detained representatives of
independent media (see section 2.a.). The NGO Reporters Without Borders
stated that in July authorities arrested, fined, imprisoned, or prevented
from entering the country 19 journalists who were trying to report on the
Union of Belarusian Poles (see section 2.b.). Plainclothes officials
working for the security services also regularly apprehended and detained
individuals engaged in antigovernment demonstrations or who distributed
opposition materials (see section 2.b.). Security officials also held some
detainees incommunicado following demonstrations. Lengthy pretrial detention was common. Authorities held several
prominent political detainees for prolonged periods in pretrial detention
without filing formal charges. On May 15, authorities arrested former
opposition member of parliament Sergey Skrebets in Minsk on suspicion of
bribery; Skrebets remained in detention awaiting trial at year's end. The
BKGB held opposition politician Mikhail Marinich in pretrial detention
from April to December 2004 before a court convicted him of the theft of
computer equipment and cell phones (see section 1.e.). Amnesty Starting in May, authorities released or shortened the sentences by a
year of some two thousand prisoners under an amnesty celebrating the 60th
anniversary of victory in World War II. e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The constitution specifies that the judiciary is independent, but the
judiciary did not operate independently in practice. There was credible
evidence that prosecutors charged and courts convicted individuals on
false charges. The president has authority to appoint 6 of the 12 members of the
Constitutional Court, including the chairman, and the chairmen of the
Supreme Court and the Supreme Economic Court. He also has authority to
appoint and dismiss all district and military judges, and credible reports
claimed senior judges received housing from the presidential
administration. Corruption and inefficiency in the judiciary were
generally the result of political interference in the work of the court
system. During the year one judge was tried and convicted of corruption.
While members of the political opposition were held in pretrial
detention for prolonged periods, the former head of the presidential
administration's property management department, Galina Zhuravkova, was
held in house arrest from February 2004 until being convicted of
embezzling $3.5 million on February 8. Despite being sentenced to four
years in prison, she was never taken into custody. The criminal justice system has three tiers: district courts, regional
courts, and the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court is supposed to
adjudicate serious constitutional issues; however, in practice it was
dependent on the executive branch, had no means of enforcing its
decisions, and it did not challenge presidential initiatives. Prosecutors are organized into offices at the district, regional, and
republic levels. They are responsible to, and serve at the pleasure of,
the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president. Prosecutors are
not independent and do not have authority to bring charges against the
president or members of his executive staff. In April the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
working group on arbitrary detention released a report that described
prosecutors' authority as excessive and imbalanced. The report noted that
the decision to hold a person in detention or to extend the period of
detention is taken not by a judge but by a prosecutor, acting on the
proposal of an investigator. Investigations also are conducted by
investigators and prosecutors without effective judicial oversight. The
report saw an imbalance between the powers of the prosecution and the
rights of the defense. Lawyers do not benefit automatically from the right
to examine the investigation file, to be present during the gathering of
evidence, or to look at all elements of proof against a client until the
prosecutor formally transmits the case to the court. Lawyers found it
difficult to call some evidence into question, since technical expertise
was under the control of the prosecutor's office. The working group was
repeatedly told that, as a result, there are few cases of criminal
defendants being found not guilty. A presidential decree subordinating all lawyers to the Ministry of
Justice compromised the independence of lawyers. Lawyers must be licensed
by the Ministry of Justice and are required to work for the state in
regional collegiums. The law prohibits private attorneys from practicing,
and lawyers must renew their licenses every five years. Several lawyers
have claimed that they were told their licenses would not be renewed
because of their activities in defense of NGOs or opposition political
parties. Trial Procedures The law provides for public trials; however, the courts frequently held
trials in judges' offices, which prevented interested observers from
attending. Several trials, particularly of political figures, were closed
to the public. Judges adjudicate most trials; juries determine innocence
or guilt only in the case of capital offenses in which the defendant
pleads not guilty and demands a jury trial. Judges depended on the
Ministry of Justice for funding court infrastructure and on executive
branch officials for personal housing, and there were widespread and
credible reports that executive and local authorities dictated the outcome
of trials. On October 22, authorities arrested Malady Front activists Dzianis
Bujnitski and Siarhei Latsinski in Bobruisk for unfurling a prohibited
white-red-white flag at a concert. A judge conducted their trial behind
closed doors in jail, where he sentenced them to two days detention for
petty hooliganism. Defendants have the legal right to attend proceedings, confront
witnesses, and present evidence on their own behalf; however, in practice
these rights were not always respected. The law provides for access to legal counsel for detainees and requires
that the court appoint a lawyer for those who cannot afford one; however,
at times these rights were not respected. The law provides for the right
to choose legal representation freely; however, a presidential decree
prohibits members of NGOs from representing individuals other than members
of their organizations in court. This decree was used on several occasions
to deny NGO members the right to defend individuals in court and was also
used as a pretext to close certain NGOs (see section 4). The laws establish a presumption of innocence; however, in practice
defendants frequently had to prove their innocence. Defendants have the right to appeal court decisions, and most criminal
cases were appealed; however, appeals rarely resulted in verdict
reversals. In an appeal, neither defendants nor witnesses appear before
the court; the court only reviews the protocol and other documents from
the lower court's trial. In 2004 the chairman of the Supreme Court stated
that only 1.5 percent of court decisions were overturned on appeal. Political Prisoners The number of reported political prisoners increased. On May 31, a Minsk court sentenced Nikolay Statkevich and Pavel
Severinets to three years of khimya in a politically motivated
trial for organizing unsanctioned protests after the October 2004
referendum. Both sentences were later reduced to two years in a general
amnesty. As the result of earlier politically motivated convictions,
Statkevich served a 10-day sentence and Severinets a 15-day sentence for
the same crime in October 2004. Those serving khimya live in prison
barracks and are forced to find work under conditions set by the
government. Severinets, head of a prodemocracy NGO, was sent to the
village of Maloye Sitno, where he worked in a railroad station.
Statkevich, leader of an opposition party, was sent to Baranovichi to be
close to his family; on August 9, he was tried on the politically
motivated charge of holding an unsanctioned meeting after several
supporters visited him on July 29. On June 10, a Minsk court sentenced Andrey Klimov to 18 months'
khimya in a politically motivated trial for organizing an
unsanctioned protest on March 25. Klimov subsequently found work as a
street cleaner in the small town of Krupki. In 2004 Klimov announced his
intention to run for president against Lukashenko. He previously spent
four years in prison for alleged embezzlement. In a general amnesty, on July 7, authorities released opposition
activist Aleksandr Vasilev, who was sentenced in September 2004 with
another opposition activist, Valeryy Levonevskiy, to two years in prison
in politically motivated trials for authoring a poem insulting President
Lukashenko. On December 9, prison officials prohibited Levonevskiy from
sending letters to foreign embassies, claiming prisoners could only write
to their own country's embassy. On December 15, prison officials denied
Levonevskiy permission to attend his father's funeral, claiming he broke
too many prison rules. Levonevskiy remained in prison at year's end. On August 5, the government amnestied and released researcher Yury
Bandazhevsky, imprisoned in 2001 on charges of corruption. Many believed
Bandazhevskiy was arrested and tried because his research disputed
government statements on the effects of Chernobyl radiation on health.
On August 18, a general amnesty reduced the prison sentence of
opposition political figure Mikhail Marinich to two and a half years. In
December 2004 the court sentenced Marinich to five years in prison for
stealing property of an NGO he headed, even though the NGO had not claimed
that the property was stolen. Marinich, a former government minister and
presidential candidate, was widely regarded as a likely opponent of
President Lukashenko in elections scheduled for 2006. During the trial,
the prosecutor asked numerous questions about Marinich's political
activities that were unrelated to the charges, lending credence to
accusations the trial was politically motivated. The court also ordered
confiscation of $90 thousand found on Marinich's person at the time of his
arrest, even though the money was unrelated to the charges. There were several instances of authorities convicting and sentencing
prodemocracy activists to short prison terms, then using alleged fights
with cellmates as a pretext to prolong imprisonment. On March 10, a court sentenced Anatoly Shumchenko to 10 days in prison
for organizing an unsanctioned protest (see section 2.b.). While in
prison, authorities charged him with hooliganism for allegedly fighting
with his cellmate. His cellmate reportedly told a journalist that a BKGB
officer paid him $93 (200 thousand rubles) to pretend Shumchenko had
beaten him. Shumchenko spent 30 days incarcerated before the charge was
dropped and he was released. On August 2, a court sentenced Tadeusz Gavin to 15 days in prison for
participating in an unsanctioned protest. In mid-August the court added 15
days to his sentence for allegedly attacking a cellmate. On November 14,
the Supreme Court annulled the second sentence for lack of evidence of a
crime, after Gavin had served the time. On August 24, Minsk police arrested two Georgian prodemocracy
activists, Georgy Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze, for alleged problems with
their identification. On August 26, two Georgian consuls arrived in Minsk
to assist their citizens, but were denied access until August 30. On
August 29, a court sentenced Kandelaki and Tsuladze to 15 days in prison
for hooliganism after allegedly insulting a cellmate. They were denied
access to a lawyer or translator for the trial. The two appealed
successfully and were deported on September 2. f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The law prohibits such actions; however, the government did not respect
these prohibitions in practice. In addition the law provides penalties for
those who obstruct BKGB officers in the performance of their duties, even
though these actions may in principle be illegal. Any effort to prevent
BKGB officers from entering the premises of a company, establishment, or
organization is an administrative offense, as is any refusal to allow BKGB
audits or to deny or restrict BKGB access to company information systems
and databases. While the law prohibits authorities from intercepting telephone and
other communications without a court order, in practice authorities
continued to monitor residences, telephones, and computers. The BKGB, the
interior ministry, and certain border guard detachments may use wiretaps
but must first obtain a prosecutor's permission; the lack of independence
of the prosecutor's office rendered the due process protections relating
to wiretaps meaningless. The government telecommunications company
Beltelecom has a monopoly on Internet service, allowing authorities to
monitor practically all e-mail. There were credible reports that the
government monitored e-mail sent from Internet cafes and from university
networks. The government owned a majority share in all cellular telephone
companies. Ministry of Communications contracts for telephone service
prohibited subscribers from using telephone communications for purposes
that ran counter to state interests and public order. The ministry has the
authority to terminate telephone service to those who breach this
provision. There were several instances where prodemocracy activists had
their cell phones disconnected as they attempted to spread information
about peaceful demonstrations. On October 15, the cellular telephone
company Velcom disconnected the mobile telephones of opposition activists
spreading information asking citizens to place lit candles in their
windows to protest government excesses. The law requires a warrant for searches; however, the BKGB entered
homes, conducted unauthorized searches, and read mail without warrants. In
May a new law took effect giving the BKGB authority to enter any building
at any time, so long as it applies for a warrant within 24 hours after the
entry took place. There were credible reports that government agents
covertly entered homes of opposition activists and offices of opposition
groups. Authorities conducted searches of residences for clearly political
reasons. For example, on March 24, police raided the office of the
Zhoda newspaper and confiscated decorations from office walls,
including altered photographs of Lukashenko; Zhoda's editor Aleksey
Karol and deputy editor Aleksandr Sdvizhkov were each fined $1,200
(2,550,000 rubles) in September for "disseminating false information"
through the altered photos. During the night of July 9, armed security
forces smashed a window and broke down a door to enter the Minsk home of
Vladimir Kishkurna, a local party leader. Claiming they found illegal
ammunition, authorities seized a printing press stored at the residence
and arrested Kishkurna's son. On September 24, authorities in Vitebsk used
the pretext of searching for a bomber to search the homes of five
political activists. During the searches, authorities confiscated printed
material and flags, and copied computer and cell phone memories. On
November 26, police searched the apartment of Mariya Bogdanovich, claiming
that neighbors reported she was hiding illegal Vietnamese immigrants.
Police seized 1,500 copies of an independent newspaper. Bogdanovich had
been fined $93 (200 thousand rubles) on November 21 for passing out the
previous edition of this paper. Nearly all opposition political figures reported that authorities
monitored their activities and conversations. During the trial of Mikhail
Marinich, the prosecutor introduced as evidence a number of transcripts of
Marinich's phone conversations that had been recorded by the BKGB (see
section 1.e.). Representatives of certain NGOs also said that their
conversations and correspondence were monitored routinely by the security
services. There were numerous reports that the government coerced young people to
join the pro-Lukashenko state-funded NGO Belarusian Republican Youth
Movement (BRYM). There were credible reports that military conscripts were
ordered to join the BRYM, and university students reported that proof of
BRYM membership was often needed to register for popular courses or
acquire a dormitory room. There was one report that authorities threatened to punish family
members for alleged violations of individuals. In March court officials
visited the home of Mikhail Marinich's ex-wife and confiscated $1,860 (4
million rubles) worth of personal property towards payment of his fine
(see section 1.e.). This occurred although the two had divorced two years
before his alleged crime, Marinich had no property at his ex-wife's, his
fine was only $3.68 (eight thousand rubles), and the government had
already seized $90 thousand from Marinich. On June 7, a judge ordered a
portion of these belongings returned to the family. Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. Freedom of Speech and Press The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the
government did not respect these rights in practice. On November 23, President Lukashenko told reporters that his government
uses "serious pressure" to control the media and that he is in charge of
this process. Individuals could not criticize the government publicly
without fear of reprisal, and authorities attempted to impede criticism of
the government, for example by videotaping political meetings and checking
the identities of meeting participants (see sections 1.d. and 3). The law
also limits freedom of expression by prohibiting the wearing of masks and
use of unregistered flags, symbols, and placards bearing messages deemed
threatening to the government or public order. For example, on March 9,
police arrested Yevgeny Afnagel after they found a white-red-white
nationalist flag on him during a search. On July 4, police detained artist
Ales Pushkin for several hours after he attempted to display his portraits
of nationalist World War II resistance fighters outside the National Fine
Arts Museum. On August 6, authorities in Zelva disrupted a birthday
celebration and seized several prohibited nationalist white-red-white
flags. In December parliament passed and the president signed a series of
amendments that greatly inhibited the freedoms of speech and assembly.
These amendments make it a crime, punishable by up to three years in
prison, to give "false" information about the political, economic, social,
military, or international situation of the country to a foreigner; to
provide information on government agencies or the rights of citizens; to
participate in the activities of unregistered NGOs; to participate in
public demonstrations; to train people to demonstrate publicly; to finance
public demonstrations; or to solicit foreign countries or international
organizations to "act to the detriment" of the country. The government took steps to restrict independent media. A March report
by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
representative on freedom of the media found the situation had
deteriorated, with fewer independent media outlets and greater use by the
government of administrative pressures to limit free expression. The highest circulation newspapers and other print media were
state-owned and printed only materials supportive of the government. There
were independent small-circulation newspapers, including two dailies, and
magazines, many of which engaged in criticism of the government. Local
authorities frequently warned independent editors to avoid certain stories
or criticism of the government. Authorities also warned businesses not to
advertise in newspapers that violated this guidance. In January the
information department of the Grodno regional government sent a letter to
all state-run enterprises in the region warning them not to advertise in
independent newspapers. During the year the government closed five independent newspapers. Many
other independent papers received warnings from the Ministry of Justice.
For example, on July 4, Minsk mayor Mikhail Pavlov cancelled the
registration of independent newspaper Den, claiming it had not
printed an edition in six months; the cancellation followed the May 26
seizure by police of 1,990 copies of Den, printed in Russia, on the
pretext they listed an incorrect address for the newspaper. On August 24,
Minsk judge Tamara Benchuk annulled the registration of Press-Service,
which printed the independent newspaper Kuryer iz Borisova
with a weekly distribution of 17 thousand, because of missing clauses in
its charter. In mid-November, authorities informed independent newspaper Gazeta
dlia Vas, in Ivatsevichi, that it would be evicted from its office of
three years to make room for harvest festival planning. On December 9,
authorities informed the Pinsk-based independent newspaper, Myastsovy
Chas, that its contract would be broken and the paper evicted from its
office. No reason was given for the eviction. Earlier in the year
authorities had also evicted the independent newspaper Vitebskiy
Kurier. In May authorities in Ivatsevichi prohibited public kiosks from selling
independent newspapers. State-owned stores across the country also stopped
selling independent newspapers. While independent newspapers could still
be purchased from independent sellers, their circulation was seriously
restricted by these measures. In early April the ideology department of Borisov City ordered
enterprises and state organizations not to subscribe to the independent
newspapers Kurier iz Borisova and Borisovskie Novosti. The Ministry of Information, tax inspectors, and other government
bodies subjected independent media to numerous inspections. In January
authorities refused to register offices of local independent newspapers
Volny Gorod and Mestnaya Gazeta. The arbitrary use of presidential power, often exercised through
presidential decrees, created additional obstacles to an independent
press. In July and August, President Lukashenko signed decrees restricting
foreign and domestic sources from giving money to organizations for
broadly defined political activities, including the distribution of
information. These edicts followed a 2003 presidential decree which was
used to crackdown on independent media outlets and NGOs. The Belarusian
Association of Journalists announced September 16 that the number of
independent newspapers had been severely reduced over the previous five
years and that no new independent newspapers had appeared in that time.
Among broadcast media, only the state-run radio and the state-run
television networks ONT and Belarusian Television broadcast nationwide.
The government continued to make use of its near monopoly on television
broadcasting to spread the official version of events and to minimize the
presentation of opposing points of view. The state-owned broadcast media
continued to marginalize the political opposition by depicting it
negatively or ignoring it altogether. Local independent television
stations operated in some areas and reported local news relatively
unhindered by the authorities; however, most were under government
pressure to forego reporting on national-level issues or subject to
censorship. Russian channels NTV and RTR were generally available,
although in many parts of the country only through pay cable services.
However, their news programs were at times blocked from broadcast, or
temporarily replaced with Belarusian programming. Broadcasts from other
countries, including Poland and Lithuania, could be received in parts of
the country. During the year the government took actions that systematically reduced
public access to foreign broadcast media. In January the state-owned
television station LAD stopped rebroadcasting EuroNews. In June the
Ministry of Information prohibited the broadcast of Ukrainian channel
Inter-Plus and other Ukrainian television channels in the country. In
October the Grodno cable company Garant stopped broadcasting the First
Polish Television Channel, reportedly on order of the Ministry of
Information. On November 25, the Mir broadcasting company blocked journalists from
transmitting abroad their coverage of a strike in Minsk (see section
6.b.). A Mir spokesman claimed the transmitting equipment was down for
scheduled maintenance at the time of the strike. Police prevented many
reporters from approaching the peaceful strike. The government harassed and arrested journalists during the year.
Several foreign journalists, particularly Poles, were prevented from
entering the country or arrested after their arrival. Twelve journalists,
including four from Poland, were detained for several hours on July 27 as
they attempted to report on the Union of Belarusian Poles NGO. On August
6, authorities deported Polish journalist Adam Tuchlinski and prohibited
him from returning for five years. On August 10, customs officers
confiscated all videotapes, containing interviews with party and NGO
leaders, from Polish reporter Mikolaj Wawrzenuik. On August 26, police in Schuchin detained journalists Andrzej Poczobut
and Ivan Roman for 24 hours for allegedly swearing outside a police
station. The same day police also temporarily detained journalist
Stanislav Poczobut. The three were trying to cover a Union of Belarusian
Poles congress (see section 2.b.). On August 29, police again detained
Andrzej Poczobut, this time for three days. On March 20, Grodno police detained three Polish journalists, Adam
Tuchlinski, Michael Kacewicz, and Martyn Smialowski. The three were
accredited to observe parliamentary by-elections. Police held them for
three hours and erased their video footage of voting. On October 18, freelance independent journalist Vasily Grodnikov was
found dead from a blow to the head by a blunt object inside his locked
apartment. His brother, who found the body, reported signs of a struggle.
On November 28, police announced there was no sign of a crime and closed
the case. The prosecutor general's office reopened the case the next day
but, on December 15, announced there was no crime, that Grodnikov died as
a result of "his careless actions." During the year police made no progress in investigating the October
2004 killing of Veronika Cherkasova, a journalist for the independent
Solidarnost newspaper. While the official investigation centered on
domestic violence, some members of the independent media viewed her death
as related to her work, which included critical articles on the BKGB. On
December 27, investigators closed the case citing their inability to
identify the perpetrator. The government censored the media. Authorities imposed huge fines on
journalists and editors for criticism of the president or his supporters,
and many publications subsequently engaged in self-censorship. Authorities
fined, warned, or jailed members of the media, members of the opposition,
civil society, and religious groups who publicly criticized the
government. The defamation law makes no distinction between private and
public persons in lawsuits concerning defamation of character. A public
figure who was criticized for poor performance in office by a media outlet
may ask the prosecutor to sue both the journalist who reported and the
media outlet that printed the criticism. The law specifies that the government may close down a publication
after two warnings of violations of various restrictive laws, and
authorities continued to frequently use such warnings to pressure
independent newspapers. Regulatory provisions also grant authorities power
to arbitrarily prohibit or censor critical reporting. For example, the
state committee on the press has authority to suspend the publication of
periodicals or newspapers for three months without a court ruling. The law
also prohibits the media from disseminating information on behalf of
unregistered political parties, trade unions, and NGOs. On April 13, the
Ministry of Justice warned Narodnaya Volya for an article it wrote
on the unregistered NGO Defenders of the Fatherland. The government tightly controlled the content of television broadcasts.
There were credible reports during the year that the BKGB censored
national television news broadcasts. The government used libel laws to suppress criticism of political
leaders. The law provides for punishment of public insults or libel
against the president by up to four years' imprisonment, two years'
khimya, or a large fine. Authorities continued to use such laws,
which also penalize insults to other government officials, to stifle press
freedom and to imprison political opponents (see section 1.e). The laws
penalizing slander of officials effectively constituted a prohibition on
press criticism of the government. In January the private Pressbol sports newspaper was ordered to
pay a $14 thousand (30 million ruble) fine and its editor, Vladimir
Berezhkov, a $4,600 (10 million rubles) fine for an October 2004 article
claiming that Andrey Imanali, deputy head of the Belarusian Gymnastics
Federation, was involved in organized crime. In July Imanali was charged
with abduction in Russia and accused of long association with organized
crime; this charge did not mitigate Pressbol's fines. On May 23, Minsk authorities reopened a slander case against human
rights activist Harry Pogonyailo. In November 2004 Pogonyailo gave an
interview to Swedish journalists discussing the disappearance of
Belarusian opposition figures. The interview never aired, as customs
officials confiscated the tape. Authorities dropped the slander case on
November 16. On June 14, Minsk judge Lyubov Valevich ordered independent newspaper
Narodnaya Volya to pay $46 thousand (100 million rubles) to Sergey
Gaidukevich, leader of a progovernment party, for claiming he was involved
in violating the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program, even though a number of
reputable international sources documented Gaidukevich's involvement. On September 30, judge Basko, in Minsk's October Region court, fined
the independent newspaper Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta $23 thousand
(50 million rubles) and one of its journalists $2,300 (5 million rubles)
for allegedly libeling a former police officer in a 2003 article. The government took numerous other actions during the year to limit the
independent press, including limiting access to newsprint and printing
presses, restricting the import of media-related materials, and
temporarily suspending independent and opposition periodicals. In November and December, authorities removed 17 independent newspapers
from the state subscription list, making it impossible to subscribe to
these newspapers. The state postal system, Belpochta, and the state kiosk
network, Belsoyuzpechat, refused to distribute most of these newspapers.
On December 22, the regional state kiosk system Vitebskoblsoyuzpechat
stopped distributing independent Vitebskiy Kurier. Several independent newspapers, including Belorusskaya Delovaya
Gazeta, Den, and Solidarnost printed their materials in
Russia because domestic printing presses (mostly state-owned) refused to
print them. State printing houses refused to print four independent
newspapers, including one of the country's two independent daily
newspapers, Narodnaya Volya. On November 17, Narodnaya Volya
sued the Krasnaya Zvezda printing house for breach of contract and won,
but Krasnaya Zvezda did not resume printing, as it planned to appeal. The government successfully discouraged companies that owned printing
presses from printing the legally authorized leaflets of opposition
candidates and parties by threatening them. During the autumn State
Control Committee inspectors conducted detailed audits of many printing
houses to see if they had printed material for the opposition. Although
there are no laws against owning printing presses, authorities seized at
least one opposition press (see section 1.f.). The government restricted cultural events. During the year the
government continued to prohibit six popular musical groups that had
performed at a July 2004 opposition concert from appearing in concert or
their music from being played on radio or distributed on compact disk or
tape. The government restricted the Internet. On August 16, the BKGB raided
two apartments in Minsk and one in Grodno looking for the author of
satirical cartoons lampooning the government, which were posted on the
Internet. The BKGB seized a number of computers and detained three members
of the NGO Trety Put for several hours of questioning. The three were told
that they may be charged for slander, although no charges had been brought
by year's end. On March 12, Grodno authorities closed the Internet
chatroom forum.Grodno.by after declaring it "subversive."
Beltelecom subsequently fired the chatroom's administrator, Aleksey Rads.
On January 4, deputy education minister Tatiana Kovaleva complained that
the Internet hindered educational and ideological processes and suggested
that the government limit students' access to the Internet and impose
education ministry control over Internet service providers and Internet
cafes. Some students claimed state university officials monitored Internet
usage on university networks. In early January the government blocked
access to several Russian web sites for their alleged homosexual content.
On November 15, Minister of Education Aleksandr Radkov announced that
all schools, including private institutions, are political bodies, must
follow state orders, and cannot be headed by opposition members. Radkov
also asserted his right as minister to appoint and dismiss the heads of
private educational institutions. The government restricted academic freedom, in part by requiring all
educational institutions to teach and all students to study an official
state ideology that combined reverence for the achievements of the Soviet
Union and Belarus under Lukashenko with advocacy of an authoritarian,
Soviet-style political and social structure. During the year the National
Academy of Sciences fired three historians whose research was considered
"anti-Soviet" or "anti-Russian." Authorities increasingly enforced a
February 2004 presidential decree that requires every school to have an
ideological officer on its staff. On January 21, the vice rector and
administrator for ideology at Baranovichi State University were fired for
failing to prevent students from performing a skit mocking President
Lukashenko. The government tasked the state youth organization BRYM with ensuring
ideological purity among youth. Students reportedly were pressured to join
the BRYM in order to receive benefits and rooms in dormitories and local
authorities pressured BRYM members to campaign on behalf of government
candidates. Government-mandated textbooks showed a heavily propagandized version of
historical events as well as other subjects. On May 23, the Ministry of Education circulated a directive to all
educational institutions calling for the expulsion of any student who
engaged in antigovernment or unsanctioned political activity, and for the
proper ideological education of all students. Student organizations
credibly claimed that authorities expelled dozens of students for their
political activities during the year. On August 27, Minsk Mayor Mikhail
Pavlov publicly ordered school administrators to keep their students from
becoming politically active. In May, Belarusian State University expelled journalism student Olga
Klaskovskaya. Klaskovskaya worked for the independent newspaper
Nardonaya Volya and had recently filed a complaint to the
prosecutor general stating police had mistreated her as she covered a
demonstration. The university claimed it expelled her for missing exams
when she was caring for her sick child. On November 24, the Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU)
expelled fourth year student Tatiana Khoma for "violating the internal
order of the university" and immediately evicted her from her dormitory
room. Khoma had recently traveled to France, where she was elected to the
executive committee of the National Unions of Students in Europe. In
defending the expulsion, BSEU rector Vladimir Shimov said Khoma had
traveled to France without the permission of the university; Shimov added
that she was the 51st BSEU student expelled since September for traveling
without permission. Several members of opposition-oriented youth groups were expelled from
institutions of higher education for their political activities. In May
the Zhodino Polytechnic School expelled a 16-year-old for participating in
a Chernobyl commemoration event. On September 19, the Zhodino city court
dismissed the student's appeal to be readmitted. Another student, from
Pleshchenitsy, claimed he was expelled for participating in the same
event. On November 27, schools in Svetlogorsk threatened to expel students
who participated in the Days of Solidarity on the 16th of each month.
There were several unconfirmed reports that the government expelled
politically active youth and assigned them to work in Chernobyl-affected
regions. On September 23, President Lukashenko justified the July 2004
government closure of the European Humanities University, the country's
premier independent university, and the 2003 closure of the Belarusian
National Humanities Lyceum on the grounds that the schools had sought to
educate a new national elite that would turn the country to the West. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association Freedom of Assembly The law provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the
government severely restricted this right in practice. Police and other
security officials beat and detained demonstrators following several
unsanctioned but otherwise peaceful demonstrations. By law, organizers must apply at least 15 days in advance to local
officials for permission to conduct a demonstration, rally, or meeting.
The local government must respond with a decision no later than 5 days
prior to the scheduled event. However, authorities either did not grant
permits to opposition groups or granted them only for demonstrations in
out-of-the-way locations. A single infraction of these regulations
entitles the government to shut down the organization concerned. Demonstrators are required by law to pay for damages from
demonstrations and for the presence of police and medical personnel,
although this requirement was generally not enforced in practice. Only
political parties, trade unions, or registered organizations may request
permission for a demonstration of more than one thousand individuals. The
law also prohibits the wearing of masks and use of unregistered flags,
symbols, and placards bearing messages deemed threatening to the state or
public order (see section 2.a.). There were demonstrations in Minsk, varying in size from a few
participants to approximately 2,500 persons. However, the government
always kept such demonstrations under strict surveillance, and police and
plainclothes security officers openly videotaped participants. There were several reports that police beat demonstrators during
protests. There were also reports that police violently pulled
demonstrators into police vans. On April 26, interior ministry riot police
broke the wrist of a 14-year-old at a Chernobyl protest in Minsk. On May
24, riot police detained eight minors protesting the renaming of Minsk
streets. The riot police threw the eight into a bus, where they were
beaten. Police punched one girl in the face, causing her to bleed. On July
7, an interior ministry police officer punched Svetlana Zavadskaya, widow
of one of the "disappeared," in the face during a peaceful protest in
Minsk. Authorities declined to investigate the attack, which was
videotaped by journalists, claiming the police officer acted in
self-defense. On September 16, interior ministry riot police beat Nikita
Sasim at a protest in Minsk. Sasim spent six days in the hospital with a
concussion. Police beat at least five other youth activists at the same
event, causing bruises and ripping their clothes. On November 22, police
sergeant Ivan Dulub reportedly dislocated Ales Kalita's arm after Kalita
was arrested for distributing independent newspapers. Authorities routinely broke up peaceful demonstrations and arrested
participants. For example, on March 1, two thousand market vendors in Minsk protested
an increase in the value-added tax. Police allowed the demonstration but
that evening arrested Anatoly Shumchenko, a leader in the Perspektiva NGO,
and Marina Bogdanovich. A court sentenced Shumchenko to 10 days in prison
and fined Bogdanovich $2,180 (4.7 million rubles); authorities extended
Shumchenko's sentence to 30 days for allegedly fighting a cellmate (see
section 1.d.). On April 26, police arrested 33 people for participating in an
unauthorized rally marking the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster,
including 14 Russian and 5 Ukrainian citizens. Two of the Russians were
journalists. A Minsk court sentenced those arrested to prison terms of 8
to 15 days. Authorities released the Russians after their embassy stated
it did not approve of their citizens' actions but required the Ukrainian
and domestic arrestees to serve their full sentences. In addition, the
court fined Marina Bogdanovich, one of the domestic arrestees, $1,700 (3.6
million rubles) for her participation. On August 5, police arrested five members of the Malady Front youth
group as they demonstrated in support of Polish policy in front of the
Polish Embassy; a court sentenced two of them to 10 days in prison. On August 27, police arrested three members of the Zubr youth group for
holding an unauthorized protest, and a court sentenced them to 10 days in
prison. During the year members of the Zubr youth group were arrested more
than 400 times. Many were released without charge, but many others
received fines or served up to 15 days in jail. Authorities also made preemptive arrests of prodemocracy activists in
advance of demonstrations. For example, police arrested Perspektiva leader
Anatoly Shumchenko the day before a February 10 demonstration on suspicion
of hitting a pedestrian with his car, and a court sentenced him to 10 days
in prison for organizing an unauthorized protest. Police also detained
Perspektiva members from Rechitsa and Borisov in advance of the March 1
protests. The government took other measures to restrict the ability of
prodemocracy and civil society groups to meet. During the year authorities
continued to deny such groups access to the IBB conference center, a joint
venture between German NGOs and the Minsk city government that was
established with the goal of giving independent groups a place to meet.
Minsk City authorities reportedly threatened to close the center if civil
society groups were allowed access. On May 16, the Minsk Hotel informed a
Swedish civil society NGO that it could not use its facilities for an NGO
conference because the Minsk city ideological committee had informed the
hotel that any payments received for this conference would be illegal. In
addition the government refused visas to 13 of the 17 Swedish NGO
participants. At times authorities disrupted meetings under the pretext of
checking documents. On August 23, police in Gomel broke up a meeting of
civil society NGO members, claiming they needed to confirm their
identities. Local authorities prevented opposition parties from holding
local conventions in a number of sites across the country (see section 3).
On October 29, police raided a meeting of the NGO Partnership and
detained 60 people. Three of the NGO's leaders were sentenced to 15 days
in prison, and one was fined $270 (580 thousand rubles), for organizing an
illegal gathering. Partnership claimed it was meeting to satisfy a
Ministry of Justice requirement as a prelude to receiving legal
registration. Freedom of Association The law provides for freedom of association; however, the authorities
severely restricted it in practice. The government employed an elaborate system of laws and regulations for
the registration of organizations in order to restrict the ability of
individuals to form associations that might be critical of the government
or immune to official manipulation. All NGOs, political parties, and trade
unions are required to register with authorities, and it is illegal to act
on behalf of an unregistered organization. The law governing registration
of public associations is extremely strict; registration procedures are
costly and onerous, requiring the number and names of founders to be
specified along with a legal address for the organization in a
nonresidential building. Individuals listing themselves as members are
vulnerable to retribution. More important, the government's refusal to
rent office space to organizations of which it disapproved and the expense
of renting private space forced most organizations to violate the
nonresidential address requirement, leading to deregistration of existing
organizations and denial of registration for new ones. Authorities greatly accelerated the closure of local political party
offices throughout the year. On September 14, Nikolay Zelenko, head of
Minsk city's justice department, announced that 292 local party chapters
had been closed in Minsk since the beginning of the year. Party sources
reported that authorities had closed approximately 80 percent of their
local chapters during the year, mostly for lack of a legal address. The
Ministry of Justice reported it issued approximately 400 written warnings
to NGOs, political parties, and trade unions during the year, and that
courts deregistered 68 NGOs for "systematic or severe violations of the
law." Most active civil society groups had already lost their
registration. On December 28, Supreme Court judge Galina Zhukovskaya
upheld the decision to close the educational NGO Belaruskaya Perspektiva
for being registered in a residential building and for containing the word
Belaruskaya (only official NGOs can be called "Belarusian"). An NGO
spokesperson said that the NGO had not needed an office because of its
small size and reliance on volunteers. The NGO attempted to find office
space to comply with ministry warnings but could not find anyone who would
rent them space. On December 29, authorities in Zhodino closed a branch of
the Belarusian Language Society, also for lack of a proper legal address.
Harassment in the form of inspections by security officials and
confiscation of political literature, usually without warrants, was
widespread. On September 16, the customs service stopped activists from
the Partnership NGO at Minsk's airport as they attempted to fly to Warsaw
for a conference. The activists were detained two hours, and all their
material was seized, but they were allowed to travel. Many other
prodemocracy activists also reported being harassed and subjected to extra
searches when crossing the country's borders. On July 1, police stopped
four cars driven by local leaders of the Partnership NGO and confiscated
170 thousand copies of the group's bulletin. A commission of government officials must review and approve all
registration applications. The commission continued to base many of its
decisions largely on the political and ideological compatibility of the
applicant with the government. Credible reports indicated that most NGOs
registered during the year dealt with sports and entrepreneurial interests
and none promoted civil society. All but two national-level human rights
NGOs have been deregistered or denied reregistration. On April 15, the
Supreme Court liquidated the Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and
Political Studies, one of two organizations in the country that conducted
independent opinion polling, for lack of a legal address and other dubious
pretexts. The government also interfered in the internal affairs of NGOs. The
Union of Belarusian Poles held a congress March 12-13 to elect new
leaders. Credible sources stated the BKGB and police stopped Union of
Belarusian Poles members' cars to prevent them from attending the
congress, warned other members to stay away, and pressured others to
change their vote in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the re-election of
progovernment leaders. On May 12, the Ministry of Justice declared the
congress to have been undemocratic and invalid. In late May the
government-run Grodno regional printing plant refused to print the Union
of Belarusian Poles' newspaper, Glos znad Niemna, and began
printing progovernment versions of the paper without the knowledge of the
group's leadership. On July 6, police arrested five Glos znad
Niemna journalists protesting the government takeover of their
newspaper. The five were fined between $230 (510 thosuand rubles) and
$2,400 (5,125,000 rubles) for the protest. Police evicted the union's
leaders from their headquarters on July 27 and gave the building to regime
supporters. The Ministry of Justice forced a new congress on August 27,
and authorities again intervened to prevent the attendance of many Union
of Belarusian Poles members. Throughout this process authorities arrested,
jailed, or fined numerous group members and Polish journalists (see
section 2.a.) and attacked the organization in the government media.
Police brought some leaders in for questioning more than 40 times. c. Freedom of Religion The law provides for freedom of religion; however, the government
restricted this right in practice. While the constitution affirms the
equality of religions and denominations before the law, it also contains
restrictive language that stipulates that cooperation between the state
and religious organizations "is regulated with regard for their influence
on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and country traditions of the
Belarusian people." The law concerning religion contains a number of restrictive elements
that the government used to hinder or prevent activities of religious
groups other than the Belarusian Orthodox Church. In particular, the law
restricts the ability of religious organizations to provide religious
education, requires all religious groups to receive governmental approval
in order to distribute literature, and prohibits foreigners from leading
religious organizations. A concordat and other arrangements with the
government provide the Belarusian Orthodox Church, an exarchate of the
Russian Orthodox Church, privileges not enjoyed by other religious groups.
In March Vladimir Makarov, chief of the defense ministry's information
directorate, called on Belarusian Orthodox clergy to fight the spread of
"destructive sects" and to spread Orthodoxy. On May 20, a BKGB spokesman
asserted that the country's citizens were less interested in
unconventional religions after the government took unspecified "action" to
prevent the spread of "destructive cults." He specifically warned against
the "Moon Church" and the Church of Scientology, which, he said, were
spreading "propaganda" in the country. In early December, police in Vitebsk raided the homes of local Muslims
on the pretext of looking for suspects connected to two September
bombings, even though authorities had previously arrested two brothers,
who had no known connection to Islam, for the bombings. Police detained
several of the Muslims for questioning and seized religious literature.
The law requires that religious organizations be registered by the
Committee of Religious and Nationalities Affairs of the Council of
Ministers (CRNA) or by local and regional governments. During the year the
CRNA continued to refuse to register some religious groups considered to
be nontraditional. Religious groups that could not register frequently
were forced to meet illegally or in the homes of individual members.
According to the CRNA, 26 religious denominations were officially
registered as of September. Under a 2002 law, all religious organizations were required to
reregister with the CRNA by November 2004. The law establishes specific
requirements for membership size and years of activity for religious
groups. According to the CRNA, 2,676 of the 2,780 religious communities
previously registered did so by the deadline. Of the remaining 104
communities, many had dissolved due to lack of membership. However, the
CRNA denied reregistration to several mainly Protestant groups, such as
the Light of the World, the New Life Church, and the Belarusian
Evangelical Church. The CRNA refused to register the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox
Church (BAOC) without the approval of local Belarusian Orthodox Church
bishops, which was not forthcoming. Because the BAOC was not registered,
authorities confiscated a building they renovated in Semkov Gorodok. The Hare Krishnas were denied registration in 2004. They appealed to
the Supreme Court, but have not received an answer, as well as to the UN
Human Rights Committee. After the Krishnas were not registered, a number
of their lease agreements were terminated by landlords. The Minsk
community has been unable to find a new legal address. The CRNA also denied reregistration to the Protestant group Light of
the World in 2004. The lease on group's church was terminated on October
31, and authorities prevented them from leasing new premises. The law allows persons to gather to pray in private homes; however, it
requires that individuals obtain permission from local authorities to hold
rituals, rites, or ceremonies in homes. Police interfered with religious
meetings in residences several times during the year, sometimes resulting
in fines for participants. The government will only register Orthodox communities not based in
Moscow with the approval of the local Moscow Patriarchiate bishop. In June
authorities warned the priest of the unregistered Russian Orthodox Church
Abroad (ROCA), Father Leonid Plyats, that he would receive jail time or a
massive fine if he conducted "illegal religious activities," including
holding small gatherings of worship on private homes. On November 9,
authorities denied registration to a different ROCA parish in Ruzhany. In
this case, the bishop told ROCA members to worship at the Moscow
Patriarchate Church instead. The ROCA parish refused, and its members have
received four fines, totaling over two thousand dollars (four million
rubles) for worshiping in private homes. ROCA has four parishes in the
country, none of which were registered. The law does not provide for the return of property seized during the
Soviet period or the Nazi occupation and restricts the return of property
that is being used for cultural or educational purposes. There were no
reports that the government returned property to religious groups during
the year. A Catholic parish asked the government to return a Roman
Catholic church, which the government was using to house state scientific
archives. On October 4, the Council of Ministers replied the government
would not return the building to the church until it was provided with a
similar size building for the archives. The government continued to limit the ability of a number of groups to
own or use property for religious purposes. As of October the CRNA refused
to reregister the New Life Church because it tried to use a barn that it
purchased three years previously as its legal residence. Authorities
refused to allow the church to renovate the building, change the
registration status of the cow barn, or permit church members to meet in
the building as-is. Authorities fined the leaders of the church more than
$5,500 (12.5 million rubles) during the year for conducting services in
the barn. On November 17, authorities issued a registration document
reclassifying the barn as a religious building. However, on November 30,
authorities claimed this registration was issued illegally, annulled the
registration, and fired the two officials who issued it. The government interprets the law as permitting residential property to
be used for religious services only after it has been converted from
residential use. This interpretation effectively requires all religious
organizations to reregister their properties as religious properties.
However, authorities continued to reject requests for property
registration from many Protestant churches, as well as from other
nontraditional faiths. On August 22 and September 21, the government
closed the Belarusian Evangelical Reformed Church and the Belarusian
Evangelist Church, respectively, for failure to secure nonresidential
legal addresses for worship. According to the Full Gospel Evangelical Christian Church, authorities
continued to deny it permission to construct a building for religious
purposes in Minsk. Meeting hall officials cancelled or refused to extend agreements with
religious groups to use their facilities, citing a government decree
specifying measures to ensure public order and safety during public
gatherings. Over the summer the Church of Jesus Christ Word of Faith was
denied permission to rent a hall in Minsk for a large meeting. On November 9, CRNA chairman Stanislav Buko announced that authorities
would not register "destructive sects." He claimed no such sects were
operating in Belarus but noted authorities closely monitor the activities
of people bearing the characteristics of such sects. University textbooks
reportedly classified Baptists and Adventists as members of sects. The law provides that citizens may speak freely about their religious
beliefs; however, authorities continued their efforts to prevent,
interfere with, or punish persons who proselytized for any religious group
other than the Belarusian Orthodox Church. The government also fined and
detained members of unregistered religious groups that engaged in illegal
religious activity. Baptists, Pentecostals, and other Protestants were
warned or fined for illegally conducting and hosting religious services.
According to the CRNA, convictions for such offenses were based on charges
of either disturbing public order or illegally gathering without prior
permission. On November 25, a court issued a warning to the pastor of the
Reformed Baptist Church Christ's Covenant for illegally conducting
services in a private home. The church received three warnings for lack of
a legal address. The government did not permit foreign missionaries to engage in
religious activities outside of the institutions that invited them. The
law requires one‑year, multiple‑entry "spiritual activities" visas for
foreign missionaries. Even religious groups with a long history in the
country, particularly Protestants, continued to have difficulties
obtaining visas. In mid-December authorities did not renew visas for two
Catholic priests from Poland, who had worked in the country for more then
10 years, and ordered them to leave by the end of the year. Societal Abuses and Discrimination Between 50 thousand and 70 thousand persons identified themselves as
Jewish. However, the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population, 98
percent, was not actively religious. Of those who were, most were believed
to be adherents of either Reform or Conservative Judaism. There were isolated instances of anti-Semitic vandalism during the
year. In a three-week period in April, vandals desecrated 20 tombstones at
a Jewish cemetery in Brest. On August 16, vandals reportedly defaced a
Holocaust memorial in Minsk for the third time, although authorities
denied that the incident occurred. While the government investigated such
incidents and often assisted in restoring memorials, police made no
arrests in connection with the vandalism of these sites. On December 4,
vandals painted swastikas and other Nazi symbols on memorials at the
Kurapaty site, including on markers commemorating Jewish and Tartar
victims. Police made no arrests but subsequently provided a full-time
police presence at the site. The state distribution agency Belsoyuzpechat continued to distribute
the anti-Semitic and xenophobic newspaper Russki Vestnik, despite a
2003 order by the prosecutor general and the information ministry that
distribution of the newspaper should be terminated. Sales of such
literature continued throughout the year in stores, government-owned
buildings, and at events affiliated with the BOC. Anti-Semitic and Russian
ultranationalist literature continued to be sold and given away at
Pravoslavnaya Kniga (Orthodox Bookstore), a store operated by Orthodox
Initiative that sells Orthodox literature and religious paraphernalia. The
CRNA claimed it was difficult to prevent the distribution of
Russian-produced anti-Semitic literature. For a more detailed discussion, see the 2005 International
Religious Freedom Report. d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration,
and Repatriation The law provides for freedom of movement; however, the government at
times restricted its citizens' right to choose their place of residence
and their foreign travel. Internal passports served as primary identity
documents and were required for permanent housing, receiving work, and
hotel registration. Credible reports indicated that police continued to harass individuals
because they lived at a location other than the legal place of residence
indicated in their internal passport. The law provides for freedom of movement in and out of the country;
however, the government at times restricted this right. Government
regulations specify that citizens who wish to travel abroad must obtain an
exit stamp valid for one to five years. The government could invalidate
stamps that had been issued. Authorities prohibited certain opposition
activists who had not paid fines for participating in unlawful public
demonstrations or who were not on the side supported by the government in
the Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) dispute (see section 2.b.) from
travelling abroad. At times the government harassed civil society members
who had travelled abroad. In November authorities prohibited UBP members Andrzej Pisalnik, Jozef
Porzecki, Wieslaw Kiewlak, and Andrzej Poczobut from travelling abroad.
Despite this prohibition, Poczobut travelled to Poland in November. On his
return border guards seized his passport; it was returned to him December
12 with a notation saying he was prohibited from international travel.
On November 23, border guards told UBP activists Inessa Todryk,
Anzelika Arechwa, and Andrzej Lisowski they could not leave the country.
On November 3 and 4, border guards prevented UBP activist Anzhelika
Orekhova from leaving the country. Other UBP activists were detained for
hours at the border, but eventually allowed to leave. On October 28, the Minsk City council of lawyers denied human rights
lawyer Vera Stremkovskaya permission to travel to an OSCE conference in
Tbilisi, threatening revocation of her license. The same day the council
passed a resolution barring all lawyers from foreign travel for one month.
In several cases opposition activists wishing to travel abroad were
detained at the border for lengthy searches while leaving or returning to
the country. On October 27, customs officials held opposition party leader
Aleksandr Kozulin at the airport for several hours as they confiscated
material from him, causing him to miss his flight. The same day customs
officials seized written material from opposition party leader Anatoly
Lebedko as he returned to Minsk from a meeting with members of the
European Parliament. On August 17, the BKGB questioned independent journalist Aleksandr
Rautenko about the purpose of his travel after he returned from Prague.
During the year the government imposed new restrictions on travel
abroad. A March 9 presidential decree, ostensibly intended to counter
trafficking in persons, requires any student who wishes to study abroad to
obtain permission from the minister of education. When signing the decree,
Lukashenko publicly stated his opposition to citizens' studying abroad.
The government used this requirement to block the participation of 59 high
school students in one educational exchange program abroad. The decree
also requires the interior ministry to track all citizens working abroad
and travel agencies to report citizens who did not return from abroad at
their scheduled time to the interior ministry. The government denied
reregistration to most travel agencies that arranged work abroad. A June
13 presidential decree placed new controls on the foreign travel of
government officials. Various presidential statements during the year and
a presidential decree issued on October 4 served to reduce the number of
children from Chernobyl-contaminated areas who were able to travel abroad
for treatment, particularly those who wanted to travel during the school
year. For example, several hundred children were denied permission to go
to Germany and Italy in February. The decree also requires that students
or their chaperones who did not return to the country on time be reported
to the presidential administration. The law requires travelers to areas within 15 miles (25 kilometers) of
the border to obtain an entrance pass. Police arrested several
prodemocracy activists for violating this law after holding meetings in
towns near the border (see section 3). The law does not provide for exile abroad, and there were no reports
that the government used it in practice. The law provides for internal exile, and the government used it.
Detention in internal exile is one possible penalty for defaming the
president. During the year the courts sentenced 3 opposition leaders to 18
to 24 months of internal exile (see section 1.e.). The law provides for the right to emigrate, and the authorities
generally respected this right; however, there were restrictions for
individuals with access to sensitive government information or citizens
involved in criminal investigations. Persons who have been refused
permission to emigrate may appeal to the courts. Protection of Refugees The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
and its 1967 protocol, and the government has established a system for
providing protection to refugees. Under the law, all persons who applied
for or received asylum are protected against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. In contrast
with the previous year, there were no reports that the government detained
individuals transiting the country from Russia and deported them back to
Russia. As of the end of October, the government had granted refugee
status to 548 Afghanis and 123 Georgians. The law does not allow for temporary protection of persons who may not
qualify as refugees; however, the government granted humanitarian
protection to approximately 40 persons who may not have qualified for
refugee status but who had humanitarian grounds for remaining in the
country. The authorities cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change
Their Government The law provides the right for citizens to change their government
peacefully; however, the government effectively denied citizens this
right. President Lukashenko dominated all branches of government. Since
his election in 1994 to a five‑year term as the country's first president,
Lukashenko has consolidated power steadily in the executive branch, using
referenda in 1996 and 2004 to amend the constitution to broaden his powers
and extend his term in office. The constitution provides for parliament to meet twice a year for a
total of no more than 170 days. Presidential decrees issued when
parliament is out of session have the force of law, except in a few cases
specified in the constitution. In practice the president also issued
decrees when parliament was in session. The constitution allows the
president to issue decrees with the force of law in specific, urgent
circumstances, a provision President Lukashenko has interpreted broadly.
Elections and Political Participation In October 2004 the country held seriously flawed parliamentary
elections and a referendum to change the constitution and eliminate term
limits for the president, thereby allowing Lukashenko to run for a third
term in 2006. The government used administrative resources to support the
referendum and government‑backed candidates, who won in every district. An
OSCE observation mission reported that the election fell significantly
short of international standards for democratic elections, citing the
active exclusion of opposition candidates, detention of opposition
campaign workers and domestic observers, restrictive campaigning rules,
unbalanced media coverage, flawed vote counting, and a lack of
transparency in vote tallying. Other electoral irregularities included the
firing and non‑extension of employment contracts of opposition candidates
and individuals who worked on their campaigns, and widespread, credible
reports of coercion of individuals to vote early, when oversight was more
lax. On March 20, a by-election was held in Grodno to fill the last vacant
seat in parliament. The government's arbitrary expulsion of opposition
candidates, seizure of opposition campaign materials, and use of state
resources to support the government-backed candidate marred this vote. An
estimated 25 percent of voters voted up to 5 days early. Some of these,
mostly state employees, reported they were ordered to do so by their
employers. No independent observer was allowed to watch the vote count,
and police escorted three observers out of polling stations. During the year the government made it more difficult for political
parties to operate. In June parliament passed a restrictive law governing
political parties that made it much easier for the government to suspend
or close parties. A party could be suspended for six months for any legal
violation. The government could also close any political party after it
receives two warnings for any violations; under the old law the warnings
had to be for the same violation. Political parties frequently received
warnings for petty offenses. In January the Ministry of Justice formally
warned the Belarusian Popular Front because its official stamp read,
"Republic of Belarus, Minsk." Even though the Ministry of Justice had
approved this stamp, it issued the warning, maintaining the stamp should
only read, "Minsk." The law also requires that each party have registered
branches in four of the country's seven regions. At the time the law passed, the Ministry of Justice was in the process
of closing an estimated 80 percent of the local party offices in the
country on a variety of pretexts, rendering the parties inactive in a
majority of regions (see section 2.b.). In December, after deregistering
these local offices, the Ministry of Justice warned a number of parties
for not having registered branches in enough regions. Additionally, the
law prohibits parties from receiving support from abroad. On September 19,
the Minister of Justice ruled that any political bloc or coalition must
register with the government; the ruling was most likely aimed at the most
organized opposition grouping in the country, the 10 Plus coalition. During the summer authorities disrupted a number of the 121 local
political conventions organized by the 10+ opposition coalition. Police
were present at almost every meeting, in many cases videotaping
participants or demanding to see their identification. In Pinsk, Elsk, and
Sianno police arrested the conventions' organizers before the events could
begin. Police raided the meeting in Kalinkovichy on the pretext there was
a drug lab in the building, while Svetlogorsk police detained organizers
for several hours to check their documents. In three cases local fire
departments ordered the evacuation of meeting halls, and in one case a
hazardous materials team ended the convention, claiming there was a
mercury spill. On July 9, opposition parties planned to hold a meeting at
the House of Culture in Domachevo, but the site was locked when they
arrived. Such events happened in a number of towns. In addition, 11
opposition members were arrested and charged with "violating passport
rules in a border zone" for traveling to Domachevo. Others were arrested
for the same offense in Ashmany. The government considers all territory
within 15 miles (25 kilometers) of the border to be a restricted zone.
The government began issuing fines against the political opposition
that were generally much higher than in previous years, often exceeding
the average annual salary of $2,450 (5.2 million rubles). The government
also began confiscating the private property of opposition activists who
could not pay these fines. UCP deputy Marina Bogdanovich was fined $2,200
(4.7 million rubles) for participation in a March 1 strike. On May 27,
court officials entered her home and confiscated property, including
books, an iron, a cell phone, and her daughter's stereo and computer, as
payment towards the fine. On March 11, court officials seized property,
including an electric tea kettle, a washing machine, a lamp, a vacuum
cleaner, and a painting from the editor of Pressbol newspaper
towards payment of a fine for libel (see section 2). On February 14, a
Grodno judge fined former opposition member of parliament Valery Frolov
$3,300 (7 million rubles) for participating in an unsanctioned protest.
Numerous and credible reports indicated many people were fired from
their jobs because of their political activities or party membership (see
section 6.a.). In some cities activists claimed that anyone who ran as an
independent parliamentary candidate in 2004 was fired during the year.
There were other credible reports that authorities threatened to remove
children from school or university because of the parents' activities. In
November the head of the ideology department of Baranavichy, Mr. Zhidko,
forced Viktor Syritsa, a lecturer at the Baranavichy Economic and Law
College, to resign because he organized a meeting between his students and
an opposition politician. On August 23, local officials in Varkhi refused
to renew the employment contract of school principal Leonid Gorovoi, a
member the Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada. On October 14, a
district court in Gorodok rejected Gorovoi's appeal for the return of his
job. In defending their decision, local officials reportedly blamed the
"flawed schedule" Gorovoi created for the high incidence of thyroid cancer
in the region. In February customs authorities did not renew the work
contract of Vasil Vauraniuk, a member of the Belarusian Social Democratic
Party Narodnaya Hramada, who served as an election observer in the October
2004 elections. Party members were often detained, fined, or jailed after conducting
meetings. For example, authorities in Baranovichi detained UCP leaders
Anatoly Lebedko and Sergey Kalyakin on July 16 for holding an unsanctioned
meeting, even though it was held in a registered party office. On July 18,
authorities fined two UCP members $240 (516 thousand rubles) each for
organizing a meeting in a private residence. On August 30, authorities
fined Belarusian Party of Communists activist Anatoliy Novik $475 (1
million rubles) for holding an unsanctioned meeting, even though the
meeting was at a registered party office. Opposition members routinely faced other forms of harassment throughout
the year. Police frequently stopped and briefly detained opposition
presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich and his campaign team when
they traveled around the country. On November 24, authorities in Bobruisk
turned off the electricity and disconnected the telephones to an apartment
where Milinkevich was trying to hold a press conference. Authorities also
prevented some local residents from meeting with him. There were 32 women in the 110-member lower house of parliament and 18
women in the 56-member upper house of parliament. However, no women
chaired any of parliament's 14 committees. There were 3 women in the
25-member Council of Ministers, and the head of the Central Election
Commission was a woman. With the exception of the judiciary, men held
virtually all leadership positions. No high-level members of government or parliament openly identified
themselves as members of a minority, although several are Polish or
members of other ethnic groups. Government Corruption and Transparency Corruption in the executive branch of government was a significant
problem. Authorities prosecuted a significant number of individuals for
corruption—over four thousand in the first 11 months of the
year—indicating growing efforts to combat corruption. However, corruption
remained a problem in the highest levels of government, with a poor
delineation between the president's personal and official funds, and a
heavy reliance on off-budget revenues. The government itself profited from
official corruption, for example through high levels of goods confiscated
at the border being sold in state shops and the increasing
renationalization of the economy. According to Transparency International,
the problem appeared to be endemic and worsening. In 2004 authorities
arrested and convicted the head of the property management division of the
presidential administration, Galina Zhuravkova, for embezzling over $3
million. Despite being sentenced to four years in prison, she was never
taken into custody. The law and government policies severely restrict public access to
government information, and authorities moved to restrict it further
during the year. In practice citizens were given good access to certain
categories of information, and access to other information was extremely
limited. A 2004 presidential edict broadened significantly the amount of
government material considered a state secret. Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights Several domestic human rights groups were active in the country;
however, authorities hindered their efforts to investigate alleged human
rights violations. Authorities monitored NGO correspondence and telephone
conversations and harassed NGOs by bureaucratic means such as frequent tax
and other inspections and deregistration (see sections 1.f. and 2.b.). The
government generally ignored reports issued by human rights NGOs and did
not meet with these groups during the year. Official government media did
not report on human right NGOs and their actions; independent media that
reported on human rights' issues were subjected to closure and harassment
(see section 2.a.). The government has closed most major registered human rights NGOs and
NGO resource centers, actions viewed by independent observers as
politically motivated. On July 19, the president signed a restrictive new
law that allows authorities to close an NGO after just one warning from
the government of a violation of the law. The violations most frequently
cited were discrepancies between the stamp that had been presented when
the organization registered and the one used on a subsequent occasion,
inaccuracies in an organization's letterhead, the use of a mailing address
at a residence rather than the registered office, alleged forgeries among
the signatures required to obtain legal registration, and failure to
follow the organization's own by-laws. The law allows authorities to close
an NGO for illegally accepting foreign assistance and allows the Ministry
of Justice to participate in any NGO activity, review any NGO document,
and request any information from an NGO. It also requires NGOs to present
a detailed report annually to the Ministry of Justice on their activities,
office locations, names of officers, and total number of members. On July 18, the Nadezhda Center in Vilejka region cancelled
reservations at the last minute for a summer human rights camp hosted by
the Foundation for Legal Technologies NGO on the pretext that government
inspectors had found unsanitary conditions at the camp. On February 21,
the Supreme Court closed Adradzhenne Aychyny, an NGO dedicated to women's
economic and political rights, for allegedly not responding to Ministry of
Justice requests for information in a timely manner. The closing occurred
immediately after the NGO held a seminar on gender issues with Vyasna, a
human rights NGO that the government had previously closed. The law prohibits persons from acting on behalf of an unregistered NGO,
and the government prosecuted several persons for this offense during the
year. On September 28, Grodno judge Natalya Kozel fined Jan Roman $600
(1.3 million rubles) for passing out bulletins of a trade union that was
not registered in that region. On October 11, the Minsk prosecutor's
office issued a warning to the Romani NGO Zhoda for writing an
appeal on behalf of the Union of Belarusian Poles, whose leadership the
government did not recognize. On December 2, police searched the home of
Telman Masliukov, claiming he had illegal drugs and weapons. Police seized
material from the unregistered Zubr youth group and charged Masliukov with
acting on behalf of an unregistered organization. A presidential decree provides that international assistance may only
be granted to, or accepted by, an organization that is registered with the
Ministry of Economy; however, government regulations prohibit
international assistance for human rights organizations regardless of
their registration status. Another presidential decree prohibits foreign
support for a broad range of activities, including the preparation,
administration, and organization of elections and referenda; the
organization of meetings, rallies, demonstrations, pickets, and strikes;
the publication and distribution of promotional materials; and the
organization of seminars and other types of promotional activities
involving the population. The law also prohibits unregistered
organizations from providing assistance to other NGOs. The government sometimes refused groups permission to accept foreign
support even if they complied with government reporting requirements. For
example, after two months of applying, the government refused the Belarus
Helsinki Committee permission to accept one thousand dollars from the
International Helsinki Federation. Break-ins and questionable tax audits remained problems during the
year. On June 17, Minsk's Moskovskiy District tax office again attempted
unsuccessfully to collect back taxes and fines on the Belarus Helsinki
Committee, although the committee won several court cases against these
taxes in 2004. In the same frequently recurring case, on December 20, the
Supreme Economic Court overturned its own earlier ruling and ordered the
Belarus Helsinki Committee to pay $72 thousand (155 million rubles) in
back taxes and fines on a grant it received from the European Union (EU).
In May Rada, the Belarusian Association of NGOs for Youth and Children,
was ordered to pay fines and back taxes on EU and UN grants. On February
24, four Ministry of Justice officials broke into and searched the office
of the International Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies
outside Minsk. Authorities were increasingly reluctant to discuss human rights with
international NGOs, whose members often had difficulty traveling to and
were occasionally expelled from the country. The government rejected an April 14 UNCHR resolution that urged it to
conduct a transparent investigation into the disappearances of prominent
opposition activists and to suspend or dismiss officials suspected of
involvement in the disappearances (see section 1.b.). The resolution also
stressed the need for the government to bring election standards into line
with international norms, release persons imprisoned for political
reasons, assure the freedoms of media, assembly and association, and
comply with the various UNCHR mechanisms. The UNCHR extended the mandate
of its special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country;
however, the government again refused to grant the rapporteur a visa to
enter the country to conduct an assessment. On September 19, Deputy
Foreign Minister Viktor Gaisenok announced that the government would not
cooperate with the rapporteur. Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The constitution provides that all citizens are equal before the law
and have the right to equal protection of their rights and legitimate
interests. The constitution and other laws also specifically prohibit
discrimination based on factors such as race and language, or gender in
certain instances. However, the government did not always protect these
rights in practice. Violence against women and children, trafficking of
persons, and discrimination against persons with disabilities, Roma, and
homosexuals were problems. Women Domestic violence, including spousal abuse against women, was a
significant problem. In January 2004 the country's delegation to the
Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women stated that
30 percent of women reported suffering from domestic violence. Spousal
abuse is punishable under the law, and women's groups indicated that the
police generally enforced laws against domestic violence and that the
courts generally imposed appropriate sentences. In 2004 some 350 criminal
cases were opened for domestic violence. Nevertheless, women were
reluctant to report domestic violence due to fear of reprisal and social
stigma. Women's rights activists reported they were unable to get domestic
violence legislation introduced into parliament. NGOs operated crisis
shelters, primarily in Minsk. Rape was a problem. A law against rape exists; however, most women did
not report rape due to shame or fear that the police would blame the
victim. There is no explicit law against spousal rape, and there have been
no prosecutions. Over 20 percent of women reported experiencing sexual
abuse at least once, according to data released by the Ministry of Labor
and Social Security in 2004. In the first 10 months of the year, the
Ministry of Interior reported 392 rapes, a 17 percent increase from the
year before. Socially, spousal rape was not viewed as a crime. The law prohibits prostitution, but the penalties usually involved only
a warning or a small fine. Although authorities and local human rights
observers reported that prostitution was not a significant problem,
considerable anecdotal evidence indicated that it was growing,
particularly in regions outside the main cities. Prostitution rings
operated in government-owned hotels. Trafficking in women was a serious problem (see section 5,
Trafficking). Sexual harassment was reportedly widespread, but no specific laws other
than those against physical assault deal with the problem. The law provides for equal treatment for women with regard to property
ownership and inheritance, family law, and in the judicial system, and
this was generally respected in practice. The law also requires equal
wages for equal work; however, this provision was not always enforced.
Women had significantly fewer opportunities for advancement to the upper
ranks of management or government and a disproportionate number of the
unemployed were women. At year's end women held only four high-level
government positions and four CEO positions in major companies. Women
reported that managers frequently considered whether a woman had children
when examining job candidates. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security
is responsible for ensuring gender equality; however, it cannot issue
binding instructions to any other government agency. Children The authorities were committed to children's welfare and health,
although the quality of education and medical care was lower outside of
major cities. Children begin school at the age of 6 and are required to complete 9
years of education. The government made 11 years of education available at
no cost, and most children completed compulsory schooling. In many cases
the government paid for university education. Children were entitled to free health care. While allowing thousands of
children living in Chernobyl-affected areas to travel abroad for
rehabilitation, the government introduced new regulations that blocked
certain groups of children from traveling during the school year (see
section 2.d.). There were no differences in the health treatment available
to girls and boys. Child abuse was a limited problem. The Ministry of Labor reported that
86 percent of the country's 32 thousand orphans had been abandoned by
their parents; this statistic appeared to include children of alcoholic
parents removed from the home by the government. Child marriage was generally not a problem. However, within the Romani
community, girls as young as 14 and boys as young as 16 could marry with
parental consent. Trafficking of children was a problem (see section 5, Trafficking).
The law allows military units to adopt and train orphans between the
ages of 14 and 16. While these children are not enlisted in the military,
they must comply with military rules, wear a uniform, and obey orders.
They are required to join the unit upon reaching the draft age of 18. Trafficking in Persons The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, there were reports
that persons were trafficked from and within the country. The government
continued to make efforts to combat trafficking, including the adoption of
decrees to protect victims' rights and increase punishment for
traffickers; however, corruption among police officers and border guards
continued to inhibit the government's antitrafficking efforts. The law criminalizes trafficking in persons for sexual or other kinds
of exploitation. The penalty for trafficking is 5 to 7 years'
imprisonment; severe forms of trafficking are punishable by up to 15
years' imprisonment. On March 9, a presidential decree increased the
punishment for trafficking. Although the possible penalties remain the
same, amendments to the criminal code made after this decree ensure that
those convicted of trafficking receive longer sentences than they would
have prior to the decree. The decree also amended the law to provide that
trafficking victims are not held criminally responsible for illegal acts
committed while a victim and that the government may confiscate the
property of convicted traffickers. Government efforts to combat trafficking improved. In the first half of
the year authorities convicted 84 persons for trafficking, compared to 67
in the same period in 2004. On March 3, a Minsk district court sentenced
the head of a sex trade ring to 15 years in prison for trafficking 168
persons to foreign countries. The government's antitrafficking efforts are coordinated by the
interior ministry's department on combating trafficking in human beings.
Many observers concluded that the government needed to clarify the role
and power of the department in order for it to be effective. Attention to trafficking at the border increased, but segments remained
largely uncontrolled. An EU program provided training and equipment to
border guards; however, an open border exists with Russia. The Ministry of
Labor continued to monitor and license activities of employment agencies
offering labor contracts in foreign countries. Under a March presidential
decree, all agencies that facilitate travel, work, study, and marriage
abroad were forced to reregister with the government and provide full
information to the government about foreign employment contracts, if
applicable (see section 2.d.). Out of 716 travel agencies, 198 were not
reregistered. Most agencies dealing with work abroad, as well as most
modeling agencies and marriage brokers, were not reregistered. Authorities cooperated with counterparts in Germany, the United
Kingdom, Israel, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Lithuania, Austria,
Poland, Italy, Turkey, and other countries on trafficking cases. NGO sources estimated that 10 thousand citizens became victims of
trafficking annually, primarily for sexual exploitation in other
countries. The country was both a country of origin and transit for women
and girls trafficked to the EU (particularly Germany, Poland, the Czech
Republic, Lithuania, and Cyprus), the Middle East (particularly Israel),
Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan. The country's open border with Russia
was a particular problem as it allowed easy trafficking of women. Women
under the age of 30 and girls were at particular risk of being trafficked
due to their ignorance of the danger and their lack of economic
opportunities, although women over 30 increasingly became trafficking
victims during the year. Traffickers used force, fraud, and coercion to traffic persons, mostly
from economically depressed areas, for sexual exploitation or for physical
or menial labor. Traffickers used offers of foreign employment or marriage
and travel agencies to recruit victims. More than half of the women
trafficked were promised jobs as dancers or entertainers without any
mention of prostitution or sex work. Traffickers often withheld victims'
documents and used physical and emotional abuse to control them. Employment agencies, particularly travel and modeling agencies, and
persons with connections overseas were primarily responsible for
trafficking. Some traffickers reportedly had links to organized crime and
drug trafficking. Corrupt officials facilitated trafficking by accepting bribes and
turning a blind eye to trafficking. On March 3, former culture ministry
official A. Semenov was sentenced to 8 years in prison for using his
position to traffick 20 women to Italy. Women seldom reported trafficking crimes to police due to the social
stigma attached to trafficking, aversion to dealing with authorities,
insufficient protection of victims and witnesses, and a shortage of
services for victims. Some victims were deported back to the country and
did not receive special status or assistance as trafficking victims. The
International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted 455 victims as of
December 1, compared with 251 in 2004. The IOM attributed the increased
number to public awareness of the problem of trafficking and improved law
enforcement assistance to trafficking victims. On August 8, the government adopted a decree that defines the status of
trafficking victims and mandates measures to provide protection, medical
care, and social rehabilitation to victims. The decree makes traffickers
responsible for expenses incurred by the government, helping victims and
permitting agencies that assisted victims to gain reimbursement through
the courts. On January 20, a state television network aired an antitrafficking film
during prime time. There was also an increase in the number of
antitrafficking billboards and television and radio public announcements
through the year. The IOM, the UN Development Program (UNDP), and La Strada/Young Women's
Christian Association (YWCA) conducted national awareness campaigns and
provided training to NGOs in regional towns. La Strada/YWCA and the IOM
continued to open and operate hotlines. On August 23, the IOM and other
official foreign donors began a two-year program to combat trafficking
through the economic empowerment of women. The government did not conduct
any trafficking awareness programs during the year, but increased
reporting on trafficking in the government-controlled media. Persons with Disabilities The law does not specifically prohibit discrimination against persons
with disabilities. Discrimination in the provision of employment,
education, access to health care, and other government services was a
problem, although the government made improvements during the year. The law mandates that transport, residences, and businesses be
accessible to persons with disabilities; however, facilities, including
public transport and government office buildings, were usually not
accessible. The Republican Association of Disabled Wheelchair Users
(RADWU) reported that the government's 2001 program to make public
buildings accessible to persons with disabilities over a five year period
had few results. For example, ramps were installed on the exteriors of
some buildings, but the interiors remained inaccessible. RADWU estimated
that over 75 percent of persons with disabilities were unable to leave
their homes without assistance. Many sidewalks and stores had no ramps and
many buildings had only stairs or small elevators. Central authorities provided minimal and mainly ineffectual benefits
for persons with disabilities. For example, while persons with
disabilities may receive a 50 percent discount on rent and utilities, it
could only be claimed if they lived alone. Since few homes were accessible
to persons with disabilities and most lived with friends or family who
helped provide daily mobility, very few could claim benefits. Public
transportation was free, but neither the subway nor the bus system were
wheelchair accessible. The government prohibited employers from requiring persons with
disabilities to work more than seven hours a day. However, this
restriction discouraged companies from hiring persons with disabilities.
The government supported only state-run rehabilitation facilities that
were often not as well-equipped or responsive to patient needs as NGO
facilities. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is the main government agency
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that youth in
ultranationalist skinhead groups such as the Russian National Union and
the National Bolshevik Party harassed foreigners and citizens promoting
Belarusian culture. Events and stores associated with the Belarusian Orthodox Church sold
anti-Semitic literature (see section 2.c.). In March the government interfered with the election of the new leader
of the Union of Belarusian Poles (see section 2.b.). There was significant official and societal discrimination against the
country's approximately 65 thousand Roma. Police harassed Romani women
selling produce or telling fortunes in markets, while government media and
officials portrayed Roma negatively. In October and November, state
television channel ONT aired a documentary, "Gypsies Go to Jail,"
that portrayed all Roma as criminals who sold drugs from childhood. On
December 21, the CRNA, responding to complaints by Romani groups, asked
the prosecutor general's Office to examine whether this program dishonored
the Roma. The Romani community was characterized by high unemployment and a low
level of education; in November authorities estimated the unemployment
rate at 93 percent. Romani children spoke mainly Romani and Belarusian and
struggled in the school system, where the primary language of instruction
was Russian. Romani students reported that teachers and fellow students
often considered them lazy or mentally incompetent due to language-related
academic difficulties. The Romani Lawyer's Group continued again during
the year to petition the government to permit the establishment of a
public Romani school in Minsk, arguing that there were schools for Jews,
Lithuanians, and Poles; authorities had not responded by year's end. Roma were often denied access to higher education in state-run
universities. The Russian and Belarusian languages have equal legal status; however,
in practice Russian was often the only language used in government
activities and on government forms. The government's record in providing
certain services in the Belarusian language improved slightly during the
year. On occasion authorities conducted official activities or published
government documents in Belarusian, although they continued to limit the
availability of early childhood education in Belarusian. Schools taught
several subjects, such as national history and geography, in Belarusian,
but increasingly taught most subjects in Russian. In September Belarusian State University officials required student
group leaders to report students who identified themselves as ethnic
Lithuanians or Poles, claiming the information was needed to determine the
percentage of international students at the university. Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination Societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS was a problem.
HIV-infected individuals were afraid to disclose their status for fear of
prejudice. Even doctors often feared AIDS and lacked knowledge about the
disease. The UNDP reported that very few medical personnel dealt with
HIV/AIDS patients and HIV-infected women could give birth only at one
department at one hospital. In prisons, HIV-infected inmates faced strong
discrimination and were segregated to minimize the risk of injury or death
at the hands of other prisoners. Incitement to Acts of Discrimination On June 2, the defense ministry newspaper Vo Slavu Rodiny
published an article and poem that denounced the election of the Union of
Belarusian Poles' leadership as undemocratic and illegal, likening it to
Hitler's fifth column and insinuating that it was aiding a foreign country
in trying to overthrow the government. The poem encouraged the public to
meet such efforts with violence, such as using clubs against "these"
Poles. Section 6 Worker Rights a. The Right of Association The law allows workers, except state security and military personnel,
to form and join independent unions on a voluntary basis; however, the
government did not respect these rights in practice. During the year the
government continued efforts to suppress independent unions and bring all
union activity under its effective control. Its measures to this end
included conversion of all government employees to short-term contracts,
nonextension of employment contracts for some members of independent
unions, arrest of members of independent unions for distributing union
literature, confiscation of union materials, denial to union members of
access to work sites, excessive fines, and pressure on union members to
join progovernment unions. The government-controlled Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB)
was the largest union organization, claiming four million members; this
number was likely inflated, since the country's total workforce was
approximately four million. The Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade
Unions (BCDTU) was the largest independent union affiliation with four
independent unions totaling 12 thousand members. Unlike the previous year, the government did not close any independent
unions; however, on August 9, the Minsk City economic court evicted the
Belarusian Free Trade Union (BFTU) from its offices for alleged nonpayment
of rent to the government-owned housing bureau of the Minsk Partizanskiy
region. The BFTU denied the allegation. The eviction left the union
without a legal residence and therefore vulnerable to being closed by the
government. On August 29, the Ministry of Justice ordered the independent Radio and
Electronic Industry Workers' Union (REP) and BCDTU to provide information
on their membership and organizational structure within 48 hours. Union
leaders criticized the order, and REP leader Gennady Fedynich claimed that
his union had been under inspection for seven months and that the ministry
already had the information it required. The BCDTU had also gone through a
government inspection a few months earlier. On October 4, Grodno authorities, under orders from the Ministry of
Justice, inspected the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) at the
Grodno-Azot factory, checking documents, membership lists, and minutes of
conferences and sessions of the BNP executive committee, as well as
membership dues. The union's leader claimed he was not informed of the
inspection in advance and expressed the view that authorities were
carrying out instructions given by Lukashenko in a FTUB conference speech
to "destroy" all independent trade unions. The government claimed it
informed the union in advance of the inspection, and that no violations
were found. The Ministry of Justice closed the Belarusian Party of Labor in August
2004; the party was not re-established during the year. The government restricted the ability of workers to organize
independent unions. A presidential decree requires that unions enroll at
least 10 percent of workers in an enterprise in order to form and register
a local union and at least 500 members to form and register a national
union. Independent trade union leaders reported that the requirement made
union registration, and therefore union activities, nearly impossible in
many of the larger state-owned enterprises. Some local unions were denied
registration under the decree. On November 4, the Ministry of Justice ordered the independent Free
Trade Union of Metalworkers (FTUM) to reregister as a local organization
after a ministry inspection found the union only had 217 members. FTUM
leadership protested, claiming the union has 542 members and that the
ministry had blocked 4 of the union's 9 local branches from registering.
The ministry also found the Democratic Union of Transport Workers to have
too few members, and referred the case to the prosecutor general for
further action. On July 18, President Lukashenko signed a decree giving the
progovernment FTUB the exclusive right to inspect any employer,
government-owned or private, for compliance with labor regulations without
regard to whether it actually employed FTUB members. The BCDTU considered
that this decree discriminated against unions not affiliated with the
FTUB. On October 20, the Ministry of Labor gave the FTUB the right to
inspect any business for compliance with wage regulations, regardless of
whether that firm employed FTUB members. On September 20, at the FTUB convention, Lukashenko criticized
independent trade unions and advised the FTUB to enlist the remaining
independent trade union members into the FTUB. An October 26 presidential
decree granted FTUB-affiliated unions free use of office space in
state-owned buildings. This decree did not apply to independent trade
unions. Since 2004 the government has forced government employees and employees
of state-owned businesses, who were a majority of the workforce, to work
under a short-term contract system. There were credible reports that the
government used this system to dismiss independent union members and
opposition political activists. While contracts could be signed for
periods up to five years, most major employers concluded contracts for
six-month or one-year terms. On August 23, President Lukashenko signed a
decree that set the minimum contract length at one year. Any contract for
a shorter period must have the worker's written consent; contract
terminations required a two-week notice. Independent unions welcomed the
decree but considered the contract system to be "fundamentally" wrong and
incompatible with international standards. Union sources reported that
state companies began offering bonuses to workers who signed contracts;
workers who signed contracts received salary increases of up to 35
percent. Authorities took a number of actions to interfere with the organizing
and operation of independent unions. During the year the government
revived its ideology program at state enterprises, assigning new ideology
directors to promote government policies and monitor workers' attitudes.
Previously, tenured and relatively independent workers occupied such
positions. One independent union leader claimed that the ideology director
at his factory characterized the job as being to rid the factory of all
nongovernment unions. On August 15, the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) transferred Vladimir
Volkov, the chair of the MAZ REP, to a less qualified position with a
decrease in pay, claiming his health kept him from fulfilling his duties.
Sources indicated that Volkov's health did not affect his work, but gave
the MAZ administration a reason to annul his contract and move him to
another section of the factory. The new position prevented Volkov from
speaking to other union members at the plant. On September 28, a Grodno court fined Jan Roman, a journalist for the
independent union newspaper Solidarnost and member of the REP, $600
(1.3 million rubles) for acting on behalf of an unregistered organization.
The action was based on allegations by the head of the guard unit at the
Grodno Automobile Engine Plant that Roman had distributed leaflets
containing foul language and biased information that disrupted the plant's
working environment. In reaching its decision, the court ignored documents
showing that REP was registered with the Ministry of Justice and ruled
that the union was an unregistered organization because it did not have a
local chapter or registration in Grodno. Roman was again arrested October
7 for passing out copies of an independent newspaper but released after an
hour. On September 21—a week prior to Roman's conviction—unknown persons
broke into and ransacked REP's rented Grodno offices, breaking computers,
overturning furniture, and removing documents and electronic files. REP
leaders blamed the break-in on government services. On September 13,
unknown persons broke into the Minsk office of REP leader Gennady Fedynich
and removed documents and electronic files. Authorities harassed independent union leaders. On October 13, the
prosecutor general's office summoned BCDTU leader Aleksandr Yaroshuk to
question him on where he heard that President Lukashenko had ordered the
FTUB to eliminate independent unions. In September the prosecutor
general's office questioned REP leader Gennady Fedynich about material in
a REP bulletin, the place the bulletin was printed, and arrangements for
its distribution. Authorities continued to threaten or fire employees at state-run
enterprises who joined independent unions; workers often chose to avoid
joining nongovernment unions in order to keep their jobs and provide for
their families. For example, in Orsha, threats of job loss reportedly
caused independent union membership to drop from 250 to 190 during the
year. Union leaders and political activists were typically unable to renew
their contracts or were unsuccessful in finding new jobs in their
profession. Oleg Dolbik, head of the dissolved Belarusian Union of Air
Traffic Controllers, was fired as an air traffic controller in 2004 and
has since had difficulty finding a job in his profession. On July 29, Maria Bogdanovich, an opposition activist who was fired
from the Gomel region history museum on May 25, won a lawsuit against the
museum administration. The Gomel central court ordered the museum to pay
Bogdanovich for her forced May 25-July 29 absence from work and to change
the reason of her dismissal from "repeated failure to carry out her labor
contract duties without valid reasons" to "dismissal by mutual consent."
Bogdanovich accused the museum administration of victimizing her for her
political activities. Employers are not required to reinstate workers
fired for political or union activity. The government interfered with unions' participation in regional and
international labor organizations. On February 2, BCDTU leader Aleksandr Yaroshuk reported that the
government, citing the BCDTU's "insufficient membership," did not include
the largest independent union in the country's official delegation to the
regional International Labor Organization (ILO) conference in Budapest;
instead, the country's unions were represented by Eduard Matulis, deputy
chairman of the government-controlled FTUB. In October 2004 an ILO commission of inquiry found that the government
had interfered in union activity and made 12 recommendations to the
government on increasing its respect for freedom of association. In June
the ILO application of standards committee concluded that the government
had not taken concrete measures to comply with the recommendations. The
government refused permission for a special ILO commission of inquiry to
visit the country in September due to "scheduling conflicts." In November
the ILO committee on freedom of association presented a report that
concluded the government had failed to implement any of the 12
recommendations. In 2003 the Ministry of the Economy instructed the ILO to stop all
activities related to its technical assistance project for labor unions
because the registration of the project had been rejected. The ministry
cited the exclusion of the government-controlled FTUB from project
activities as the main reason that registration was denied, even though
local branch unions affiliated with the FTUB participated in project
activities throughout the year. b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively The law provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively;
however, government authorities and state-owned enterprises interfered in
union activities and hindered the ability of workers to bargain
collectively, in some instances arbitrarily suspending collective
bargaining agreements. In October 2004 an ILO commission of inquiry concluded that several
trade unions had been denied the right to bargain collectively because of
the deregistration and nonregistration of unions. Unions reported that
some enterprises and state agencies pressured workers to accept individual
contracts in lieu of collective contracts and also altered the duration of
the contracts from life to fixed terms. While the FTUB has exclusive rights to inspect any workplace,
independent unions were rarely able to engage in such activities. For
example, the BFTU chairman, Gennady Bykov, was denied access to the Minsk
Factory of Automatic Lines, despite having a union leader pass. According
to the BFTU, the head of the personnel department of the plant refused to
grant Bykov access until he provided information about his reporting and
about the union conference at which he was elected chairman of the BFTU.
After the requested information was submitted, Bykov was granted an access
pass until the end of the year. Bykov linked the incident to the
administration's fear of BFTU's activities and its increasing membership
at the plant. The law provides for the right to strike; however, tight government
control over public demonstrations made it difficult for unions to strike
or hold public rallies. During the year small vendors and workers
organized several small strikes in various regions of the country.
Nonetheless, authorities authorized only small demonstrations away from
city centers. Management and local authorities frustrated workers'
attempts to organize strikes on many occasions by declaring that such
activities would be illegal. In April Brest Oblast judge Ruslana Syanko found Valantsin Lazarenkau,
the chair of the Brest Oblast branch of the Free Trade Union, guilty of
holding an unsanctioned meeting in a market during a market vendors'
demonstration on March 15. Lazarenkau claimed he did not organize the
meeting but was invited as a guest speaker. Judge Syanko fined Lazarenkau
$237 (510 thousand rubles). On April 25, Minsk city authorities denied REP
permission to stage a rally in central Minsk on May 1 on the grounds that
the REP failed to apply 15 days in advance, as stipulated by law.
According to REP leader Gennady Fedynich, the application was delivered on
April 15. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the
six special economic zones. c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children;
however, women and girls were trafficked for sexual exploitation (see
section 5). The government approved several subbotniks by which workers
"volunteered" to work on Saturday and donate the day's earnings to finance
government social projects. Participation in subbotniks was
technically voluntary but effectively mandatory; workers who refused to
participate were subject to fines and intimidation by employers and
government authorities. On March 1, the government arbitrarily ordered 150 graduating medical
students to work for 3 years in small towns and villages assigned by the
government. While the government routinely assigned students who received
state scholarships or stipends to work in such areas after graduation,
this was the first time authorities forced students who had not received
assistance into compulsory service. With the concurrence of a doctor, an administrative court may sentence
alcohol and drug abusers to up to two years' labor in a government
work-treatment center, one of which is located in each of the country's
six regions. Inmates receive minimal pay, almost all of which is taken to
cover room and board. d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment The government has laws and policies to protect children from
exploitation in the workplace, including a prohibition on forced and
compulsory labor and policies regarding acceptable working conditions, and
the government implemented these laws in practice. The law establishes 16 as the minimum age for employment. With the
written consent of one parent or legal guardian, a 14-year-old child may
conclude a labor contract. The prosecutor general's office reportedly
enforced this law effectively. Minors under the age of 18 were allowed to
work in nonhazardous jobs, but were not allowed to work overtime, on
weekends, or on government holidays. Work was not to be harmful to the
minor's health or hinder his/her education. Child labor was generally not
a problem. e. Acceptable Conditions of Work The national minimum wage of $55 (118 thousand rubles) a month did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Officially,
average real wages were approximately $250 (537 thousand rubles) a month
at year's end, although many employees received additional wages under the
table. The law establishes a standard work week of 40 hours and provides for
at least one 24-hour rest period per week. Because of the country's
difficult economic situation, a number of workers found themselves working
considerably less than 40 hours per week, and factories often required
workers to take unpaid furloughs due to raw material or energy shortages
or lack of demand for factory output. The law provides for mandatory
overtime and holiday pay and restricts overtime to 4 hours every two days,
with a maximum of 120 hours of overtime allowed each year. The government
was believed to have effectively enforced these standards. The law establishes minimum conditions for workplace safety and worker
health; however, employers often ignored these standards. Workers at many
heavy machinery plants did not wear even minimal safety gear. There is a
state labor inspectorate, but the agency lacked authority to enforce
employer compliance and often ignored violations. From January to June,
workplace accidents killed 101 workers and seriously injured 337 others;
46 percent of those killed in accidents were inebriated. The law does not
provide workers the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
environments without risking loss of employment. |