CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 21, 2003
www.charter97.org
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IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTRY CONFIRMS THAT UDEI HUSSEIN WILL PAY VISIT TO BELARUS IN
MARCH
15:22 21/02/2003

Iraqi FM official confirmed on Friday that Saddam's senior son Udei would visit
Belarus in March this year. Udei Saddam Hussein is a chairman of the National
Olympic Committee of Iraq. He will be present at the international wrestling
competition in Minsk. Udei's coming to Belarus will be his first official trip
to the CIS countries. In fall the man categorically objected rumors that he had
secretly visited Moscow.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/mid

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APPLICATION FOR PEOPLE'S MARCH "FOR BETTER LIFE!" SUBMITTED TO MINSK CITY HALL
11:46 21/02/2003

Application for holding the People's March "For Better Life!" on March 12 was
submitted yesterday to the Minsk city hall by Ludmila Gryaznova, Andrei Sannikov
and Vladimir Kobets. The goal of the action is to protest against amateurish
and incompetent state policy and sharp fall in the people's living standard.
The event's organizers will draw public attention to the enormous rise in the
cost of public utilities, real decrease in the size of salaries, pensions, stipends,
human rights violations and deterioration of entrepreneurial conditions in Belarus.
The participants will gather on Wednesday, March 12, at 6p.m. at the Yakub Kolas
square.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/12march

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SADDAM HUSSEIN'S SON TO PAY VISIT TO BELARUS
11:39 21/02/2003

Cooperation deal between the National Olympic Committee of Belarus and the Olympic
Committee of Iraq has been signed on Thursday in Minsk. As pointed put by the
presidential aide for physical culture, sport and tourism development, Vice-President
of NOC Nikolai Ananiev, the treaty envisages organization of joint trainings,
exchange of coaches, medics, experts and scholarly personnel. He expressed hope
that along with the Iraqi team, which will engage in the March 29-30 wrestling
competition, Minsk will be visited by the president of the Olympic Committee
of Iraq, Saddam Hussein's son Udei. "Then we could embark on more concrete negotiations
on the spot,"  said Vice-President of the Belarusian NOC.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/uday

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CONGRESSMAN SMITH CONVINCED THAT "ACT ON DEMOCRACY IN BELARUS-2003" WILL BE RATIFIED
SOON
11:20 21/02/2003

US Congressman Christopher Smith presented on February 13 for the consideration
of the US Congress' House of representatives his "Act on Democracy in Belarus".
He referred to the current state of affairs with human rights in Belarus as "abysmal".
According to the document's author the bill is intended to help promote democratic
development, human rights and the rule of law in the Republic of Belarus, as
well as encourage the consolidation and strengthening of Belarus sovereignty
and independence. It also encourages free and fair parliamentary elections, conducted
in a manner consistent with international standards. The act would likewise impose
sanctions against the Lukashenka regime, and deny high-ranking officials of the
regime entry into the United States, as well as require reports from the President
concerning the sale or delivery of weapons or weapons-related technologies from
Belarus to rogue states. Therefore, they finally launched the consideration procedure
of this Act by the new Congress' composition, which started its work in fall
last year. The congressman himself told Radio "Svaboda" that the draft law will
hopefully be approved in the near future.Read below the full text of the speech:
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/smith

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ALEKSEI MAROCHKIN: PEOPLE'S MARCH MEANS PEOPLE'S ACTIVISM
15:29 21/02/2003

Distinguished Belarusian artist, deputy chairman of the "Pagonya" association
Aleksei Marochkin stated his support to the People's March "For Better Life!",
due to take place in Belarus on March 12. "I assume that the social-economic
situation of our country touches upon every individual, including artists and
other intelligentsia. I know that my colleagues, professors of the Belarusian
arts academy, receive miserable wages. And so I'm calling on everyone to uphold
the People's March under the motto "For Better Life!", said Marochkin in an interview
to Charter's press-center.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/marochkin

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ZINAIDA GONCHAR REQUIRES TO PASS HER HUSBAND'S DISAPPEARANCE CASE TO KGB
15:26 21/02/2003

Zinaida Gonchar and Irina Krasovskaya demand to resume investigation into their
husbands' abductions, but by KGB rather than procuracy. Spouses of the missing
opposition members addressed with a complaint Minsk procuracy, which had been
investigating into the case of Gonchar and Krasovsky for more than three years
and now halted them for no reason.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/kgb

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USA DENY RECOGNITION TO "NATIONAL ASSEMBLY"
14:41 21/02/2003, UCP press-service

The head of the US Congress delegation in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Christopher
Smith and his colleagues at the meeting with UCP leader Anatoly Lebedko and his
deputy Yaroslav Romanchuk stated that USA don't view the "national assembly"
as a legitimate, democratically elected parliament. "One can't cover by a procedure
apparent human rights and freedoms violations in Belarus,"  deems Smith.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/usa

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OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL REQUIRES CLARIFICATIONS FROM OSCE PA
14:39 21/02/2003

OSCE secretary general Jan Kubis said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly must
send their delegates to Minsk and explain to the Belarusian public real motivation
behind what they did. "One should make it clear to all that legitimization of
the "national assembly" is no sign of support to what's going on in Belarus,"
 assumes Jan Kubis. UCP press-service reports that in a conversation with the
UCP chair Lebedko and his deputy Romanchuk secretary general underscored that
the Assembly's tactics is unclear to him and he wonders whether it has any concrete
plan of action.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/gensek

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PRESIDENT OF AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT FRUSTRATED
14:35 21/02/2003, UCP press-service

The head of the Austrian parliament Andreas Kohl met with Anatoly Lebedko and
Yaroslav Romanchuk. The president of the National Assembly of Austria said that
he was frustrated over the OSCE PA decision to provide seats to the parliament,
which has never been elected in compliance with the OSCE principles, nor implements
democratic policy. "The democratic forces of Belarus can always count on both
political and moral assistance of the Austrian parliament,"  said Kohl.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/kol

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ALEXANDER DOBROVOLSKY: ELECTIONS AREN'T DEMOCRATIC
12:00 21/02/2003

"The authorities ignored all OSCE conditions. They never embarked on the democratization
of electoral law, nor ceased persecution of political opponents and free press,
but rather intensified their crackdown. Instead of creating the atmosphere of
confidence in the country, they make people tremble from fear. And so the elections
cannot be regarded as just and free,"  Charter'97 press-center was told by deputy
chairman of the United Civil Party Alexander Dobrovolsky.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/ucpb

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BELARUSIAN FIRE-FIGHTING MACHINERY TO BE SHIPPED TO IRAQ
11:44 21/02/2003

"Belkommunmash" company is negotiating on the consignment of fire-fighting equipment
to Iraq. "Mediafact" was told by the company's specialists that the cost of the
original agreement will be defined in the near future.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/pozhar

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COMPLAINTS OVER POLICE WORK WELL-GROUNDED
11:43 21/02/2003

Last year the Interior Ministry of Belarus received over a thousand letters,
complaints and statements of citizens. All information about violation of law
by the law-enforcement agents, power abuse and unworthy conduct are being subject
to thorough examinations. "Moreover," said in an interview to BelTA the head
of the department of police security of the Belarusian Interior Ministry Leonid
Kluev: "analysis proves that the third of all complaints aren't at all speculative,
but justified."
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/ment

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CHRISTOPHER SMITH SHOCKED BY OSCE PA'S DECISION
11:27 21/02/2003

Following six years of recognition denial, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly all
of a sudden ruled to legitimize the "national assembly" of Belarus. The US delegation
proposed to postpone the issue's consideration till summer session. The head
of the US Congress delegation Christopher Smith said the following: "I'm shocked
by the very idea that we can have any doubts as to whether or not we should give
room for Lukashenko's representatives. The man already commented on the OSCE
mission's return as if it was his personal victory and confession of their intervention
into Belarus' internal affairs. But the core essence of human rights control
is this: the members don't let other members violate human rights. If there's
a country, which infringes on them, we got to react. And in my view, this new
mission will be pretty much isolated and not really influential".
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/shock

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GERMAN DELEGATION WARMLY WELCOMES "PARLIAMENT'S" RETURN TO OSCE PA
11:26 21/02/2003

The German delegates actively greeted the legitimization of the "national assembly"
of Belarus in OSCE PA. The head of the working group for Belarus Uta Tsapf declared:
"I have my personal opinion on the matter. From juridical and political perspectives
I am in favor of returning the National Assembly to the OSCE PA. Our approach
isn't all about sanctions but rather positive dialogue. They have to be accepted
and taken under strict control, as concerns further situation development. They
got to be inside us, rather than outside,"  UCP press-center quotes her as saying.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/deutsch

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OSCE OA HEAD: THAT'S PURELY PROCEDURAL DECISION
11:24 21/02/2003

OSCE PA president George Bruce noted after the recognition of the Belarusian
"parliament": "We aren't creating any artificial hindrances. For us it is sufficient
that the country ratified Helsinki agreement, Political Charter and the government
is represented in OSCE. Hopefully, this won't be interpreted as our support of
something that's going on in Belarus. It's a totally procedural decision".
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/osce

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BELARUS ENGAGES IN NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT'S SUMMIT
11:21 21/02/2003, AFN

The Foreign Minister of Belarus Mikhail Khvostov took a flight to Kuala-Lumpur
(Malaysia) to participate in the XIII summit of the Non-Alignment movement's
member-states as the head of the Belarusian official delegation at the event.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/21/neprisoed
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 21, 2003
www.charter97.org