BELARUS

CASE N° BLS/01 - ANDREI KLIMOV
CASE N° BLS/02 - VLADIMIR KOUDINOV
CASE N° BLS/05 - VICTOR GONCHAR
CASE N° BLS/10 - VALERY SHCHUKIN

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 165th session (Berlin, 16 October 1999)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Having before it the case of Mr. Andrei Klimov, Mr. Vladimir Koudinov, Mr. Victor Gonchar and Mr. Valery Shchukin, all members of the 13th Supreme Soviet of Belarus elected in 1995, which has been the subject of a study and report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in accordance with the "Procedure for the examination and treatment by the Inter-Parliamentary Union of communications concerning violations of human rights of parliamentarians",

Taking note of the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/165/12(b)-R.1), which contains a detailed outline of the case,

Considering that Mr. Andrei Klimov, Mr. Vladimir Koudinov, Mr. Victor Gonchar and Mr. Valery Shchukin were members of the 13th Supreme Soviet elected in 1995 for a five-year term; that subsequent to the adoption of the new Constitution in November 1996 they lost their parliamentary mandates,

Noting that, on the occasion of the 102nd Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Committee heard two of the persons concerned on the one hand and, on the other, the delegation of the House of Representatives of Belarus to the Conference, including the country's Deputy Minister of the Interior,

Considering that the current evidence on file is that Mr. Klimov took an active part in initiating the impeachment petition against President Lukashenko in November 1996 and that he was also active in the unofficial committee formed by Supreme Soviet deputies to investigate President Lukashenko's political conduct; that on 11 February 1998 he was arrested and accused of embezzlement and irregularities in his company's dealings, and that in August 1999 he was charged under Article 150.2 of the Penal Code with substantial misappropriation of public funds; that he is liable to six to fifteen years' imprisonment for embezzlement, and to a maximum of three years in prison for business irregularities; that the source asserts that the charges are trumped up and politically motivated; that the source further asserts that his health has considerably worsened in detention and that the visiting rights of his family and lawyer have been suspended several times, once for some five months; that the authorities affirm, on the contrary, that his family is free to visit him and that this right is subject to no restriction, that his lawyer can meet him in private and without limitation, and that a doctor has examined him several times on account of health problems predating his arrest,

Considering that further evidence on file is that Mr. Koudinov was also involved in the attempt to have President Lukashenko impeached; that he was arrested in 1997 by highway police and accused of offering the police a US$500 bribe to let through one of his trucks carrying eight tons of meat; that he was tried on 8 August 1997, found guilty of attempted corruption under Article 15.2 and Article 170.2 of the Penal Code and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and confiscation of all his property; that the Minsk Regional Court and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict on appeal; that the sources assert that the trial was flawed by various irregularities; that they allege that Mr. Koudinov is often denied family visits and that in August 1998 he was placed in solitary confinement after a letter from him addressed to the youth of Belarus was confiscated from his daughters who had just visited him; that on 8 June 1998 his wife was allegedly attacked by two unknown masked individuals threatening to strike her if she continued attempting to secure her husband's release; that the authorities state, on the contrary, that Mr. Koudinov has received medical assistance on eight occasions and that there is nothing to prevent his relatives from visiting him in accordance with prison regulations,

Considering that further evidence on file is that on 16 September 1999, Mr. Gonchar, Vice-President of the 13th Supreme Soviet, and one of his friends, Mr. Anatoly Krasovsky, failed to return home and have since disappeared; that the efforts made to find them, according to the authorities, have so far been fruitless; considering in this context that Mr. Gonchar was to have taken a leading part in the forthcoming talks under OSCE auspices between the opposition and President Lukashenko; considering also that in March 1999 Mr. Gonchar had been sentenced to ten days' administrative detention following his central role in the attempt to organise presidential elections in July 1999,

Noting that after Mr. Yury Zakharenko, former Minister of the Interior, and Ms. Tamara Vinnokova, former President of the National Bank, Mr. Gonchar is the third prominent member of the Belarusian opposition to have disappeared since April 1999,

Considering, finally, that the evidence on file is that Mr. Shchukin was Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Committee on National Security and was also involved in the attempt to impeach President Lukashenko; that it is alleged that he is under constant police surveillance, constantly harassed, regularly subjected to arrests and interrogation, or even police brutality, and repeatedly sentenced to punishments ranging from a few days of administrative detention to a fine of 30 million roubles for taking part in a demonstration; that the judicial proceedings are allegedly flawed by various irregularities; that, according to the authorities, he was sentenced for taking part in unauthorised demonstrations and for acts of hooliganism,

Noting that the authorities deny that the four former members of the Supreme Soviet have been targeted for political reasons and that, in support of that assertion, they state that of the thirteen members of the Supreme Soviet who signed the impeachment petition in November 1996, five are today serving members of the National Assembly and even hold senior positions in it, and others occupy diplomatic posts,

1. Is alarmed at the disappearance of Mr. Victor Gonchar and his friend;
2. Notes marked discrepancies between the information received from the sources and that provided by the authorities regarding the situation of Mr. Koudinov, Mr. Klimov and Mr. Shchukin;
3. Accepts with satisfaction the invitation extended by the National Assembly of Belarus to the Inter-Parliamentary Union to send an on-site mission to meet the authorities and persons concerned and all competent sources of information;
4. Takes note with satisfaction of the assurances given by the delegation that such a mission will be able take place in accordance with the rules applied by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which provide in particular that all conversations with detainees must be conducted in the absence of any witness not belonging to the mission;
5. Hopes that the mission will be able to take place in the near future;
6. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (April-May 2000).

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