The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Victor Gonchar, a member of the Thirteenth Supreme Soviet of Belarus, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/178/12(b) R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 177th session (October 2005),

Taking account of the hearing the Committee held with a member of the Belarusian delegation during the 114th IPU Assembly,

Recalling that Mr. Gonchar disappeared together with his friend Anatoly Krasovsky on 16 September 1999 and has not reappeared since; an investigation was instituted and the parliamentary authorities have consistently reported that all available leads have been followed, even those suggested by newspaper reports and other sources; however, the authorities have rejected as totally unfounded the detailed information contained in the report on disappearances for allegedly political reasons in Belarus, published by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in February 2004 and do not appear to have carried out any thorough investigation into the leads it contains,

Considering that, as to its requests for information about the role played by Colonel Pavlichenko referred to in the PACE report *, the Belarusian delegate stated that two acquaintances of Mr. Pavlichenko were part of the gang and had provided his name; it was easy to establish his innocence and he was therefore released,

Recalling further that, at the hearing held in October 2005, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Legislation, Judicial and Legal Issues stated that economic motives may have prompted Mr. Gonchar's and Mr. Krasovsky's disappearance, as Mr. Gonchar was heavily indebted because of his business in the Russian Federation, and Mr. Krasovsky had been summoned to appear in court on a charge of tax evasion; considering that, according to Mr. Gonchar’s wife, she had never heard that her husband had business interests and debts, and she had received an official paper from the Procurator's Office stating that her husband's abduction was in no way connected with a criminal case; at the hearing held in Nairobi (May 2006), the Belarusian delegate reiterated the allegation of economic motives, this time alleging that Mr. Krasovsky was a noted businessman, but highly indebted, and that Mr. Gonchar was involved in his business; he alleged further that Mrs. Krasovsky, who is now living in the United States, has refused to testify and provide information to the Belarusian authorities,

Considering that, according to the information provided to the Committee at the hearing held in Nairobi, the investigation into this case has been reopened seven times and is now temporarily closed since no new evidence has come up for the last three months, but it is to be reopened and the Prosecutor General is "keeping it under control" and seeking new evidence; likewise, the parliament is following it and being kept informed by the Prosecutor General,

Recalling that in its report on disappearances for allegedly political reasons in Belarus, issued in February 2004, the PACE concluded that no proper investigation had been carried out and that senior state officials might have been involved in the disappearance of several opposition figures, including Mr. Gonchar, and that it has consequently urged President Lukashenko and the Belarusian authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the fate of disappeared persons, most recently in its Resolution 1482 of 26 January 2006,

1. Thanks the Belarusian delegation for its cooperation;

2. Deplores the absence of any progress in the investigation; and can only reaffirm that, so long as the Belarusian authorities do not fully investigate the evidence revealed in the PACE report or adduce other convincing evidence which they say may exist, the suspicion expressed in the PACE report as to the possible role of state officials in Mr. Gonchar's disappearance will remain fully justified, and thus the suspicion that Mr. Gonchar was the victim of a “forced disappearance”;

3. Recalls that forced disappearances are a serious violation of human rights, and recalls Article 1 of the "Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance", adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992, which states that: "Any act of enforced disappearance is an offence to human dignity. It is condemned as a denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and as a grave and flagrant violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ...";

4. Recalls also that Belarus is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and thus bound to respect the right to life, which comprises the duty of States to investigate thoroughly cases of persons who have disappeared in circumstances possibly involving a violation of the right to life;

5. Calls once again on the authorities and in particular the Belarusian parliament to ensure that a thorough and independent investigation is conducted, and wishes to be kept informed of any progress made;

6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the sources and to the competent authorities;

7. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held during the 115th IPU Assembly (October 2006).

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* Accordingto the PACE report, Colonel Pavlichenko was arrested on 22 November 2000 on the orders of the then director of the Belarusian Committee on State Security (KGB) and the Prosecutor General on suspicion of being the head of a gang involved in kidnapping and murder. The arrest warrant ordered 30 days of detention, but he was released shortly after his arrest. According to the PACE report, there are serious indications that he may be the person responsible for abducting and eliminating Mr. Gonchar and Mr. Krasovsky.

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