[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23957-23958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   DISSIDENTS DISAPPEARING IN BELARUS

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, the government of Belarus has 
systematically intimidated and punished members of opposition political 
groups for several years now. Ordinary citizens--some as young as 
fifteen--have been beaten, arrested, and charged with absurd criminal 
offenses all because they dared to speak out against the President of 
Belarus, Alex Lukashenko, and his crushing of basic human rights and 
civil liberties there.
  Recently, however, events have grown worse. Four dissidents, closely 
watched by the government's omnipresent security police have vanished.

[[Page 23958]]

The government says it has no clues as to why. Up until now, the 
President only beat and jailed his opponents. The President now appears 
to be behind a series of disappearances by key opposition figures since 
April, as reported in the New York Times. Last week, the State 
Department said that it was greatly concerned about the pattern of 
disappearances and urged the government of Belarus to find and protect 
those who had vanished. The disappearances coincide with the strongest 
campaign yet launched by Belarus's pro-democracy movement to press the 
government for reforms.
  The first person to disappear was the former chairwoman of the 
Central Bank (Tamara Vinnikova). She publicly supported the former 
prime minister, an opposition candidate, and was being held on trumped 
up charges under house arrest with an armed guard at the time she 
vanished. That she was held under house arrest, guarded at all times by 
live-in KGB agents, her telephone calls and visitors strictly screened, 
strongly suggests that her disappearance was orchestrated by the 
authorities.
  In May, Yuri Zakharenka, a former interior minister and an opposition 
activist, disappeared as he was walking home. He was last seen bundled 
into a car by a group of unidentified men. His wife said for two weeks 
prior to his abduction, he had complained of being tailed by two cars.
  At the height of protests in July, another opposition leader, speaker 
of the illegally disbanded parliament, fled to Lithuania, saying that 
he feared for his life.
  Then two weeks ago, Victor Gonchar, a leading political dissident, 
and his friend, a publisher, vanished on an evening outing, even though 
Mr. Gonchar was under constant surveillance by the security police. 
Gonchar's wife reportedly contacted city law enforcement agencies, 
local hospitals and morgues without result. The government maintains 
that it has no information on his whereabouts. Mr. Gonchar has been 
instrumental in selecting an opposition delegation to OSCE-mediated 
talks with the government, and was scheduled to meet with the U.S. 
ambassador to Belarus on September 20. Earlier this year, police 
violently assaulted and arrested him on charges of holding an illegal 
meeting in a private cafe, for which he served ten days in jail.
  Before President Lukashenko came to office in 1994, one could see 
improvements in the human rights situation in Belarus. Independent 
newspapers emerged, and ordinary citizens started openly expressing 
their views and ideas, opened associations and began to organize. The 
parliament became a forum for debate among parties with differing 
political agendas. The judiciary also began to operate more 
independently.
  After Mr. Lukashenko was elected president, he extended his term and 
replaced the elected Parliament with his own hand-picked legislators in 
a referendum in 1996, universally condemned as rigged. Since then, he 
has held fast to his goal of strengthening his dictatorship. He has 
ruthlessly sought to control and subordinate most aspects of public 
life, both in government and in society, cracking down on the media, 
political parties and grass roots movements. Under the new 
constitution, he overwhelming dominates other branches of government, 
including the parliament and judiciary.
  The first president of democratic Belarus, Stanislav Shushkevich, and 
now in the opposition, said recently that the government is resorting 
to state terrorism by abducting and silencing dissidents. He said, 
``the regime has gone along the path of eliminating the leaders against 
whom it can't open even an artificial case. This is done with the goal 
of strengthening the dictatorship.''
  I am deeply concerned that comments by senior government officials 
this past week which betray official indifference to those 
disappearances.
  I urge President Lukashenko to use all available means at his 
disposal to locate the four missing--and to ensure the safety and 
security of all living in Belarus, regardless of their political views. 
What is happening in Belarus now is an outrage. The world is watching 
what President Lukashenko does to address it.
  Mr. President, I want the Government of Belarus to know that their 
blatant violation of the human rights of citizens is unacceptable. The 
report several days ago of four prominent men and women who have had 
the courage to stand up against this very repressive Government of 
Belarus raises very serious questions. As a Senator, I want to speak 
from the floor and condemn that Government's repressive actions. I want 
to make it clear to the Government of Belarus that these actions, the 
repression and violation of citizens' rights in Belarus, is 
unacceptable, I think, to every single Senator.
  I think many of us in the human rights community are very worried 
about whether or not they are still alive. I would not want the 
Government of Belarus to think they can engage in this kind of 
repressive activity with impunity. That is why I speak about this on 
the floor of the Senate.

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