POLICE DISRUPT U.S. DIPLOMAT'S MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 001006

SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y(DECLAS DATE ADDED, CLASS BY ADDED)


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/15
TAGS: PGOV PREL BO
SUBJECT: POLICE DISRUPT U.S. DIPLOMAT'S MEETING WITH
NGOs

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Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot, reason 1.4(g)


1. (C) Summary: Gomel Police officers disrupted a
meeting between NGOs and two Emboffs on August 24 and
prevented the latter from leaving for 40 minutes.
Poloff presented his dipcard to police officers and was
held until two more police and an immigration officer
arrived. The immigration officer scrutinized Poloff's
dipcard and diplomatic passport and continued to hold
Emboffs until the local government-controlled media
arrived, which filmed Emboffs as they left. The police
left immediately following the Emboffs and did not
detain or question the NGO representatives. According
to an independent journalist, the police had received
orders to follow the "foreigners." Emboffs cancelled
all planned meetings and immediately returned to Minsk.
End Summary.


2. (C) Poloff and LES political assistant arrived in
Gomel on August 23 for a two-day visit to meet with
local NGOs, independent journalists, political parties,
and Chernobyl rehabilitation programs. The trip was
planned three weeks in advance with correspondence
between the Ministry of Health and MFA to secure
meetings with Gomselmash and the new radiation center
hospital. As Emboffs left a meeting with
representatives of Belarus' largest combine producer
Gomselmash, a local reporter and cameraman were outside
videotaping and asked for a few words about Emboffs'
visit to Gomel. Emboffs asked them to stop filming and
left for their next meeting.


3. (C) Emboffs were to meet leader of the civil
initiative "Fund for Promoting Local Development" Victor
Korniyenko and other NGO representatives at his home and
office at Polesskaya St. During the meeting with
Gomselmash, Korniyenko called to inform that the police
cordoned off both ends of Polesskaya St. due to an
alleged bomb threat in Korniyenko's neighborhood. No
through traffic was allowed and the meeting would have
to take place at another location.


4. (C) At 14:15, Emboffs arrived at the new location for
the meeting, 35 Lenin St. Upon arrival, Poloff noticed
probable KGB officers standing in the courtyard next to
darkly tinted cars with multiple antennas. The meeting
took place in a vacant apartment on the second floor.
Those present included Korniyenko, representative from
the Gomel Regional Center for Social Assistance Elena
Dedkova, 'Gart' youth group activist Yulia Sivet,
'Limon' youth group activist Sergey Semenov, civil
initiative representative Vladimir Katsora, and
'Yarovit' cultural and educational center director
Yevginy Kostsyushko. Five minutes into the discussion,
a "plumber" arrived to fix a "problem" in the apartment.
[Note: This is the KGB's most common method to disrupt a
meeting.] The owner of the apartment refused to let him
in. Five minutes later, two police officers entered the
apartment on the grounds that a neighbor had reported an
illegal gathering and demanded everyone's
identification.


5. (C) Poloff presented his dipcard, but the police
would not allow Emboffs to leave. The LES' documents
were in the car and she was not allowed to get them.
Poloff repeatedly told the officers they had no right to
keep them from leaving, but the officers continued to
block the door and would not even look at Emboffs
directly when speaking. They asked ridiculous and
sometimes irrelevant questions, such as "How long have
you been in Belarus?", "Where do you live?", and "What
is your nationality?" Poloff continued to keep the
Embassy informed of the situation via mobile phone and
took the officers' names and identification numbers.
Eventually, the commanding officer went outside to call
his superiors. When Poloff attempted to follow, the
remaining officer shut the door, preventing him from
leaving. The commanding officer returned and said to
wait another five minutes until his "colleagues"
arrived.


6. (C) Twenty minutes after the police entered the
apartment, two more police officers (this time a major)
and a representative from the immigration department
arrived. Poloff again told the police they had no right
to detain the Emboffs. The major looked over Poloff's
dipcard and damaged it by pulling the inner document out
of its lamination. He then passed it to the immigration

MINSK 00001006 002.4 OF 002


Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot, Reason 1.4(g)

officer, claiming it was not a real document and that it
was unclear what embassy Poloff represented. The
immigration officer repeated the same actions as the
major, so Poloff presented his diplomatic passport. The
immigration officer briefly looked over the biographical
information and then scrutinized Poloff's visas and
entry-exit stamps. The officers were not interested in
the other participants' documents. Emboffs were still
not allowed to leave.


7. (C) An independent journalist who Emboffs were to
meet at a later time witnessed the commotion from
outside. He called LES and informed her that the local
government-controlled media had arrived and were
preparing to enter the building. Emboffs immediately
moved to the kitchen to avoid the possibility of being
photographed. Fifteen minutes after the immigration
officer arrived, Korniyenko suggested Emboffs try to
leave again. Poloff approached the immigration officer
and asked to leave. Her response: "Of course. No one
has been holding you here." The same reporter and
cameraman seen earlier at Gomselmash were standing in
the stairwell and videotaped Emboffs leaving and then
rushed outside to videotape the Embassy vehicle.
Emboffs had been held for 40 minutes.


8. (C) Not long after the incident, Korniyenko called
and said that the police left immediately after Emboffs
without questioning or apprehending the NGO and youth
representatives. He also reported that the KGB had
broken into his house on Polesskaya St. and searched his
documents. The journalist who had called Emboffs
earlier reportedly asked a police officer how the
reporters and police knew about the new location for the
meeting. The officer replied that they had received
orders to follow the foreigners (Emboffs) around town.
Emboffs tried to leave town via a road that led past the
original meeting place at Polesskaya St, but a traffic
police officer stopped the vehicle and said the street
was closed to through traffic; however, he was allowing
all public transportation to pass. Emboffs were forced
to travel back through downtown Gomel to access another
exit road to Minsk. They cancelled all further
meetings.


9. (C) Comment: The police hinted that Emboffs'
detainment was due to LES' failure to have her passport
on her person, but it was obvious the true reason was to
harass Emboffs, photograph them, and disrupt their
meeting. Local state-controlled media frequently stakes
out Emboffs' visits to the region. However, this is the
first time in recent years that the authorities have
used such forceful means to stage a photo-op and
interfere in a meeting. Charge spoke with the head of
the Americas' desk at the MFA immediately after the
Emboffs' release and expressed concern for the
mistreatment of a diplomat and documents. Post will
follow up with a diplomatic note protesting the
incident.

PHLIPOT