GOB SUSPENDS THREE INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000559

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL BO
SUBJECT: GOB SUSPENDS THREE INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO
DISAPPEARANCES AND ONE MURDER

REF: 05 MINSK 320

Classified By: AMBASSADOR GEORGE KROL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: During the first two weeks of May, GOB
authorities announced that investigations into the 1999-2000
disappearances of two opposition activists and the 2004
murder of a journalist were suspended. Independent
investigator Garry Pogonayilo believes the lack of progress
is due to the authorities' own participation in the crimes.
Therefore, as long as the Lukashenko regime is in power, the
cases will never be "solved." Pogonayilo and international
lawyers are building a case against the GOB leadership and
hope to get international warrants of arrest for GOB
officials suspected in these crimes. End Summary.

Investigations Go Cold
--------------


2. (U) On May 3, the mother of missing cameraman Dmitry
Zavadsky, who disappeared in July 2000, received a letter
from the Prosecutor General's Office informing her that the
investigation into her son's disappearance was suspended on
March 31. The letter, signed by the deputy head of the
corruption department Ivan Branchel, indicated that the
investigation was suspended because authorities failed to
find Zavadsky's body. In spring 2004 authorities suspended
the case for the same reason before resuming the
investigation in April 2005.


3. (U) The investigation into the 1999 disappearance of
former Interior Minister Yury Zakharenko has also produced
few results. In February, the chair of the Supreme Court
Valentin Sukalo announced that Zakharenko would likely be
declared legally deceased, just as the court initially
declared in 2002. On May 10, Zakharenko's mother received a
letter from the Prosecutor General's Office informing her
that the investigation would be extended for another two
months. It was the first official information Zakharenko's
mother had received about her son's case in three years.


4. (U) Despite having the body of journalist Veranika
Charkasova, who was murdered in October 2004 (reftel),as
well as knowing the crime scene, the Minsk Prosecutor's
Office on May 16 informed the Belarusian Association of
Journalists that the investigation into her death was
suspended again on March 14. The investigation was suspended
in December for the same reason-"the person that should have
been brought to responsibility had not been identified." The
case had been reopened for only three weeks.

Independent Investigator Not Surprised
--------------


5. (C) On May 24, Garri Pogonayilo--a human rights lawyer for
the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and investigator for the
families of disappeared activists Dmitry Zavadsky, Anatoly
Krasovsky, and Viktor Gonchar--told Poloff he was not
surprised at the lack of progress in the GOB's
investigations. According to Pogonayilo, Zavadsky's case
evoked too many unanswered questions, particularly why the
two former ALMAZ officers convicted of abducting Zavadsky and
sentenced to life in prison have never confessed to the crime
and why authorities still have not found Zavadsky's body.
Pogonayilo believes that if the two men were indeed guilty,
then the authorities by now would have given them lighter
sentences in exchange for Zavadsky's location. The
investigation into Zakharenko's disappearance has also
yielded no new information. Pogonayilo believes the lack of
resolve in all the investigations is an indication that
authorities were letting the cases "gather dust" and/or
keeping the information secret to conceal the
GOB's involvement in the crimes.

Investigators Preparing For International Court
-------------- --


6. (C) On May 27 Pogonayilo will travel to Germany to work
with international lawyers about possibly initiating an
investigation and court case against the GOB leadership for
its participation in the disappearances. Pogonayilo and the
lawyers intend to evaluate Belarusian and international
legislation, particularly clauses allowing foreign nations to
initiate court hearings against those involved in gross human
rights abuses. According to Pogonayilo, this process allowed
Spanish authorities to issue an arrest warrant for former
Chilean leader Augosto Pinochet, arrest him in Britain, and
repatriate him to Chile. Pogonayilo hopes his attempts, in

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time, will be successful in securing international arrest
warrants for GOB officials implicated in the disappearances,
namely Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov, Former Interior
Minister Yury Sivakov, Former Prosecutor General (currently
head of the Security Council) Viktor Sheiman, and Special
Forces Commander Dmitry Pavlichenko.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) The developments (or lack there of) in the GOB-led
investigations into the disappearances and murders come as no
surprise. The authorities' handling of the cases and their
apathy do little to support their claims of nonparticipation
in the kidnappings and presumed murders of these activists.
As Pogonayilo noted, we are unlikely to see progress in the
investigations until the guilty (including Lukashenko) are no
longer in power.
Krol