ELECTION SITREP 3: DESPITE REPRESSION, REGIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000019

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BO
SUBJECT: ELECTION SITREP 3: DESPITE REPRESSION, REGIONAL
OPPOSITION CAMPAIGNS CONTINUE

REF: A. MINSK 010


B. 06 MINSK 1273

Classified By: Classified By Charge Jonathan Moore for reason 1.4 (d).

Summary
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1. (C) Despite omnipresent surveillance by GOB agents and
state media, the opposition political party leaders and
independent media candidly discussed the politically
repressive conditions in which they are conducting their
local election campaigns in the run up to local elections on
January 14. As the candidates begin their last week of
campaigning, the opposition remains divided on the question
of boycotting the elections. End summary.


2. (U) This cable includes information from Charge's travel
to Beloozersk/Beryoza, Brest Region, and Grodno on December
22 and January 4, respectively, and information from Acting
Pol/Econ Chief's visit to Borisov, Minsk Region, on December

26.

Candidate Registration
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3. (C) Belarusian Popular Front (BNF) representatives
Dmitriy Tretyak and Tamara Shchepetkina told Charge that all
eight opposition initiative groups and their candidates for
the Beloozersk City Council were registered after gathering
over 300 signatures and enjoy significant support among the
population. Borisov City Election Commission Chair Nikolay
Zelenkevich observed that authorities registered 60 percent
of those who applied for candidacy and that 38 candidates
were running in 34 districts. Similarly, Grodno City
Election Commission Chair Vladimir Khlyabich reported the
registration of 55 of 81 potential candidates. However, in
each community, Grodno and Borisov, only four opposition
candidates were registered.

...And Intimidation
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4. (C) According to Beloozersk, Borisov, and Grodno
opposition and civil society activists, fear pervades
Belarusian society as local authorities use the one-year
contract employment system and other economic threats to
subdue GOB opponents. All opposition candidates experience
threats of job loss and pressure on their spouses, children,
and parents by the BKGB and other government agencies.
According to Tretyak and Borisov opposition United Civic
Party (UCP) Head Lev Margolin, authorities frequently
disperse opposition meetings in privately-owned residences
and deny opposition activists use of public conference rooms.
(Note: During the trips to Beloozorsk and Borisov,
opposition leaders were forced to change the venue of their
meetings with Charge and Acting Pol/Econ Chief because of
authorities' "safety concerns." End note.) Due to GOB
harassment, mass rallies remain extremely difficult to
organize.

Access to State Radio
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5. (C) Candidates in Beloozersk were allotted radio spots,
as mandated by Belarus Election Code, but only two-minute
spots that played at non-peak listening hours of 0500 and
0600 (ref A). Opposition Belarusian Popular Front (BPF)
candidate Sergey Antusevich told Charge that he had refused
to record a five-minute spot after Grodno authorities also
scheduled similar early morning broadcasts. Unsurprising,
Borisov City Election Commission Chair Nikolay Zelenkevich
claimed that authorities in Borisov offered all registered
candidates five-minute spots but no opposition candidates had
"taken advantage" of the opportunity.

Mistreatment by State Media
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6. (C) According to opposition representatives in all three
communities, state media often belittle the opposition
candidates and refuse to publish their platforms. Echoing
similar complaints heard in Borisov, Belarusian Helsinki
Committee representative Roman Yurgel showed Charge several
local state-controlled newspapers in Grodno that placed the
names of the regime's candidates prominently on the front
page as part of holiday announcements. UCP Political Council
member and opposition entrepreneur association head Viktor
Gorbachev complained that state-controlled Borisov newspapers
scattered opposition candidates' names, with inaccurate

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biographical information, out of alphabetical order among
names and biographies of pro-GOB candidates.

Repression of Independent Newspapers
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7. (C) In Beloozersk, Shchepetkina described widespread
repression of independent media by the authorities and noted
that authorities no longer permit her independent newspaper
"Gazeta dlya Vas" to be distributed via state kiosks and
postal service, decreasing subscriptions from 20,000 to
3,000. Although her paper is still registered, authorities
issue warnings to people who are observed possessing copies.
Anatoliy Bukas, the Editor-in-Chief of Borisov's only
remaining independent newspaper "Borisovskie Novosti," told
Acting Pol/Econ Chief that his paper's subscriptions have
plummeted from 19,000 to below 7,000 also because of
exclusion from the state post and kiosks and described other
forms of economic repression, such as restrictions on
advertisements and subscriptions and special punitive tax
rates for independent newspapers. (Note: Grodno opposition
leaders could not complain about repression of independent
newspapers since there are no independent newspapers
published in Grodno. End note.)

Censorship of Opposition Campaign Materials
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8. (C) Opposition activists in all three communities
reported GOB censorship and/or confiscation of printed
campaign materials. Such repression is particularly acute in
Grodno, where opposition Belarusian Social Democratic Party
"Gramada" (BSDP) city council candidate Vladimir Kiselevich
reported that authorities threatened to confiscate campaign
leaflets which discussed the politically motivated
imprisonment and recent hunger strike by BSDP leader and
former opposition presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin.
Grodno Regional United Civic Party (UCP) Head and council
candidate Yuriy Istomin showed Charge an elaborate, four-page
synopsis of the UCP plan for Grodno's economic development
that authorities pressured him to reduce to a single page
leaflet. UCP Grodno City Chair and City Council candidate
Dmitriy Slutskiy described similar censorship by city
election authorities.

To Boycott or Not To Boycott?
--------------


9. (C) Despite the repression and the withdrawal of 11
opposition Belarusian Party of Communists in Brest region,
the Beloozersk BPF activists with whom Charge spoke still
view local campaigns as the best avenue by which to engage
voters in a dialogue about Belarus' future and did not appear
to support a boycott. Similarly, in Grodno, Antusevich and
even Kiselevich, in spite of Kozulin's recent endorsement of
a boycott, pledged to see their races through to the end.
However, the Borisov opposition leadership did not signal any
change of plan since Gorbachev related to Ambassador his
plans to stage a boycott during the final week of the
election (ref B).

Comment
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10. (C) There were clear common threads in each visit - not
just the consistent appearance of the Embassy's BKGB handler
- and the trips to Beloozersk, Borisov, and Grodno were
simultaneously disheartening and inspiring. The GOB's
treatment of pro-democracy activists is no less repressive
than during the March 2006 presidential elections and, to a
large extent, is generating momentum for boycotting
elections, which everyone in the oppositions regard as a
farce. However, opposition activists remain undeterred and
determined to use these elections to communicate with the
Belarusian people.
Moore