Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08STATE47888
2008-05-06 19:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Secretary of State
Cable title:
OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: STATEMENT ON BELARUS
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UNCLAS STATE 047888
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL OSCE BO
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: STATEMENT ON BELARUS
Post is authorized to present the following statement at the
May 8 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.
Begin text:
Mr. Chairman,
We again must take note of the deteriorating situation in
Belarus. In late April, Andrei Kim was sentenced to one and
one half years in a penal colony because he and 23 other
political activists chose to exercise their rights to
assemble peacefully. He was protesting new laws restricting
the activities of entrepreneurs such as street vendors and
taxi drivers. Seven other defendants were sentenced to two
years' corrective labor with 20 percent garnishment of wages,
and the remaining two defendants were each sentenced to fines
of 1,640 US dollars, an extraordinary sum given the
infraction involved and the country,s average monthly wage
of about $34.
This was followed by the sentencing of another entrepreneur
activist, Sergey Parsyukevich, to two and a half years'
imprisonment and a $500 fine for allegedly striking a prison
guard while incarcerated for participating in a peaceful
demonstration. Many see this sentence as retaliation for
Parsyukevich's claims of brutality by guards. His
imprisonment was based on a farcical trial that included a
witness who "forgot" what he saw. With this verdict,
Parsyukevich joins Kim and former presidential candidate
Aleksandr Kozulin as prisoners of conscience in Belarus.
Then, just a few days ago, a Minsk district court fined
prominent Protestant leader and pastor of the New Life Church
Vyacheslav Goncharenko the equivalent of $650 for organizing
a signature campaign to petition amendments to the 2002
religion law. The judge ruled that campaign organizers
failed to seek approval of draft amendments from the Justice
Ministry and to register the group collecting signatures.
Goncharenko denounced the fine as unjust and maintained that
no tools exist in Belarus for citizens to push for changes in
the laws on religion.
It is painfully obvious that Belarus intends to continue to
ignore its commitments on human rights and democracy. Its
actions over the past several weeks clearly demonstrate that
it has no desire to improve its relations with the United
States or any other country that puts a priority on human
rights.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
End text.
RICE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL OSCE BO
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: STATEMENT ON BELARUS
Post is authorized to present the following statement at the
May 8 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.
Begin text:
Mr. Chairman,
We again must take note of the deteriorating situation in
Belarus. In late April, Andrei Kim was sentenced to one and
one half years in a penal colony because he and 23 other
political activists chose to exercise their rights to
assemble peacefully. He was protesting new laws restricting
the activities of entrepreneurs such as street vendors and
taxi drivers. Seven other defendants were sentenced to two
years' corrective labor with 20 percent garnishment of wages,
and the remaining two defendants were each sentenced to fines
of 1,640 US dollars, an extraordinary sum given the
infraction involved and the country,s average monthly wage
of about $34.
This was followed by the sentencing of another entrepreneur
activist, Sergey Parsyukevich, to two and a half years'
imprisonment and a $500 fine for allegedly striking a prison
guard while incarcerated for participating in a peaceful
demonstration. Many see this sentence as retaliation for
Parsyukevich's claims of brutality by guards. His
imprisonment was based on a farcical trial that included a
witness who "forgot" what he saw. With this verdict,
Parsyukevich joins Kim and former presidential candidate
Aleksandr Kozulin as prisoners of conscience in Belarus.
Then, just a few days ago, a Minsk district court fined
prominent Protestant leader and pastor of the New Life Church
Vyacheslav Goncharenko the equivalent of $650 for organizing
a signature campaign to petition amendments to the 2002
religion law. The judge ruled that campaign organizers
failed to seek approval of draft amendments from the Justice
Ministry and to register the group collecting signatures.
Goncharenko denounced the fine as unjust and maintained that
no tools exist in Belarus for citizens to push for changes in
the laws on religion.
It is painfully obvious that Belarus intends to continue to
ignore its commitments on human rights and democracy. Its
actions over the past several weeks clearly demonstrate that
it has no desire to improve its relations with the United
States or any other country that puts a priority on human
rights.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
End text.
RICE