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Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly condemns massive violations of democratic and rule-of-law principles

Interview (24.06.2002)

After visiting Minsk, a delegation from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly has openly criticised Belarus for its failure to respect democratic principles and the rule of law. Today, at the start of the Assembly's summer session, the seven-member commission, led by German parliamentarian Wolfgang Behrendt (SPD), submitted a report to the President's office on their visit, which lasted from 10 to 12 June and included meetings with numerous representatives of the government and opposition. At its next session in September, the Assembly will be holding a full-scale debate on the country's critical situation.

In the following interview, Behrendt, leader of the German delegation to the Assembly, calls on Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, to make definite progress towards democratising his country. Without this, there can be no question of restoring its special guest status, withdrawn by the Assembly in 1997.

Question: Why did the Parliamentary Assembly send your delegation to Minsk?

Behrendt: The Council of Europe countries send commissions like this to Belarus regularly. Unlike many other east European countries, Belarus is making very slow progress towards democracy. That is why the Council of Europe - which has, after all, the job of getting democratic, rule-of-law principles accepted throughout the continent - is so interested in seeing how President Alexander Lukashenko's autocratic regime develops. It's not for nothing that Belarus is one of the last European countries still outside the Council.

Question: What form do these violations of the Council of Europe's standards, of democracy and the rule of law, take?

Behrendt: The list is a long one. There is no real separation of powers between government, parliament and courts, of the kind you get as a matter of course in any country where the rule of law applies. There is no question of the courts' being independent. Unless they toe the Lukashenko line, the media face intimidation. Pressure is put on opponents of the regime. Whenever a demonstration takes place, you get arrests.

Question: That all sounds very general…

Behrendt: I can give you some examples. One of the latest is the dispute over "Pagonia", a newspaper which considers itself independent. Two of its journalists are facing charges at the moment. They're accused of "insulting" the President - a stratagem he often uses to silence people who criticise him or say things he doesn't want to hear. Anyway, they can both expect heavy sentences. There was another example at the time of the last presidential elections, when several heads of factories were dismissed. The story was that they'd got involved in corruption - what they'd really done was back opposition candidates. On the national holiday, when there were demonstrations against the regime, a lot of people got arrested, and we have proof that the police beat them up afterwards. And there are plenty of other examples - unfortunately.

Question: So what does the Council of Europe want Lukashenko to do?

Behrendt: Our immediate programme, if I can call it that, comprises four things. First and foremost, the Belarus Parliament must get more powers - for us here in the Assembly, that is obviously vital. Secondly, Lukashenko must get rid of the death penalty, or at least put a moratorium on executions. Thirdly, the media laws need overhauling, to protect free speech for the press and freedom of information for the public. Finally, Lukashenko should appoint an independent ombudsman, to whom anyone could go with complaints.

Question: Five years ago, the Assembly took away Minsk's special guest status. Looking back, was that the right thing to do?

Behrendt: At that time, Lukashenko had stripped the legally elected parliament of Belarus of its powers, and the Assembly could do nothing else. That was something the Council of Europe simply could not accept. In the years after that, we certainly did not isolate Belarus. We had frequent meetings in Minsk with representatives of the regime and opposition, critical media and civil rights associations. I myself was often there. On the other hand, we also have to apply pressure. Lukashenko badly wants to come back to the Council, and enormous foreign policy efforts are being made in Minsk to bring that about. But unless he gives us what we want, there can be no question of his country's joining. And what we want is: substantial progress on the path to democracy and the building of a law-governed state.