Resolution 1372 (2004)1
Persecution of the press
in the Republic of Belarus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
recalls that membership of the Council of Europe requires the commitment
of a state to strive for greater European unity based on the common values
shared by the family of democratic nations in Europe and enshrined in the
European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and the other conventions
and recommendations of the Council of Europe. Therefore, the authorities
of each applicant state must show their willingness and capacity to adhere
to these values and standards. One of the fundamental democratic
rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights is the right
to freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
2. The Assembly welcomes the wish expressed by the Parliament
of Belarus to resume its Special Guest status with the Assembly
as well as the desire of Belarus to accede to the Council of Europe. It
is with regret, however, that the Assembly must note that neither the parliament
nor the other state authorities of Belarus have made any progress towards
democratic development since the suspension of the Special Guest status
of the Parliament of Belarus in January 1997 due to the dissolution of
the parliament by President Lukashenko’s referendum and the subsequent
non-democratic constitution of the new parliament. The Bureau of the Assembly
consequently rejected, in January 2004, the application for re-granting
Special Guest status to the Parliament of Belarus.
3. The Assembly recalls that freedom of expression and
freedom of the media constitute one of the essential foundations of a democratic
society, one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development
of every human being, as the European Court of Human Rights has consistently
held. Where information is withheld from the people through state censorship
and state propaganda reigns, true democracy can never exist.
4. The Assembly remains appalled by the fact that the
disappearance, more than three years ago, of the journalist Mr Dmitri Zavadski
and his alleged extra-judicial execution by agents of the state has not
been properly and truly investigated. The conviction of four men for the
abduction of Mr Zavadski cannot be regarded as a proper investigation for
various reasons. Reference is made only to a few of them: firstly, the
body of Mr Zavadski has not been traced and it has not been established
that he has been murdered; secondly, the General Prosecutor of the Republic
of Belarus is in charge of all criminal investigations. The present holder
of the post of General Prosecutor is Mr Victor Sheyman, who is regarded
by many people in Belarus as the mastermind behind this abduction and others.
5. The Assembly deplores the systematic harassment and
intimidation carried out by state officials, in particular the Ministry
of Information, against journalists, editors and media outlets which are
critical of the President of the Republic or the Government of Belarus.
The legal basis for such action is very often the requirement that print
media receive a state licence from the Ministry of Information. Article
10 of the European Convention on Human Rights does not permit such licensing
of print media.
6. Furthermore, the state allows a situation whereby
the functioning of media outlets can be at the mercy of local administrations,
of printing houses and distribution agencies. Independent media are forced
to operate under discriminatory economic conditions.
7. The Assembly condemns, as totally unacceptable in
a democratic society, the subjecting of journalists to imprisonment, including
forced labour, for criticism of the President and state officials, which
is currently possible under the provisions of Articles 367, 368 and 369
of the Criminal Code.
8. The Assembly is deeply concerned by the level of state
control over the electronic media, in particular the public television
and radio company of Belarus, which works under a presidential decree,
but also private joint-stock companies, in which the state typically holds
major shares and interests. It is also concerned that printing companies
and companies distributing print media are largely state controlled. In
a genuine democracy, public media must not function as a voice of the President
and the executive branch of power, but should provide an impartial service
for the public at large by disseminating news and commentary in an open,
unbiased and truthful way.
9. The Assembly believes that the media landscape, under
the controls it is currently subject to, does not provide for the freedom
of information through the media that is necessary for the preparation
and conduct of democratic parliamentary elections in autumn 2004.
All political candidates, political parties and political civil society
organisations must have equal access to the media without control by the
state. Otherwise, voters in Belarus will not be able to receive the information
necessary to form their own opinions about the situation in their own country.
10. The Assembly therefore regrets that reform of the
Law on the Press and other Mass Media and other relevant laws, long announced
and awaited, have not been finalised in time for the coming parliamentary
elections by the President of the Republic, the ministers responsible and
the parliament and that the Belarusian authorities have not fulfilled their
commitment to send the draft to the Council of Europe for examination.
The Assembly resolves to continue monitoring the situation concerning the
media in the Republic of Belarus until the new Law on the Press and other
Mass Media is enacted.
11. The Assembly notes with regret that the Parliament
of Belarus refused to co-operate with the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the organisation of a seminar on the media
in Belarus on 27 February 2004. Furthermore, the Assembly regrets that
the Vice-Chairman of its Chamber of Representatives, Mr Vladimir Konoplev,
refused to receive a joint delegation from the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the European
Parliament from 22 to 24 January 2004, which would have allowed the members
of the Parliament of Belarus to hold a dialogue with European parliamentarians
on a number of issues including freedom of the media.
12. The Assembly calls on all member and Observer states
of the Council of Europe not to tolerate any longer the existing
state of affairs in Belarus. Fundamental rights and freedoms are systematically
violated in Belarus with the sole aim of keeping a non-democratic regime
in power. The regime of President Lukashenko bases its existence on repression,
intimidation and fear. The measures of repression and intimidation are
directed not only towards the media but also towards all other democratic
institutions, human rights activists and the people at large. Belarus remains,
in the year 2004, a police state with conditions similar to those prevailing
in the country during the Soviet Union era. It is imperative to do everything
possible in order to bring democracy to Belarus. Millions of Belarusians
were killed during the second world war bravely fighting against the forces
of Hitler. However, freedom has not yet come to their land. All member
and Observer states of the Council of Europe have a duty to ensure that
Belarus ceases to be the last dictatorial state in Europe.
13. The Assembly calls on the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe to:
i. constantly bear in mind the people of Belarus and
step up targeted action in favour of human rights, democracy and the
rule of law in Belarus; and
ii. allocate, in co-operation with the Committee of
Ministers, sufficient resources for projects on strengthening democracy
and freedom of the media in Belarus in preparation for the parliamentary
elections in autumn 2004 and, more generally, aimed at enhancing the
understanding of democratic standards in the media field and reinforcing
public opposition to any form of repression of free speech.
14. The Assembly calls on the President of the Republic
of Belarus, the Government of Belarus and the National Assembly of Belarus
to:
i. launch a truly independent investigation into the
disappearance and alleged extra-judicial execution of the journalist
Mr Dmitri Zavadski which occurred more than three years ago
and make the final results of this investigation public, a prior requirement
to such an investigation being the removal from office of Mr Victor Sheyman;
ii. consider revising the penal laws and Article 5
of the Law on the Press and other Mass Media in order to allow political
criticism of the President of the Republic and the members of the National
Assembly; the honour and dignity of the President of the Republic and
the heads of state bodies must not be protected unconditionally;
iii. take due account of Article 19 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations as well
as Articles 3 and 4 of the Law on the Press and other Mass Media; thus
the courts of Belarus should not impose disproportionate penal sanctions
against media and journalists criticising the President of the Republic;
iv. revise Article 9 of the Law on the Press and other
Mass Media in order to abolish the licensing requirement for print media,
because this is contrary to the right to freedom of the press as guaranteed
by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
v. abolish administrative sanctions and oral reprimands
against the media by the Ministry of Information because they violate
the fundamental principle of the separation of powers between the executive
and the judiciary and are contrary to Article 10 of the European Convention
on Human Rights; the Law on the Press and other Mass Media should be
revised accordingly;
vi. initiate legislation which fully implements Article 33,
third sentence, of the Constitution of Belarus and which would prohibit any
monopoly over the mass media by the state; for this purpose, the high
concentration of state interests in joint-stock media, printing companies
and distributing companies should be reduced and the national broadcasting
company should become a public service broadcaster independent of direct
control by the President of the Republic or other state organs along
the lines of Recommendation 1641 (2004)
on public service broadcasting;
vii. ensure that printers and distributors of print
media do not discriminate against private media independent of state
support, or against the foreign press;
viii. ensure that the Central Electoral Committee and
the national broadcasting company provide for free, equal and fair access
to airtime for political parties as well as independent candidates before
the elections in Belarus; the authorities may be guided by Recommendation No. R(99)15 of
the Committee of Ministers on measures concerning media coverage of election
campaigns; this is particularly important in preparation of the coming
parliamentary elections in autumn 2004;
ix. revise all presidential decrees which excessively
restrict the right to receive and disseminate information about the state
under Article 34 of the Constitution of Belarus;
x. ensure that the National Assembly can take up its
role as legislator and become the initiator of legislation and legislative
amendments in the media field; in this regard, the National Assembly
should seek to include in the Constitution of Belarus a provision on
freedom of the media and the inadmissibility of censorship similar to
Articles 3 and 4 of the Law on the Press and other Mass Media;
xi. refrain from restricting the right to freedom
of association of journalists and editors, as guaranteed by Article 22
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United
Nations and by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
the state authorities of Belarus must not hinder the work of the Belarusian
Association of Journalists by intimidating or harassing its staff and
members.
15. The Assembly calls on the
European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European
Commission not to tolerate any longer the systematic violation by
Belarusian authorities of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under Articles
10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of association) of the European
Convention on Human Rights, Articles 11 (freedom of expression) and 12
(freedom of association) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union, and to take appropriate action in their relations with Belarus.
16. The Assembly calls on the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE and the
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media not to tolerate any longer the
systematic violation by Belarusian authorities of the fundamental freedoms
guaranteed under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human
Rights, Articles 19 (freedom of expression) and 22 (freedom of association)
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United
Nations in relation to the obligations of Belarus under the Helsinki Final
Act, and paragraph 22 of the Istanbul Summit Declaration of the OSCE, and
to take appropriate action against Belarus.
17. The Assembly calls on the
United Nations and, in particular, the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, never to tolerate the systematic violation by Belarusian authorities
of Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights of the United Nations, and to take appropriate action against Belarus.
1. Assembly
debate on 28 April 2004
(12th Sitting) (see Doc. 10107,
report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Pourgourides;
and Doc. 10165,
opinion of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, rapporteur:
Ms Muttonen).
Text adopted by the Assembly on 28 April 2004 (12th Sitting).
