President Alexander Lukashenko

The Office of the President of Belarus

Fax +375 17 2260610

 

Oslo, 24 June 2004

 

Your Excellency,

We write you to express our deep concern regarding the situation for the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and its employees.  The Belarusian Helsinki Committee is under threat of being closed down on the basis of tax evasion accusations brought against it by the tax inspection authorities of the Moscow District of Minsk.  Within the framework of the same accusations, the Department of Financial Investigation of the Minsk Committee of State control has opened a criminal case against two of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee’s employees, Ms. Tatsiana Protska, Chair and Tatsiana Rutkevich, chief accountant. 

Belarusian authorities claim that the Committee owes the state over 385,000,000 Belarus Rubles (approx. $180,000) in unpaid taxes of project funds received under the European Union´s TACIS Technical Assistance Programme.

The Human Rights House Foundation considers that the charges filed against the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and its employees are legally baseless.  The Committee is charged with violating Presidential Decree No. 8, art. 12 “On Receipt and Use of Foreign Financial Assistance” for “omission to register foreign financial assistance…”.  However, the Decree No. 8 does not apply to international technical assistance such as the TACIS Programme, from where the disputed funds have been received.  Assistance under this program is exempt from taxation according to the General Rules agreed upon by Belarus and the European Union in the “Memorandum on Financing” on 10 May 1994.

The Human Rights House Foundation also considers that the accusations fall into a pattern of violation of the rights of numerous human rights organisations and activists in Belarus.  The Belarusian Minister of Justice confirmed in a speech in January 2004 that 51 associations had been liquidated for violation of Belarusian laws in 2003.  The Human Rights House Foundation condemns the Belarusian authorities’ campaign to destroy civil society in Belarus, a campaign that appears to be a systematic attempt to silence human rights defenders and prevent the development of a pluralist democratic society. A vibrant civil society is mandatory for democracy to grow. Hence, we believe that Belarusian authorities must take action to reinstate safe working conditions for all organisations and individuals working for democracy and human rights. 
 

The Human Rights House Foundation calls on the Belarusian authorities to

–        Cancel the decision of the Belarusian tax inspection authorities claiming that the Committee owes the state unpaid taxes of received project funds

–        Drop the criminal charges against Ms. Tatsiana Protska and Tatsiana Rutkevich of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee

–    Put an immediate end to the repressions against human rights NGOs and civil society representatives 

The Human Rights House Foundation would like to draw attention to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 21 and 22, to which Belarus is a state party, expressing the freedom of association and assembly, and Article 19 in the UN Universal Declaration for Human Rights expressing the freedom of expression. Furthermore, these rights are guaranteed by the Belarusian Constitution. We also refer to Article 1 of the United Nations’ Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, stating that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”. The Human Rights House Network urges Belarusian authorities to bring its conduct in compliance with these commitments.

 

Sincerely yours,

Berit Lindeman

Project manager

Human Rights House Foundation

Oslo, Norway

 

Copies to:

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus; fax (+375 17) 227 4521

 

The Economic Court of the City of Minsk fax (+375 17) 222 4004

 

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, Oslo, Norway

 

Chairman of the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Parliament (Storting), Torbjørn Jagland