VI Congress of the Assembly of Belarusian Prodemocratic NGOs

The VI Congress of the Assembly took place in Minsk on March 6-7, 2009. With 330 participants, more than 30 foreign guests, and representatives of all major independent media present, the VI Congress was the biggest NGO Forum in the Assembly’s 12-year history. The Congress opened with greetings from Alaksandar Patupa and Vincuk Viačorka, who were among the founders of the Assembly in 1997, Alaksandar Milinkievič and Alaksandar Kazulin, candidates from the democratic opposition in the 2006 presidential elections, and Stefan Eriksson, Sweden’s Ambassador to Belarus. Although invitations were sent to the President Administration as well, no government officials took part. In a report assessing the situation of the Belarusian third sector in general and the Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs in particular, Siarhiej Mackievič, the Chairman of the Assembly’s Working Group, emphasized: “We have not observed any systematic changes, neither at the national nor at the regional level. The language the authorities use might have become milder, but their actions remain based on existing repressive legislation. Their goal is to ban opponents of the authorities from any type of legal activities. Unfortunately, new forms of repression, such as forced conscription and house arrest, have started to be used against democratic activists, even during the EU-Belarus dialogue period. We call for real, not cosmetic changes in

Belarus

.”

The Congress heard reports on the findings of six regional and six topical round tables that had been held in January-February, 2009, in frames of the Congress preparation. The roundtables covered topics such as human rights, youth, social and women’s NGOs, the environmental movement, civic education, and new media as a form of civic activism. Most presenters highlighted a negative trend of worsening conditions for civil society and freedom of association, despite the government’s declaration of a so-called liberalization. This trend was documented by the distribution of a civil society monitoring report that was compiled as a joint effort by several of the NGOs present.

A new Working Group – the governing body of the Assembly consisting of 39 NGO representatives from throughout the country – was elected. Later, during four thematic meetings, Congress participants discussed key issues for civil society, including solidarity in action (mutual support and cooperation between NGOs), strategic planning and development, relations with the authorities and the international community, and communications with citizens. Each meeting developed a set of recommendations that was passed to the newly-elected Working Group. At the first meeting of the new Working Group, Siarhiej Mackievič, head of the Minsk-based “Supolnaść” Civil Society Center, was reelected chairman.

On the second day, a “Festival of Civic Activism” was held, which featured the winners of an earlier competition. At the Festival, 28 NGO stands, 11 video spots and 17 presentations of unique programs, campaigns and projects were presented. A jury of Congress participants recognized the unregistered initiative “Student Council” for having the best stand, the Mahiloŭ Civic Center for having the best video spot, and the liquidated NGO “New Group” for making the best presentation about its program of organizing summer camps for children with mental disabilities.

Finally, the Congress adopted a series of resolutions calling on the government to undertake a fundamental liberalization, normalize relations with and the operations of the Third Sector, abolish all forms of political persecution, and include civil society and the public in the debate over the building of a nuclear power plant in Belarus. A DVD documenting the VI Congress, work of the Assembly, video spots and power point presentations will be released shortly.

RESOLUTION

The VI Congress of Belarusian Non-Governmental Organizations and Initiatives

Adopted on March, 6, 2009

by the VI Congress of the Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs of Belarus

We, the representatives of Belarusian non-governmental organizations which support the values of democracy, rule of law and human rights,

● agree that Belarusian authorities have made some progress in cooperating with our country’s civic sector according to international standards;

● express our concern that these steps do not have a systematic character and have not been followed by a fundamental liberalization in the sphere of human rights, including freedom of association;

● call upon the authorities to guarantee freedom of expression and undertake a public dialogue on improving relations with Belarus’ Third Sector;

● demand the complete and irrevocable abolishment of criminal and all other types of persecution against the political opposition, civil society activists and independent journalists.

We believe that the first steps for a fundamental normalization of the situation regarding the civic sector should be the:

● Abolition of Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code which severely limits the scope of civic initiatives, as well as the abolision of Articles 367, 368, 369 and 369-1 of the Criminal Code, which have been used to persecute journalists.*

● Registration of non-profit organizations according to a simpler, declaratory way, in which an organization can be registered using the home addresses of its founders, as commercial organizations in Belarus are currently registered.

● Implementation of the resolutions of the UN Human Rights Committee and other international bodies addressed to the Government of Belarus regarding cases on violations of human rights in the country.

We express our commitment to continuing non-profit work that builds a democratic and rule of law state, develops the civic sector, and benefits Belarusian society, despite the current unfavorable conditions for such activities.

We call upon the international community to continue monitoring violations of human rights in Belarus. The importance of the European dialogue with the Belarusian government should not be allowed to negatively affect the human rights situation in Belarus. Human rights, which are still being violated in our country, cannot be subject to bargaining or concessions on foreign relations or economic assistance.

**Article 193-1,“The illegal organization of activities of an association, religious organization and foundation or participation in it;” Art. 367, “The libel of the President of the Republic of Belarus;” Art. 368 “The assault on the President of the Republic of Belarus;” Art. 369 “The assault on the representative of the authorities of the Republic of Belarus;”and Art. 369-1 “The discreditation of the Republic of Belarus.”

DECLARATION

“ON THE ABOLISHMENT OF ALL FORMS OF POLITICAL PERSECUTION”

Adopted on March, 7, 2009

by the VI Congress of the Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs of Belarus

We, the representatives of Belarusian non-governmental organizations and initiatives, call upon the authorities to cease all forms of persecution for political reasons. We demand:

The release of all prisoners who had been jailed for their political or civic activitites, including Arciom Dubski, Mikałaj Autuchovič, Jury Lavonau and Uładzimier Asipienka.

The review of the case of the so-called “Process of Fourteen,” by which the following persons were sentenced to “restricted freedom” (house arrest): Alaksiej Bondar, Michał Kryvau, Michał Paškievič, Alaksandar Stralcou, Alaksandar Čarnyšou, Taciana Tyškievič, Michał Subač, Pavał Vinahradau, Maksim Dašuk and Alaksandar Barazienka.
A halt to firing employees and expelling students from schools and universities for political reasons, and the end to applying pressure on the relatives of such persons.
A halt to the practice of forcibly inducting men into the military as a punishment for their civic or political activities, as in the cases of Źmicier Žalezničenka, Aleś Kalita, Franak Viačorka, Źmicier Fiedaruk and Ivan Šyła.
The abolition of illegal decisions judging some informational materials and publications as “extremist,” as in case with the intellectual journal ARCHE, as well as an end to the further misuse of the Law on Resistance to Extremism.
A review of all illegal and politically motivated decisions regarding the denial of registration of civic organizations.*

* In 2008-09 more than 50 independent initiatives were denied state registration as civic organizations. Among others, well-known organizations such as the Human Rights Center "Viasna," Republic Civic Organization “Likvidatar,” Social Patriotic Civic Organization "Haryzantal,” “Our Generation,” “Bresckaja Viasna,” “Elders,” “BChD,” "For Free Development of Entrepreneurship," “Young Front,” and “Young Social Democrats,” were not registered.

Last update: 12-03-2009, 14:06