OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2016-17
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 22
Offentligt
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I n for m a t ion n ot e
Subj e ct
For
By
Re pr e ssion of inde pe nde nt t r a de u nions in
Be la r us
Danish Minist ry of Foreign Affairs, MFA, and CI SU
Jesper Nielsen, Head of 3F I nt ernat ional Depart m ent
D a t e : 2 3 Au gust 2 0 1 7
Danish MEP’s and MP’s
j [email protected]
The following inform at ion has been collect ed by 3F, I ndust riALL Global Union and I F Met all,
Sweden, from t he inv olved t rade union act ivist s in Belarus as w ell as fr om m edia sour ces
1
.
August 2 0 1 7 cr a ck - dow n on inde pe n de nt unions in Be la r us
On 2 August , bet ween 09.15 and 09.30, t w o independent unions in Belarus w er e suddenly
raided by t he police. Several of t he policem en wer e disguised as m aint enance service st aff.
Bot h of t he raided unions, REP ( Radio and elect r onics work er s’ union) and BNP ( Refinery and
m ine work er s’ union) are 3F’s part ner s in t he count ry. They are also – j ust as 3F - affiliat es of
I ndust riALL Global Union.
Som e t en people ent er ed t he office of REP union and present ed a public pr osecut or’s warr ant
for t he search of t he union office. They br ok e t he door t o t he office of t he chief account ant , as
t here was no key pr ovided at t he t im e of t he search. A sim ilar sear ch w as carried out in
Soligorsk office of t he BNP.
The raids were coordinat ed and did not allow any of t he t rade union leader s t o get in cont act
wit h each ot her . Aft er sear ching t he offices and privat e houses of union officials, t he police
seized com put er s, hard drives w er e r em oved, as w ell as not es, bank cards, English language
m at erial, phones, and ot her equipm ent . Trade union officials of bot h BNP and REP w ere
det ained and brought t o police offices for int er rogat ion.
The chief account ant of t he REP union, I gor Kom lik, was ar r est ed. According t o t he public
st at em ent t hat appear ed on t he websit e of t he St at e Cont rol Com m it t ee of Belarus, Gennady
Fedynich ( chairm an of REP) and I gor Kom lik are bot h charged wit h t ax evasion. According t o
t he charges, t he union leaders risk sev en y ears of im prisonm ent and confiscat ion of t heir
propert y . As long as t he case is on- going he is barr ed fr om leaving t he count ry e.g. for cr oss-
border t rade union act ivit ies.
We hav e no cert ain inform at ion about t he accusat ions against BNP president
Nikolai Zim in and
account ant Snj ezana Gr int evich.
Nat alia Pichuzhkina, union act ivist and form er edit or of t he union websit e praca- by.info was
also det ained. She was t aken for int errogat ion at 3 pm and not release unt il10pm t he sam e
day, while Gennady Fedynich was only released on t he early m orning 3 August .
I gor Kom lik was lat er t r ansferr ed t o t he Ok r est ina det ent ion cent r e and r em ains in cust ody t o
t his day.
Ba ck gr ou nd
This is t he second m aj or crack- down on independent civil societ y t his year . The t rade union
REP has been act ive in defending workers’ right s in Belarus for y ears. The union led a st rong
nat ion- wide cam paign against t he not orious pr esident ial
de cr e e 3
also known as “ The decr ee
on social parasit es” , penalizing t he unem ployed in Belarus. The cam paign was conduct ed in
1
Mainly
ht t p: / / nn.by
and
ht t p: / / www.indust riall- union.org
 OSCE, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 22: Notat fra 3F om undertrykkelse af den uafhængige fagbevægelse i Ukraine
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close cooperat ion wit h ot her m aj or Belarusian hum an right s organisat ions such as Belarus
Helsinki Com m it t ee and Vj asna.
Bet ween March 5 and 13 a num ber of so called " prevent ive" det ent ions wer e car ried out by t he
Belarusian aut horit ies. The Belarusian police apprehended polit icians and social group leader s
who had said t hey w ould hold m aj or pr ot est s scheduled for lat er in t he m ont h. Most of t hem
wer e im prisoned j ust long enough for t hem t o m iss t he rallies, dem onst rat ions and prot est s.
Bloggers and j ournalist s covering t he ev ent s w ere also appr ehended; followed by a w av e of
arr est s t arget ing t he act ivist s spr eading t he inform at ion about t he pr ot est s. Finally, prot est ers
wer e ar rest ed at t he act ual dem onst rat ions and rallies: m ore t han 50 in Minsk on Mar ch 15
and 30, and m ore in ot her cit ies of t he count ry. A num ber of REP and BNP act ivist s and leaders
wer e ar rest ed. The m ost brut al crackdown t ook place on March 25, an unofficial holiday known
as Fr eedom Day ( Dzen' Voli) .
The unusually st rong pr ot est s w er e inconv enient for Lukaschenko and t he r egim e’s r epr essive
act s caused widespr ead condem nat ion. Lukaschenko t hen announced t hat t he unem ploym ent
t ax would not be collect ed and t he people who had already paid would be r eim bursed, but t hat
t he decr ee would be im plem ent ed at a lat er unspecified t im e.
I gor Kom lik ( left ) has been t ransfer r ed t o t he Okrist ina det ent ion cent r e, while bot h he and
Gennady Fedynich are charged wit h t ax evasion for per sonal accum ulat ion of w ealt h.
The new act ions of t he aut horit ies seem designed for halt ing t he act ivit ies of t he independent
t rade union m ov em ent in Belarus. The t im ing of t he r ecent crack- down suggest s a st rong
int erest in prev ent ing new civil prot est s. The day aft er raiding t he unions, president
Lukaschenko announced t he enforcem ent of a pract ically unchanged decree for lat er t his year.
I nt e r n a t iona l t r a de u nion pr ot e st
I n May 2017 I ndust riALL Global Union execut ives ext ended t heir st r ong support t o t heir
Belarusian colleagues fight ing against forced labour and crim inalizat ion of dissent in Belarus.
The global union organisat ions, I ndust riALL and I TUC calls t he r ecent at t acks “ int erference in
t he int ernal affairs of t he t rade unions, which is a grave violat ion of I LO Conv ent ion No. 87 on
Freedom of Associat ion.”
The global unions dem and t hat t he gov ernm ent " st ops int erfer ence of st at e st ruct ures in t he
int ernal affairs of t he REP and BNP unions and adopt urgent m easures t o ensur e norm al
condit ions for t he work of t rade union organizat ions in accordance wit h t he obligat ions of t he
Republic of Belarus under I LO Convent ion No. 87.” They call for t he " im m ediat e r elease of I gor
3FI inform at ion not e on r epr ession of t rade unions in Belarus ( August 2017) p
. 2
 OSCE, Alm.del - 2016-17 - Bilag 22: Notat fra 3F om undertrykkelse af den uafhængige fagbevægelse i Ukraine
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Kom lik, t o st op crim inal prosecut ion of t he leader s of t he Belarusian t rade union REP, and t o
rem ov e all groundless accusat ions against t hem .” I n t he let t er, I ndust riALL and I TUC reserv ed
t heir right t o inform t he I nt ernat ional Labour Or ganizat ion, Eur opean Union and ot her
com pet ent int ernat ional inst it ut ions of t he on- going violat ions.
Also, a num ber of hum an right s organisat ions ( e.g. Belarus Helsinki Com m it t ee and Vj asna)
have prot est ed against t he r ecent event s.
Sa nct ion s
The EU first im posed sanct ions against Belarus in 2004, st eadily ext ending t hem t o m or e
individuals and organisat ions following a series of flawed elect ions, st r engt hening Lukashenko
and his parliam ent ary support ers’ power in successive landslide elect ions. I n Februar y 2016,
EU m inist ers decided t o lift m ost sanct ions perm anent ly, alt hough t hey expr essed t hey
rem ained concerned wit h t he sit uat ion of hum an right s in Belarus. Minist er s also called on
Minsk t o abolish t he deat h penalt y and im plem ent int ernat ional convent ions, guidelines and
EU’s r ecom m endat ions on dem ocracy.
Aft er discussing t he m at t er wit h our I ndust riALL colleagues and our sist er organisat ion, REP,
we agree t hat t he best approach would be one of cont inuat ion of t he closer r elat ions bet w een
EU and Belarus but t hat a sm all obst acle – t he case of t he independent t rade unions – should
be r em ov ed t o clear t he way.
3 F r e com m e nda t ions
3F urges Danish and EU diplom at s t o expr ess deep concern about t his case, t o ask t he
Lukaschenko gov ernm ent for inform at ion and for t he wit hdrawal of charges against t rade
unionist s. The t rade union officer I gor Kom lik should be im m ediat ely released.
We t hink Denm ar k should urge ot her EU m em ber st at es as w ell as t he EU as a whole t o
dem and pr ot ect ion of t r ade union right s, freedom of associat ion, assem bly and expr ession in
Belarus.
3FI inform at ion not e on r epr ession of t rade unions in Belarus ( August 2017) p
. 3