[WCAR] CERD 65th session: Report of Belarus

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release

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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
CONSIDERS REPORT OF BELARUS
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The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered
the report of Belarus on its implementation of the provisions of the
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination.

Presenting the report was Vladimir Malevich, the Deputy Permanent
Representative of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said
the peace that existed between the various ethnic, religious and cultural
groups in Belarus was an expression of the country's commitment to uphold
its obligations under the Convention. There were more than 20 legislative
instruments that regulated social life and equality and rights and freedoms
and any statement leading to racism was banned by law.

In the course of the discussion, which was held over two meetings, the
issues of racial and ethnic hatred on the Internet and mass media,
anti-Semitism and extremist activities, national minorities and the Roma in
particular, and human trafficking, were raised among other subjects.

In preliminary remarks, the country Rapporteur for the report, Committee
Expert Tang Chengyuan, echoed the Committee's impression that the report
was very well presented and prepared. He said information was sought,
however, on the situation of the Roma and on the Coordinating Council for
Ethnic Community Affairs and its functions, which Committee Members had
expressed considerable interest in.

The Committee will present its final recommendations on the fifteenth to
seventeenth periodic reports of Belarus, which were presented in one
document, at the end of its session which concludes on 20 August.

The delegation of Belarus also included representatives of the Committee on
Religions and Nationalities of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations
Office at Geneva.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will begin its
consideration of the report of Mauritania (CERD/C/421/Add.1).


REPORT OF BELARUS

The report of Belarus, which includes the fifteenth to seventeenth periodic
reports contained in one document CERD/C/431/Add.9, indicates that
according to a 1999 census, 81 per cent of the inhabitants of Belarus
considered themselves to be Belarusians, the principal ethnic group. The
remaining 19 per cent of the population is made up of 140 nationalities,
including among others Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and Roma. A number
of basic indicators show that living conditions of the vast majority of
representatives of ethnic minorities are at the same, if not superior to
those of Belarusians.

In Belarus, the report states, aggressive extremist nationalist movements
have not managed to acquire any real influence over fellow citizens and are
today on the periphery of political life. Moreover, there is no significant
conflict of any kind between ethnic groups or religions in Belarus.
According to the results of a sociological survey of all ethnic groups
carried out in 1997, only 4.5 per cent of those surveyed said they had
experienced discrimination of one kind or another, and only 1.5 per cent
reported discrimination on ethnic grounds. There are, however, isolated
cases of anti-Semitism; for example, on occasion anti-Semitic
manifestations have been published in certain periodical publications, and
there have been incidents of vandalism at cemeteries or offensive graffiti
on buildings. In the period since the preparation of the last report, and
up to March 2003, the law enforcement agencies of Belarus investigated and
sent to court two criminal cases involving incitement to racial, ethnic or
religious hostility. In 2000, one person was convicted and given a
suspended sentence.

Foreign nationals and stateless persons in Belarus enjoy the same rights
and freedoms and fulfil the same obligations as citizens of Belarus except
in cases where it is necessary to protect the rights and fundamental
freedoms of the citizens of Belarus, to ensure State security or to protect
public order and the health of the population. Persons belonging to ethnic
minorities are able to take part in the political process through passive
and active participation in elections. Moreover, Belarusian legislation
does not restrict the rights of foreign nationals to enter and remain in
the country on grounds of their racial, ethnic or religious affiliation or
other similar factors. The right of refugees in Belarus to social
protection, including social security, is guaranteed by Belarusian
legislation. The report also states that disabled persons and family
victims of the Chernobyl disaster were compensated for the loss of the
income that they had before the disability or loss of the breadwinner.


PRESENTATION OF REPORT

VLADIMIR MALEVICH, Deputy Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United
Nations Office at Geneva, said the peace that existed between the various
ethnic, religious and cultural groups in Belarus was an expression of the
country's commitment to uphold its obligation to the International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. The
State of Belarus was a multi-ethnic State including a vast array of
nationalities many of whom had migrated to the country in the 1920s. There
were no significant clashes in Belarus on the basis of ethnic, religious or
cultural background. Moreover, there were economic and social guarantees
for all citizens of Belarus and foreigners and citizens of foreign origin
were equal before the law, Mr. Malevich affirmed.

Mr. Malevich referred to a questionnaire sent out in January 2003 to ethnic
target groups which found that there was no discrimination based on
linguistic differences and that the overwhelming majority of citizens did
not take ethnicity into account in their daily lives. Over 40 per cent of
overall marriages in Belarus were inter-racial and State policy in general
was to guarantee social stability and equality.

The State had ratified several international treaties and instruments aimed
for equality for all, the head of delegation noted. There were more than 20
legislative instruments that regulated social life and equality and rights
and freedoms and any statement leading to racism was banned by law.
Moreover, the Constitution stated that everybody had the right to use their
mother tongue, guaranteed the right for all to education and stated that
all religions and creeds were equal before the law. Among the legislative
acts in force supporting equality were the Marriage and Family Code, the
Labour Code, the Criminal Code and the Civil Code.

The Government of Belarus had passed a law on the prohibition of the use of
the media to incite racial and other types of discrimination. In that
connection, he drew attention to the closure in 1999 of the newspaper
Slavyanskaya Gazeta for having published articles containing an incitement
to ethnic and religious discord and hostility.
Other legislative measures had been enacted to promote anti-discrimination
measures and others which focused on the issues of deportation, detention
and torture. Moreover, the Criminal Code called for serious punishments for
offences related to discrimination of any kind and as a step to protect the
rights and freedoms of victims of racial discrimination they were entitled
to ask for compensation for material damages.

All religions and creeds were equal before the law, Mr. Malevich noted.
During the 1990s there was a considerable increase in the number of
Belarusians who said they were devout religious followers; in 1989, 22 per
cent said they were religious followers and in 1998, 37.5 per cent.
Moreover, in 1989 there were some 800 religious societies in Belarus and in
2002, over 2,200.

At present there were 122 social organizations registered in Belarus
comprising of 24 national minorities. The State's policy was to proclaim
and promote national cultures; one measure taken in this regard was the
publishing of books to promote national ethnicities represented in its
territory.

The head of the delegation noted that in 1998 a coordination council was
set up, including leaders from national associations and State's bodies, to
defend the rights of citizens belonging to national minorities.

Mr. Malevich recalled that there had been cases of vandalism in both Jewish
and other cemeteries expressing that the problem was not entirely limited
to anti-Semitic behaviour but rather a problem involving the education of
young people. The State party had taken measures to prevent extremist
behaviour.

The State of Belarus had been cooperating with international organizations
to form a system to make sure the Convention was well known to the public
and the subject of human rights was introduced into school curriculum with
a particular focus on racial discrimination.

In conclusion, Mr. Malevich noted that there was a draft resolution
sponsored by Belarus that was presented to the United Nations General
Assembly based on combating racial discrimination. The draft resolution,
which addressed measures to be taken against political platforms based on
doctrines of superiority, racial discrimination, and xenophobia, including
neo-nazism, was currently before the Third Committee of the General
Assembly on Human Rights.


DISCUSSION

TANG CHENGYUAN, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur to the
report, drew attention to the measures taken by the Government of Belarus
in conformity with the Convention. The Constitution of Belarus, promulgated
in 1994, was amended in November 1996, with an emphasis on equality before
the law and equal protection of individual rights and freedoms. Among the
legislative measures taken were the Citizenship Act of 1991, the Freedom of
Conscience and Religious Organizations Act, the Act on National Minorities,
and the Labour Code.

Concerning the attitude of the Government to some manifestations of racial
discrimination, the Rapporteur noted the banning of the newspaper
Slavyanskaya Gazeta for publishing articles inciting racial and ethnic
hatred. Also noteworthy was the investigation of 30 young people for their
attacks against refugees from Asian and African countries studying at the
Vitebsk Medical University and their beatings of foreign students of
Indian, Nepalese and Lebanese origins. Some of these members were indicted
and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The Rapporteur referred to a case involving restricting the employment
rights of the Roma and to information received that one quarter of
Belarusians considered the ethnic affiliation and religion of a political
candidate as significant. According to Human Rights Watch World Report of
2003, Belarusian authorities continued to persecute non-Orthodox groups and
last August, with the support of the police, new buildings of Autocephalous
Orthodox Church were dismantled in a village in Grodno Province. The
Rapporteur asked for additional information with regard to these issues.

According to a report of Anti-Racism Information Service, Mr. Tang noted,
Roma people were discriminated against. Their children were not able to
attend good schools and they were discriminated against in employment. More
information was sought on this issue.

Mr. Tang referred to the mention in the report of possible causes of racial
discrimination, among them political, historical, economic, social and
cultural factors, as well as the increase in the number of refugees and
migrant workers since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.
However there were isolated cases of anti-Semitism, and according to a
non-governmental organization, most of these activities originated from the
Russian Orthodox Church.

The country Rapporteur expressed his appreciation for the efforts taken by
the State party concerning human rights training courses which were
underway at the State University of Belarus. Mr. Tang expressed the need to
include such education at the primary and secondary school levels. Given
the information yielded from the survey carried out in 1997, racial
prejudice did influence some citizens and, although, not constituting the
main trend, racial discrimination had gained some ground in Belarus which
warranted due attention, he said.

Based on information received, an Expert said the unemployment rate of Roma
living in Belarus was reported to be approximately 95 per cent. He asked
what measures had been taken to improve the situation of the Roma in
general. In response, the delegation noted that Roma were afforded the same
rights as those of the citizens of Belarus. Moreover, all people of foreign
origin and national minorities in Belarus had the right to participate in
political life and to be elected to State offices and were also able to
participate in decision-making when it concerned their own rights.
Statistics demonstrated that only one quarter of the citizens indicated
that nationality had any significance when they decided upon political
candidates. A Coordinating Council for Ethnic Community Affairs had been
set up to promote the rights of Belarusian citizens of various ethnic
groups and its members represented several ministries in government. In
addition, the law on national minorities provided for the possibility of
creating on the local level consultative bodies with representatives of
national minorities.
Concerning national minorities in the labour force, the delegation said
national minorities had equal rights to citizens of Belarus. The Government
had set up programmes to provide active measures to promote active
employment including job opportunities for vulnerable groups in society.

On the questions pertaining to skinheads, the delegation drew attention to
the fact that the investigation which resulted in reaction to the cases
cited determined that these skinheads acted in an unorganised way and did
not have a leader which demonstrated that the skinhead movement was not an
organized movement in Belarus. Rather, these cases were spontaneous and
isolated. Nevertheless, the authorities attached very serious attention to
this matter. There had not been any further acts of this type in Belarus.

While noting the increased criminal investigations of cases related to
anti-Semitic acts of violence and racial discrimination in general,
Committee Experts requested additional information on the matter. In
response the delegation said there were some 28,000 Jewish people (0.3 per
cent) living in Belarus who enjoyed the same rights and freedoms as all
Belarusian citizens. Several public Jewish associations had been registered
in Belarus as well.

Committee Experts requested information on the February 2004 incident where
Belarusian authorities in Minsk shut down and liquidated the property of
the International Humanitarian Institute, which included a department on
Jewish history. In response, the delegation said the Ministry of Education
had taken a decision to close the Institution since it had committed a
violation of the law regulating the work and activity of higher education
institutions. There was no discrimination with regard to this institution,
the delegation noted. The process of renewal of leases for religious
buildings was a frequent activity and no preference was given to one
religion or another.

In response to a question on vandalism at cemeteries, the delegation said
the matter was very sensitive and had affected a number of cemeteries in
Belarus. In 2002-2003 there were acts of vandalism in some 160 cases of
this kind of which only five cases were determined to be of an anti-Semitic
nature; subsequently, 23 persons had been identified and 19 cases sent to
courts. The Government had been taking steps to prevent such acts of
vandalism and similar actions.

The delegation recalled the ceremony, which took place in July 2004 marking
the 60th anniversary of Belarus' liberation from Fascism, which was
attended by several representatives from Israel. At the event, a memorial
was inaugurated listing the names of some 1,900 Jewish victims of the
holocaust.

Concerning languages, the delegation noted that national minorities often
did not speak the State language and in that case newspapers in other
languages were published and specialized language schools existed.
Furthermore, there were special courses in schools which enabled those of
other nationalities to learn the official Belarusian language.

The delegation responded to another question posed by referring to the
national programme for developing education on human rights which was set
up and which provided literature and specialized human rights training. As
per this programme, the Government had collected documents on protecting
people who belonged to national minorities and which were distributed to
various institutions in society. Concerning the training of law enforcement
officials, the education system had a mandatory subject for all such
personnel to ensure they were informed of the rights which were applied to
all people living in Belarus.

Concerning refugees, Belarus had encountered very acute problems of forced
immigration over the past 10 years and had begun a procedure for
recognizing these problems, the delegation said. At present there were some
3,000 refugees living in Belarus. Moreover, in May 2001 the State acceded
to the Convention on Refugees of 1951 and had since adopted new legislation
related to rights of refugees. Several measures had been taken to protect
the rights of refugees and the Government had been cooperating with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental
organizations to work towards the successful integration of refugees in
Belarus. In general, foreign nationals and stateless persons in Belarus
were equal before the law irrespective of their origin, race, ethnicity,
gender, language or religion.

As for illegal immigrants, according to data by the State, there were some
2,300 foreigners who had been detained for attempting to enter Belarusian
territory illegally. On this matter, the State was cooperating with United
Nations agencies, the delegation noted.

In connection with human trafficking, an Expert asked what was being done
to improve the situation of women and girls who were forced into
prostitution. The delegation said measures had been taken to ensure that
such activities were punished, as well as child prostitution. Efforts were
also taken to ensure that the victims were re-integrated into society. A
number of seminars had been conducted in both Belarus and in Ukraine to
deal with this dilemma.

Several Committee Experts wished to know what measures had been taken to
address the problem of Internet-based racial and related discrimination and
the incitement of racial hatred, in particular Neo-Nazi propaganda on the
Internet, urging people to set fire to synagogues. The delegation said
Belarus was cooperating with other countries to prevent the use of the
Internet for harmful uses and had been active at the World Summit on
Information Society held last December, in particular on the harmful uses
of the Internet.

On a question concerning women, the delegation noted that there were
programmes to improve the situation of women in society, in particular in
the labour markets. The equality of women and men was a priority in the
State's policy. Over the last ten years the number of women employed had
increased. As of today, the proportion of women in ministries was over 50
per cent and a national plan of action had been enacted to guarantee the
equality of women and men.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS

TANG CHENGYUAN, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, echoed
the Committee's impression that the report was very well presented and
prepared. During the dialogue, however, the Committee requested information
which had not been provided, in particular on the issue of Roma. Therefore,
the Committee asked that the delegation provide clear answers on this
subject, especially with regard to how many Roma there were in Belarus and
how they participated in pubic life in Belarus. More information was also
sought on the Coordinating Council for Ethnic Community Affairs and its
functions, which Committee Members had expressed considerable interest in.

In closing, Mr. Tang thanked the members of the delegation for their
diligent efforts and hoped to extend the constructive dialogue.



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