Some Recent Major Examples of Censorship in Belarus: 1995 - 1998

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• News Article: Authors of the Book Political Repression in Belarus May Face Criminal Prosecution   (November 25, 1998)
  "Authors of the book Political Repression in Belarus, which represents a collection of reports from the February 28 [1998] international scholarly conference Political Repression in Belarus: 1917-1997, may face criminal prosecution."

  "Valery Karbalevich, a well-known Belarusian political analyst who was one of the authors, was summoned to the Minsk Prosecutor's Office on November 24 'for a conversation.' Boris Legchin and Andrei Mlyavy, investigators of the Minsk Prosecutor's Office, denied Mr Karbalevich's request that the meeting be attended by his lawyer, Garri Pogonyailo. Mr Karbalevich therefore refused to answer questions, which was stated in a statement. In an interview with a BelaPAN correspondent, Mr Pogonyailo called the investigators' denial a blatant violation of Mr Karbalevich's constitutional rights."

  "On October 22, Procurator General Oleg Bozhelko received a group letter signed by public figures and politicians of pro-Communist orientation, including army veterans Anatoly Barankevich and Anatoly Novikov, painter Mikhail Savitsky, and historian Adam Zalessky, who called on the law enforcement agencies to 'protect the honor and dignity of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and subject to criminal prosecution the authors of the book Political Repression in Belarus -- Tatyana Protko, Nina Stuzhinskaya, Igor Kuznetsov, Valery Karbalevich, and lecturers of the History Institute, who had prepared more than a third of the reports.' "

  "On November 20, Ms Protko, chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, was also summoned to the Minsk Prosecutor's Office. "

  Source: The BelaPAN News Service, No. 101; Wednesday, November 25, 1998; 7:30 p.m.

• Belarus Government Issues Warning Against Newspaper, Nasha Niva   (May 29, 1998)
  The newspaper Nasha Niva received an official warning stating that it violated "the generally accepted norms" concerning the Belarusian language. Receiving such notification is a precursor for a newspaper being closed by the government. Specifically, Nasha Niva was warned that it uses Taraskevitza (the traditional form of Belarusian) rather than Narkomovka (the Soviet, Russified, version of Belarusian).

  See the articles about the Belarusian Language on Trial.

• News Article: Belarus Government Measures Against Independent Media (1998)
  Notes: (1) Every indication is that the following policies are currently in effect. (2) President Lukashenka uses the term "opposition" as a strong pejorative/code word. It refers to people, organizations, publications, etc., that he cannot control and thus are against him and Belarus (from his point of view).

  "The Belarusian Council of Ministers (cabinet) has worked out measures "to step up counterpropaganda against the opposition press". These measures, stated in a For-Official-Use-Only document which has references to a letter dated March 17, 1998, from the Belarusian president's administration and the president's instructions, include:

  • Prohibiting ministries, state committees, and other governmental entities from making official documents (edicts, resolutions, instructions, etc.) available to the non-state media;

  • Warning officials against commenting on official documents for the opposition media;

  • Prohibiting state organizations and enterprises from 'placing their advertisements on the pages of opposition newspapers, which is the main source of their financing.'"

  The document reads that the above-listed measures were prepared 'proceeding from the conceptual approaches to improving the work of the state media, which were approved by the president.'"   Source: The BelaPAN News Service, No. 25; Tuesday, April 7, 1998; 5:30 p.m.

  . . .and President Lukashenka comments in May:

  "While speaking at a CIS forum of journalists in Mensk on May 5, President Lukashenko defined the letter as 'bureaucrats' usual bungling.' He then added that the authors of the instructions should not have put them in writing, but should have given ministers verbal instructions to deny contacts to non-state media outlets. "That was done rudely: it was right by content and rude by form," he said." " Source: The BelaPAN News Service, No. 43; Thursday, May 14, 1998; 8:00 p.m.

• News Article: Physical Attacks on Media Representatives (1997)
  From a statement issued by Charter-97: "Filmmaker Yury Khashchevatsky, member of the organizing committee of the Charter-97 social movement, was mercilessly beaten in his studio at 7:15 pm, on December 23, 1997," the statement reads. "As a result of an assault by unidentified persons, severe bodily injuries were inflicted on him: he received a triple fracture of a foot, a concussion of the brain and numerous contusions and abrasions, and the bridge of his nose was broken." Source: The BelaPAN News Service, No. 76; Saturday, December 27, 1997; 5:30 p.m.   Sp. Khashchevatsky has made many documentary films, including An Ordinary President in 1997.   Also see next item in this list.

• Banning of the documentary film, An Ordinary President (1997)
  Yury Khashchevatsky's documentary is considered to be highly critical of the president of Belarus.   Also see previous item in this list.

• The closure of the independent newspaper Svaboda ("Liberty" in English; December, 1997)
  Only the most recent event of the on-going, government campaign against free access to information in Belarus, and especially, access to an independent media. The government of Belarus controls the printing presses and distribution; several of the independent newspapers are published outside of Belarus as a result. Resultant costs of independent media are much higher and also have a much more restricted distribution. The distribution of independent journals is mainly restricted to Mensk (where only a small percentage of the [voting] population lives). Some cynics say, such availability is only allowed by the government of Belarus to show that there is a free press in Belarus--without actually permitting one.

• Harassment of Humanitarian Aid Organizations and Shipments, NGOs, etc. (Summer, 1997, through present)
  For example, first the harassment and then the ejection from Belarus of a highly respected, international NGO that had spent millions of dollars in Belarus, helping schools, local NGOs, media, publishers, authors, scholars, and so on.

  The government of Belarus' position appears to be that if the funds are cut for individuals and organizations that have a point of view different from the current government's (even though free speech and a free press are guaranteed by the constitution), there will be no opposition to its authoritarian rule.

  This is a censorship issue in that the current government of Belarus tries to portray the West as an enemy of Belarus, and "censors" information in general and particularly about any positive efforts (e.g., humanitarian aid, educational funding, etc.) toward Belarus from the West from the Belarusian people.

• The ban of the sale and denied future printing of the Belarusian history textbook, Adkyl' Nash Rod. (Early 1997)
  This textbook is intended for school students, approximately 12 years old. The text covered the early history of Belarus, in sketches about the people significant during those periods, up through the 19th century. Rumor has it that the book's (accurate) portrayal of the Russian empire's imperialism and wholesale destruction of Belarus offended the political leaders of Belarus.

• Censoring (severely editing) the history book, Belarus: At a Crossroads in History (1997)
  Originally published in English in the United States (1993), but currently out of print (summer, 1998), the Belarusian-language manuscript was severely edited by the printer in Belarus, with neither the permission nor notification of the author nor the organization financing the book's publication. Although the censorship was protested by the organization financing the book which asked that the book not be released in its censored form, the book was released by the publisher and can be found in the bookstores of Mensk, beginning in late 1997.

  Material deleted includes not only factual, significant, historically accurate descriptions of (often wanton) destruction and genocide of the Belarusian people during the Soviet era, but similarly accurate, factual, and significant descriptions of the destruction and genocide on the part of Russia as a nation against the Belarusian people.

• The closure of Radio Station FM 101.2 (1996 through present)
  "The station [had] broadcast primarily music and some news. The head of the station, Zhanna Litvina, said the move was just another in a series aimed at curtailing media freedom. She also said it was part of the state's anti-Belarusian policy, since it was the only independent channel broadcasting in Belarusian and fostering national 'rebirth.' "

• Resolution of the International Scholarly Conference "Belarus - Problems of a Peripheral Region of Eastern Europe", Stuttgart, Germany, 10-14 April, 1996.
  Letter from historians and scholars working in the field of Belarusian history, sent to the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, with a copy sent to the President of the Republic Belarus.

  An excerpt: " . . . .[We] wish to express our serious desquiet over the attempt to limit the freedom of scholarly research in Belarus. The halting of the printing of the Belarusian encyclopaedia, coupled with the personnel changes in the management of the encyclopedia which have taken place against the background of a campaign to suppress the independent media constitute an attack on human rights and the intimidation of opponents of the present regime. . . ."

• The Replacement of the Post-Soviet Textbooks in the Schools with Soviet-Era Textbooks (Especially History Textbooks) (1995 ? through present)
  How can the youth of Belarus participate and compete in today's very competitive and fast-paced information age, when they are denied accurate information? What kind of future does this forebode for Belarus?

  In Soviet thinking, the role of information (periodicals, electronic media, textbooks, etc.) is to serve the propaganda goals of the USSR, i.e., whatever regime was currently in power. (Soviet dogma is reality; facts can be manipulated to support the dogma.)

  Material excluded comprises not only factual, significant, historically accurate descriptions of (often wanton) destruction and genocide of the Belarusian people during the Soviet era, but similarly accurate, factual, and significant descriptions of the destruction and genocide on the part of Russia as a nation against the Belarusian people.