Oleg Suprunyuk, a Brest correspondent for
Radio Liberty and deputy chief editor of the local
non-state newspaper Brestsky Kuryer, was hospitalized on
March 23 with a broken jaw and numerous bruises. He has had
an operation on his jaw and is expected to spend at least
two weeks in the hospital.
The journalist says three unknown men beat him up without
any apparent reason a week ago, late on March 17. According
to him, he felt bad, but chose not to go to the doctor, nor
to the police, because he was to attend a seminar in
Vilnius, Lithuania, the following day.
Mr. Suprunyuk does not plan to report the beating to the
police, saying it is now too late to look for the
assailants anyway. He does not connect the attack on him to
his professional activities. He believes he was beaten up
by "ordinary hooligans."
Activists of the opposition youth group Zubr in Brest have begun collecting signatures to a demand that the authorities stop building a radioactive waste dump site 20 kilometers off the city.
The site, located near the villages of Zhemchuzhina, Dubok and Borovaya close to a large forest, is being built for radioactive soil from the former uranium transshipment points, 802 and Zapadny, in central Brest. The authorities have so far ignored protests from villagers and
non-governmental organizations.
Zubr activists intend to send their demand with the signatures to the Belarusian ruler, the National Assembly, the region governor and the contractor. "Belarus has areas contaminated as a result of the
Chernobyl accident, and it would be logical to dump the radioactive soil there, not in a clean area of the country," says Zubr's appeal.
Belarus' human rights organization "Vyasna" had its Brest regional office burglarized overnight from March 16 to 17.
The thieves broke the lock and stole two computers, two monitors, a printer, a fax machine, a copier, a modem, a scanner and other property. Police have launched a criminal investigation. The incident is just one in a string of unsolved burglaries that began in 2001 and plagued non-governmental organizations and independent newspapers in Belarus.
Participants at the first meeting of Belarusian and Polish sister cities, which was held in Brest from March 13 to 15, urged the two governments to create favorable conditions for developing sister city ties
and drawing the masses into the sister city movement. The appeal calls for harmonious interaction between the governments aimed at strengthening friendship between the Belarusians and the Poles.
Representatives from about 100 cities agreed to continue efforts to enhance partnership and help enterprises and business people establish economic ties and carry out socioeconomic projects.
The appeal calls for close bilateral and multilateral cooperation with local authorities within regional and international programs in the area of housing, taxation, social security, environment and culture.
During the forum in Brest, 21 Belarusian cities signed sister city agreements with 26 Polish cities.
Representatives of 21 Belarusian and 26 Polish cities have signed cultural and economic cooperation agreements during the sister city forum, which opened in Brest on March 13.
Brest signed agreements with Lublin and Terespol, its partners for several years, Minsk is expected to sign a cooperation accord with Warsaw.
Minsk and Lodz agreed to organize Belarusian journalists' trip to Lodz, arrange recuperation for disabled children in Poland, and display Polish films and works of art in Minsk. Minsk mayor Mikhail Pavlov, chairman of the Belarusian Sister City Association which organized the event,
suggested that the Poles should "lobby" not only cultural but also economic interests of their Belarusian partners. "I am very glad to be here. This is a very good beginning, which should strengthen ties among administrative centers," Mariusz Maszkiewicz, the Polish ambassador to Belarus, told BelaPAN of the forum.
Representatives from about 100 sister cities in Belarus and Poland gathered in Brest on March 13 for a three-day meeting to discuss prospects of bilateral economic, business and cultural cooperation.
On March 14, following a plenary meeting, representatives of the Belarusian cities of Bobruisk, Zhodino, Orsha, Stolin, Soligorsk, Svetlogorsk, Slutsk, Logoisk, Borisov and Chausy will sign sister city agreements with Lomza, Augustow, Zambrow, Monki, Ostrow Mazowiecka, Ostroleka, Wlodawa, Lukow, Wyszkow, and Minsk Mazowiecki, respectively.
On the same day, the forum participants are expected to pass a final document aimed at boosting bilateral ties. Invited to the meeting have been Belarusian and Polish officials, including Belarusian Prime Minister Gennady Novitsky, Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov, the Polish ambassador to Belarus and the Belarusian ambassador to
Poland. The program of the meeting includes visits to the Brest
Fortress (a World War II memorial) and Berestye (an excavation/museum of medieval Brest), as well as to Brest's free economic zone, Kovry Bresta carpet factory, and Ice Palace.
The Belarusian Association of Sister Cities (BASC) plans to organize three more similar forums this year, BASC President Mikhail Pavlov said. The BASC represents 35 Belarusian cities that have 131 partners in 25 countries.
The police in Brest, a regional capital in southwestern Belarus, have arrested four men for destroying and damaging 29 graves at the city's Trishinskoye Cemetery on the night of March 11-12.
A report that some people were vandalizing graves at Brest's oldest cemetery came from a passer-by. One of the suspects, a 20-year-old man, was arrested on the scene. The others ran away, but were detained on the following day, and have already confessed.
All four suspects are jobless Brest residents and are not affiliated with any political or religious organizations.
They blame their actions on being drunk. The police are now deciding whether to bring criminal charges against them.
Activists of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Narodnaya Hramada" in Brest have applied to the city authorities for permission to hold a rally at the stadium "Stroitel" on March 28.
The Social Democrats aim to draw the attention of the public and the government to the problem of low wages and encourage workers to defend their rights by all legal means, according to the application.
The Brest Regional Trade Union Association plans to stage a rally at the same place on the same day.
Narodnaya Hramada has said that it organizes the rally to display solidarity with the unions. The party expects to gather about 5,000 participants, whereas the trade union association about 3,000 people.
The Presidium of the Brest Regional Trade Union Association (BRTUA) decided on March 11 to stage rallies in Brest and other cities in the region within the framework of the nationwide protest set by Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus for March 28.
The decision was made despite opposition from several grass-root organizations and the Regional Committee of the Culture Workers Union. The trade unions of health and light industry workers also expressed reservations, but said they would have to obey.
The BRTUA plans to apply to the Brest government for permission to hold the rally at the remote stadium "Stroitel", the government-designated place for anti-government protests. The slogans will be "No to Rising Prices! For Decent Life!"
"We will not put stress on trade unions rights," BRTUA leader Vladimir Mironchik told BelaPAN. The BRTUA intends to invite the heads of the regional and city governments and elected officials of all levels.
Rallies are also expected to take place in Pruzhany, Luninets, Baranovichi, Stolin, Ivatsevichi, Beryoza, Pinsk and Kobrin.
The Brest branch of the Belarusian Party of Communists has announced that it will join the protest.
Wage debts in the Brest region have exceeded 40 percent of the region's entire wage fund, according to data released by Belarus' State Control Committee.
Wage debts have reached 6.6 billion rubels (over $3.9 million) in the region's agriculture, including 2.3 billion in unpaid December wages, and 4.2 billion rubels in manufacturing, including 175 million in December wages. Three fourths of the region's farms have wage arrears. Wage
debts total 492 million rubels in education, 97.8 million rubels in health care, and 19.4 million rubels in culture and entertainment.
24 March 2002