BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

11 Nov 2005 15:45:08 GMT

UN envoy asks Belarus to probe journalists' murders

Source: Reuters

GENEVA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights envoy on Friday urged Belarus to investigate the murders of two journalists and end "systematic harassment and persecution" of non-state media.

Adrian Severin, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, also called on authorities to ensure respect for the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

The deaths of Veronika Cherkasova in October 2004 and Vasil Grodnikov last month must be resolved and the perpetrators prosecuted, he said in a statement.

"The special rapporteur urges the government ... to clarify the murders ... and bring those responsible for these crimes to justice," said Severin, a Romanian lawyer appointed last year to the independent post.

The ex-Soviet state, increasingly isolated by the West because of criticism of President Alexander Lukashenko's record on human rights and media freedom, has refused Severin's requests to visit.

Cherkasova, stabbed to death in her Minsk apartment, had investigated alleged arms sales by Belarus to Iraq and published articles on surveillance methods used by Belarussian authorities to monitor civilians' activities, Severin said.

Grodnikov, a freelance correspondent of Narodnaya Volya (People's Will), died of a traumatic brain injury, and his brother said that he had already survived an attack in January, the U.N. envoy added.

Severin said that "authorities had consistently harassed Narodnaya Volya this year because of its criticism of the president. State-run kiosks are reportedly not permitted to sell the newspaper, he added.

"The special rapporteur appeals to the government of Belarus to put an end to the systematic harassment and persecution of non-state media and to take all necessary steps to secure the right to freedom of opinion and expression," he said.

Severin warned in September that Belarus was sliding into totalitarian rule and he saw little hope that presidential elections due next year would be free and fair.

Source:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11142189.htm