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6. On 24 August 2001, the Special Representative transmitted an allegation letter to the Government of Argentina regarding the following cases.
7. According to the information received, Ms. Vanessa Piedrabuena, President of the Asociacion Travestis Unidas de Cordoba (ATUC), received threats from the police
on 16 February 2001 after she took part in a demonstration calling for the investigation into the death in custody of her fellow activist, Ms. Vanessa Lorena Ledesma, to be reopened. She complained to the Police Internal Affairs Division, but no action to investigate the case has been taken yet.
8. Ms. Hebe de Bonafini, President of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, reportedly received messages in May 2001 from unidentified persons threatening her. On 25 May 2001, her daughter, Ms. Maria Alejandra Bonafini, 35 years old, was reportedly violently attacked at her home in La Plata, Buenos Aires province, where she lives with her mother. These incidents are apparently retaliatory measures against the activities carried out by Ms. Hebe de Bonafini, whose two children and daughter-in-law were reportedly kidnapped and disappeared in 1977.
9. According to the information received, Mary y Pedro Ortiz, Lidia Zarate, Delia Garcilazo, Oscar Rios and Silva Ruiz, members of the Comision de Familiares de Victimas de Gatillo, have been intimidated and threatened. The threats reportedly intensified after the Comision submitted a report to the Ministerio de Gobemacion on 18 December 2000 containing details of 800 cases of fatal police shootings. Members of the Comision were reportedly threatened after they organized a 25-day demonstration in December 2000 against the local authorities in Buenos Aires province. Those responsible for the incidents were allegedly members of the armed police.
10. Carlos Varela, Diego Lavado and Alejandro Acosta, lawyers in the province of Mendoza, are reportedly continuously the victims of harassment and threats in connection with their work on one case of enforced disappearance and two cases of murder. According to the information received, on their way to the office, on 2 March 2001, they discovered that during the night their nameplate had been stolen and that electric cables had been removed. These facts were reported to the ministry of justice of the province who ordered measures to guarantee their safety. The Special Representative has been informed that the measures were not sufficient to protect the lawyers.
11. On 22 October 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal regarding threats against Ms. Olga Luquez. According to the information received, on 17 September 2001, after she had appeared on television to commemorate the anniversary of her son's death (murdered on 1 October 1999 by the police of Tropero Sosa), a policeman reportedly aimed a gun at her
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while in a bus. Ms. Olga Luquez's friends who appeared on television were reportedly threatened and questioned by the police. In addition, on 11 October 2001, a police car reportedly kept Ms. Olga Luquez under surveillance while she was accompanying her daughter to school.
Comunicaciones recibidas
12. Por carta fechada 2 de noviembre de 2001, el Gobierno de la Argentina informo respecto al caso de la Sra. Olga Luquez, enviado por la Representante Especial el 22 de octubre de 2001.
El Gobierno establecio que las autoridades competentes en la Cancilleria han enviado sendas notas al Ministerio de Justicia у Derechos Humanos у al Subsecretario de Justicia de la provincia de Mendoza solicitando informacion sobre los hechos denunciados.
13. Por carta fechada 5 de diciembre de 2001, el Gobierno de la Argentina informo a la Representante Especial respecto a los casos de Alejandra Bonafini, Varela, Lavado у Acosta enviados el 24 de agosto de 2001. Respecto al caso de Alejandra Bonafini, el Gobierno senalo que la Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia у Derechos Humanos dirigio una nota con fecha 28 de mayo de 2001 al Ministro de Seguridad de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, manifestando su preocupacion por los hechos у reclamando una investigacion exhaustiva. La investigacion penal preparatoria se encuentra actualmente en etapa instructiva. Respecto a los casos de Mary y Pedro Ortiz, Lidia Zarate, Delia Garcilazo, Oscar Rios y Silva Ruiz, la Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia у Derechos Humanos informo que se continuan efectuando gestiones para contactar a miembros de la Comision de Familiares de Victimas de Gatillo Facil con el objeto de esclarecer la situacion у actuar dentro de sus competencias. Respecto al caso de Varela, Lavado у Acosta, el Gobierno senalo que la Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia у Derechos Humanos de la nacion informo que solicito al Ministerio de Justicia у Seguridad de la provincia de Mendoza que se resguarde en todo lo que las victimas reclamen en cuanto a sus vidas у seguridad; asimismo que se implementen las investigaciones que permitan el cese de la situacion que pesa sobre las personas antes mencionadas. Finalmente el Gobierno informo que se compromete a informar cualquier novedad en relation a los casos antes mencionados.
14. Por carta fechada 5 de diciembre de 2001, el Gobierno de la Argentina transmitio informacion respecto al caso de miembros de la Comision de Familiares de Victimas de Gatillo Facil enviado el 21 de marzo de 2001. Segun la Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia у Derechos Humanos, se continuan efectuando gestiones para contactar a miembros de la mencionada Comision. Asimismo, dicha Subsecretaria mantiene un permanente contacto con la Direction de Derechos Humanos y el Ministerio de Seguridad, a fin de aunar esfuerzos en la investigacion y esclarecimiento de los hechos.
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15. Por cartas fechadas 5 y 28 de diciembre de 2001, el Gobierno de la Argentina informo respecto a los casos de Vanesa Lorena Ledesma y Vanesa Piedrabuena. El Gobierno senalo que la Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos se ha puesto en contacto con el Ministro de Gobierno de la provincia de Cordoba reclamandole el cese de las presuntas amenazas contra la vida y la seguridad de Vanessa Piedrabuena. Ademas, el Gobierno de la Argentina establecio que el 25 de abril del 2001 las actuaciones fueron giradas a la Unidad Judicial Delitos Especiales a los fines de continuar con la investigation iniciada
por la Direction de Lucha Contra la Discrimination. Con motivo de la muerte de Vanesa Lorena Ledesma, el Gobierno indico que en el mes de octubre de 2000, a requerimiento de la Fiscalia Interviniente, el juzgado de control dicto el sobreseimiento total de los nueve uniformados quienes habian procedido a la detencion de Vanesa Lorena Ledesma y que habian estado a cargo de la misma en los momentos inmediatamente posteriores a su detencion. Asimismo, el Gobierno senalo que cada una de las cuestiones planteadas en relation al fallecimiento de Vanesa Lorena Ledesma fueron oportunamente investigadas, valoradas y resueltas. No procedio nuevo analisis por cuanto las instancias procesales han sido agotadas, tras motivadas resoluciones, sin que hayan sido cuestionadas por recurso alguno. Hizo saber a Vanesa Piedrabuena que aparece innecesaria la audiencia solicitada sobre las mismas cuestiones.
Observaciones
16. La Representante Especial quisiera agradecer al Gobierno todas las respuestas facilitadas.
BANGLADESH Communication sent
17. On 23 January 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal concerning nine activists who were reportedly arrested on 12 January 2001. Those activists were Mr. Sanchay Chakma, an indigenous Jumma leader and former president of the Hill Students' Council,
Mr. Dipayon Khisha, member of the Reorganization Committee of the Hill People's Council, Mr. Rupok Chakma, President of the Hill Students' Council, Mr. Biplob Chakma, a student of Chittagong University and member of the Executive Committee Hill Students' Council, Mr. Rupayon Chakma, a polytechnic student at Chittagong, Mr. Newton Chakma, Mr. Sadhan Mitra Chakkma, Mr. Kilai Chakma, supporters of the United Peoples Democratic Front and Mr. Karim Abdullah, Chittagong City leader of the Janotantric Biplobi Jote. The nine were reportedly arrested by the police and plain clothed personnel from the Intelligence Bureau while they were participating in a public meeting to celebrate the second anniversary of the
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formation of the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), one of the organizations of the indigenous Jumma peoples. Mr. Chakma and his associates were charged for having allegedly created a disturbance in the minds of the public because of statements they made against the Accord of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Communication received
18. By letter sent on 21 May 2001 the Government responded that the Chittagong Metropolitan Police had received secret information on 12 January 2001 that some accused persons who had absconded from different thanas of Rangamati Hill District were present at the meeting in the Zila Parishad Auditorium arranged by the United Peoples Democratic Front. On receipt of that information, the police had arrested the nine persons and produced them before the Court of the Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate, which sent them to Chittagong jail. As there was no specific allegation against Karim Abdullah, he was released. According to the Government, Mr. Chakma and his seven tribal associates were wanted for a specific murder case, No. G.R-1(10) 2000 dt. 9.10.2000 US 302 B.P.C lodged at Kawkhali police station under Rangamati Hill District. They were sent to Rangamati District Jail on 10 February 2001 as under-trial prisoners.
Observations
19. The Special Representative thanks the Government for its reply. She will continue to watch and evaluate the situation of the imprisoned Chakma leaders.
BELARUS Communications sent
20. On 27 September 2001, the Special Representative transmitted an allegation concerning the following cases.
21. Ales Abramovich, a member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, reportedly spent 35 days in detention, from 14 February
to 20 March 2000, for staging three peaceful pickets in the town of Borisov. According to the information received, this sentence reportedly related to a peaceful protest action on 16 January 2000, during which Mr. Abramovich and other protestors reportedly held posters bearing slogans such as "Zakharenko, Gonchar... who is next?" It was reported that, while he has been in detention, the guards have repeatedly placed people with the open stage of tuberculosis in his cell.
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22. Vera Stremkovskaya, a leading human rights lawyer, a defence counsel in a number of high-profile cases who received a number of prestigious international human rights awards
in 1999, and the director of the Centre for Human Rights, has been reportedly threatened with
expulsion from the Collegium of Advocates if she did not cease her human rights activities.
According to the information received, the Collegium of Advocates exerted pressure on
Ms. Stremkovskaya, during a two-day human rights conference held in Minsk in March 2000,
for alleged violations of regulations which govern the legal profession in Belarus. According to
the information received, three different criminal cases have also been brought against
Ms. Stremkovskaya since December 1998 on the basis that she had defamed public officials, all
three of which were dropped at the end of December 1999. It was reported that,
on 20 June 2001, a Minsk Court convicted Ms. Stremkovskaya of libel, fining her, and that she
immediately filed an appeal against her conviction.
23. Andrei Petrov, Dmitry Abramovich and Anton Telezhnikov, three members of Zubr, a non-registered pro-democracy and human rights organization, were reportedly detained outside the Presidential Administration Building in Minsk, on 5 March 2001, after participating the same day in a demonstration and holding pictures and placards of four men who reportedly disappeared in 1999-2000: the former Minister of the Interior, Yury Zakharenko, the
Deputy Speaker of the dissolved 13th Supreme Soviet, Viktor Gonchar and his companion, Anatoly Krasovsky, and the Russian Public Television cameraman, Dmitry Zavadsky. According to the information received, Mr. Petrov and Mr. Abramovich were reportedly fined 20 times the minimum monthly salary by Leninsky District Court in Minsk on 6 March 2001, while Mr. Telezhnikov was reportedly sentenced to 15 days in prison in Okrestina Detention Centre for participation in an unsanctioned action under article 167 (2) of the Belarusian Criminal Code.
24. Four other activists from Zubr, Aleksey Shidlovsky, Timofey Dranchuk,
Dmitry Drapochko and Ales Apranich, were reportedly arrested in Minsk on 5 April 2001 for spray-painting on the wall of a factory: "Where is Gonchar? Where is Zavadsky? Where is Zakharenko?" According to the information received, the four activists are facing charges under article 341 of the Belarusian Criminal Code for allegedly defacing a building with graffiti.
25. Yuri Bandazhevsky, an internationally recognized scientist specializing in medical research on nuclear radioactivity and former Rector of the Medical Institute of Gomel, was reportedly charged on 18 June 2001 with bribery and sentenced by the Military Collegium of the Belarusian Supreme Court in Gomel to eight years' imprisonment at the UZ 15/1 prison in Minsk. This sentence was allegedly related to his outspoken criticism of the Belarusian
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authorities' reaction to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 1986 and its harmful consequences on the health on the population. His conclusions were reportedly in contradiction with the official thesis spread by the authorities.
26. The offices of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a non-governmental organization, have reportedly been burgled several times since 1996, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of valuable information. The persons responsible for the burglary allegedly ignored expensive office equipment but instead stole the organization's database on election monitoring and human rights violations, covering a five-year period. On 10 July 2001, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee reportedly suffered a further break-in, with the loss of two computers holding information about the organization's activities relating to the 2001 presidential election.
27. The Belarusian Association of Women Lawyers, based in the western city of Brest, reportedly came under particular scrutiny in 1998. According to the information received, at that time the human rights organization was reportedly receiving a number of foreign grants for the purpose of human rights promotion. It was reported that, although the organization was subjected to a tax audit lasting around five months, the tax authorities reportedly found an inconsistency equivalent to $4. In the interim, the president of the organization,
Ms. Galina Drebezova, was reportedly forced to expend considerable energy and time in producing and explaining the relevant documents and figures. In addition, the local authorities were reportedly not willing to allow the Belarusian Association of Women Lawyers to use municipally owned property for seminars and other human rights events.
28. The Belarusian Free Trade Union in Minsk was reportedly raided on 19 August 1999 by police officers who burst into the organization's offices on the pretext that an explosive device had been placed there. According to the information received, although no explosive device was ever found, the police officers allegedly confiscated around 30,000 leaflets calling on people to take part in the pro-democracy freedom march planned for October that year.
29. The Minsk offices of the human rights organization Spring-96 were reportedly raided
on 4 October 1999 by around 10 police officers. According to the information received, the raid, which lasted for around four hours, took place two weeks before the pro-democracy freedom march. It was reported that police officers confiscated two computers, two printers and copies of the organization's human rights journal Right to Freedom, on the grounds that the organization did not possess the necessary authorization to print on the premises. The chairperson of Spring-96, Ales Byalytsky, was reportedly detained on 18 November 1999 and kept in custody for one day after demanding from officials that the organization's confiscated equipment be returned. According to the information received, the equipment was returned to the organization
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after a delay of around two months. It was further reported that on 16 March 2001 police officers conducted a raid on the offices of Spring-96 in the town of Borisov, north-east of Minsk, on the basis that people in a neighbouring building had reportedly complained about noise.
30. Oleg Volchek, local chairperson of Legal Assistance to the Population, was reportedly denied, on 2 April 2001, registration of a national organization which was to be named "Legal Defence of Citizens". According to the information received, Mr. Volchek submitted, on