RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 58, 00-03-22

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From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 58, 22 March 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] U.S., ARMENIA DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION

[02] KARABAKH PRESIDENT WOUNDED IN ASSASSINATION BID

[03] OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS GEORGIA

[04] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF PRESIDENTIAL POLL

[05] MORE REVELATIONS OF POLL FALSIFICATION IN KYRGYZSTAN

[06] KYRGYZ JOURNALIST CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT

[07] UN TO WITHDRAW MILITARY OBSERVERS FROM TAJIKISTAN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS KOSOVARS TO END HATRED

[09] PEACEKEEPERS EXTEND 'CONFIDENCE ZONE' IN KOSOVA DIVIDED CITY

[10] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES SERBS OF ORGANIZED RAPE

[11] MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAV ARMY READY TO RETURN TO KOSOVA

[12] SERBIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS TO AGREE ON DATE FOR RALLY

[13] UN REFUGEE CHIEF ENCOURAGED BY BOSNIAN RETURNS

[14] OSCE MISSION HEAD IN BOSNIA TRIES TO LOCALIZE ELECTION FOCUS

[15] GERMANY, ALBANIA PLEDGE COOPERATION

[16] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR CLARIFIES DISPUTE OVER 'HOT

[17] EU WELCOMES ROMANIAN ECONOMIC STRATEGY

[18] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGET

[19] BULGARIA INTRODUCES ISLAMIC CLASSES IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS

[C] END NOTE

[20] DEMONIZING THE BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] U.S., ARMENIA DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION

in-Chief of U.S. Forces in Europe Admiral Charles Abbot met

with President Robert Kocharian, Defense Minister Vagharshak

Harutiunian, and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian in Yerevan

on 21 March to discuss regional security and the prospects

for expanding bilateral military cooperation, Noyan Tapan and

RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. In a statement released

after those talks, Kocharian said "favorable conditions"

exist for the creation of a regional security system. He

expressed the hope that the present "low level" of military

ties between Armenia and the U.S. will be improved. LF

[02] KARABAKH PRESIDENT WOUNDED IN ASSASSINATION BID

Ghukasian received serious leg wounds when unidentified

attackers opened fire on his car in Stepanakert during the

night of 21-22 March, but his life is not in danger, Noyan

Tapan and RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported. His

bodyguards and driver were also badly injured. Some 20

people, including the unrecognized republic's former Defense

Minister Samvel Babayan and his brother Karen, have been

arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack. The

enclave's government issued a statement characterizing the

assassination attempt as intended to undermine Karabakh's

statehood and the leadership's policy of political reform.

Armenian President Kocharian on 22 March condemned the attack

on Ghukasian, for whom he pledged his "absolute support,"

RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. LF

[03] OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS GEORGIA

the Abkhaz conflict, the situation on the Georgian-Chechen

border, and cooperation between Georgia and the OSCE with

Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili and

President Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi on 21 March,

Caucasus Press reported. Also discussed was the role of the

OSCE in mediating a political solution to the South Ossetian

conflict. Kubis met with Georgian deputy parliamentary

speaker Vakhtang Kolbaya, who represents the Georgian

displaced persons from Abkhazia. Kolbaya criticized what he

termed the ineffectiveness of the OSCE observer mission in

Sukhum and proposed that it be relocated in Gali Raion, which

is the scene of repeated killings and abductions. LF

[04] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF PRESIDENTIAL POLL

loose alignment created two months ago by some 25 extra-

parliamentary opposition parties, distributed leaflets in

Tbilisi on 21 March calling on voters to boycott the 9 April

presidential poll "in order to save Georgia from Eduard

Shevardnadze's destructive anti-national regime," Caucasus

Press reported. The previous day, opposition presidential

candidate and Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze

told journalists in Batumi that Georgian media are

deliberately exaggerating Shevardnadze's popularity rating,

which is estimated at 80 percent, Interfax reported.

Abashidze said that figure is closer to 10 percent. He hinted

that he may withdraw his candidacy in favor of former

Communist Party First Secretary Djumber Patiashvili. LF

[05] MORE REVELATIONS OF POLL FALSIFICATION IN KYRGYZSTAN

second local election official in the town of Kara-Buura

confirmed on 21 March a colleague's admission of how

administrators pressured and bribed local election officials

to ensure the defeat in the 12 March runoff election of Ar-

Namys Chairman Feliks Kulov, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 March 2000). Meanwhile some 2,000

people continued to picket the local administration building

in Kara-Buura for the 10th day. In Bishkek, some 200

demonstrators were prevented from gathering on the city's

central square and relocated their ongoing protest to outside

the Ministry of Agriculture. LF

[06] KYRGYZ JOURNALIST CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT

founder of the semi-private Shade TV station, has been

charged with embezzlement, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported

on 21 March. Kachieva was detained in mid-January. She

attributes her arrest to her stated intention to prepare a

series of programs on opposition politicians. LF

[07] UN TO WITHDRAW MILITARY OBSERVERS FROM TAJIKISTAN

statement released on 21 March, the UN Security Council

announced its decision to withdraw the UN observer mission

from Tajikistan when its mandate expires on 15 May, AP

reported. In a written report to the council the previous

day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that he is holding

consultations with the Tajik government on opening a smaller

UN office in Dushanbe "in the period of post-conflict peace-

building and consolidation." Noting observers' criticisms

that the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan in February

and March failed to meet minimum standards of fairness, Annan

nonetheless characterized the poll as "a significant

achievement on the path to national reconciliation." LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS KOSOVARS TO END HATRED

Robertson said on 21 March that the people of Kosova risk

losing international support if they do not set aside their

ethnic hatreds, Reuters reported. Robertson wrote in a report

to NATO titled "Kosovo One Year On" that "hard-won success

could drift away" if Western countries do not continue their

commitment to building democracy in the Serbian province.

Robertson called the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia a

success. He said "Serb forces are out, KFOR is in, and the

refugees are home." But he said ethnic Albanians must

demonstrate "that they, too, are committed to a democratic

and multiethnic Kosovo." Robertson's full report is available

at: http://www.nato.int. Robertson also confirmed that U.S.

jets used depleted uranium rounds during the air campaign

last year when firing at Yugoslav armored vehicles. He said

the rounds were non-critical byproducts of the uranium

refining process. Some experts say uranium-tipped shells are

harmful to the environment. PB

[09] PEACEKEEPERS EXTEND 'CONFIDENCE ZONE' IN KOSOVA DIVIDED CITY

the violence-plagued town of Mitrovica on 22 March, AP

reported. KFOR troops posted maps in which all residents of

the town--divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians--can

move freely. The maps list forbidden activities such as

demonstrations, the carrying of weapons, and the use by Serbs

of two-way radios to report on the movement of ethnic

Albanians. In other news, a bomb blast damaged a bridge on a

key road in northern Kosova near Laziste. The damage stopped

traffic. The perpetrators are unknown. PB

[10] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES SERBS OF ORGANIZED RAPE

international human rights organization Human Rights Watch

(HRW) said on 21 March that Serbian and Yugoslav military

officers are responsible for organized rapes of ethnic

Albanian women during NATO's bombing of the province last

year, AFP reported. HRW said in a report that it has recorded

96 rapes committed by Serbian security forces immediately

before and during the 11-week bombing campaign. It said the

number of sex crimes is much higher but that most victims

decided not to report what happened to them. The report says

the rapes were not isolated incidents but were used to

deliberately torment the civilian population, extort money,

and cause people to flee their homes. In other news,

international officials in Kosova said that the trials of

three Serbs accused of murder and of committing war crimes

has been postponed owing to fear of Serb protests, Reuters

reported. PB

[11] MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAV ARMY READY TO RETURN TO KOSOVA

that the failure of the international peacekeeping force in

Kosova (KFOR) justifies Yugoslav troops' resuming control

over the province, AP reported. General Ojdanic said on state

television that Serbia "has the right to thank the

peacekeepers, say goodbye, and take over the responsibility

for Kosovo's future." Ojdanic was the commander of Yugoslav

forces during NATO's 78-day air bombardment of Yugoslavia and

has been indicted by the war crimes tribunal at The Hague for

war crimes. He said KFOR troops failed "to fulfill the

provisions of the Security Council resolution" and his army's

return is justified by "continued terrorist attacks and

ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians in the very presence [of

KFOR]." He said a return by the Yugoslav army would guarantee

the "preservation of national values, the constitution, and

territorial integrity." PB

[12] SERBIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS TO AGREE ON DATE FOR RALLY

opposition Serbian Renewal Movement of Vuk Draskovic said on

21 March that it expects to reach an agreement with other

opposition parties on a date for a mass demonstration against

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, dpa reported. Party

spokesman Ivan Kovacevic said the rally will be held in

Belgrade's Republic Square under the slogan "Stop the

Terror." He said it could take place later this month. In

other news, about 5,000 people demonstrated for the fourth

straight day in Kraljevo on 21 March. They are protesting the

authorities' crackdown on opposition media. PB

[13] UN REFUGEE CHIEF ENCOURAGED BY BOSNIAN RETURNS

the UN high commissioner for refugees, said in Sarajevo on 21

March that the international community must continue to aid

the return of displaced people to their pre-war homes in

Bosnia-Herzegovina, AP reported. Ogata made her comments

after touring various parts of the country. She said that

although progress is still small, she is encouraged by the

recent return of some 2,000 Muslims to villages around

Prijedor in Republika Srpska, more than 4,000 Serbs to the

Bosnian-Croat controlled town of Drvar, and nearly 20,000

Bosnian Serbs and Croats to Sarajevo. Ogata said these

"attempts have to be encouraged." The UNHCR says there are

still some 836,000 displaced people living within Bosnia and

some 330,000 living abroad. PB

[14] OSCE MISSION HEAD IN BOSNIA TRIES TO LOCALIZE ELECTION FOCUS

trying to focus the upcoming elections on local issues,

Reuters reported. Barry said "this is not an election about

the Dayton agreement...this is an election about who

represents you at the local level." He said people have to

ask themselves if they are "satisfied with the education

system, housing, or municipal services." The 8 April election

will cost some $12 million and is being paid for and

organized by the OSCE. Some 21,000 people representing 67

parties are running for posts in 146 municipalities. Barry

said about 2.5 million people are expected to vote. PB

[15] GERMANY, ALBANIA PLEDGE COOPERATION

Joschka Fischer told his Albanian counterpart, Paskal Milo,

that Berlin will provide further aid to strengthen democracy

and stability in Albania, AP reported. Fischer said after a

meeting in Berlin with Milo that the two countries will work

together to create "stability and democracy" in the Serbian

province of Kosova. Milo said he assured EU Commissioner for

Foreign Policy Javier Solana in Tirana last week that Albania

is working to "discourage every extremist element that could

damage the already difficult peace process in Kosova." He

added that the Albanian government opposes all forms of

extremism as well as the idea of creating a Greater Albania.

PB

[16] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR CLARIFIES DISPUTE OVER 'HOT

Constantin Degeratu, who recently ended

his term as army chief of staff, confirmed on 21 March that

during former President Ion Iliescu's tenure (1990-1996),

the "hot line" with the Kremlin and other members of the

former Warsaw Pact had not been disconnected and that talks

had been under way with Russia on modernizing the line.

Degeratu said that the National Security Council, chaired

by then-President Iliescu, had ordered such talks, and he

added that Moscow delivered free of charge updated

equipment in May 1995. The talks were interrupted when Emil

Constantinescu became president in November 1996, but the

line was disconnected only three days ago. Degeratu said

Romania had notified Russia in September 1999 of its

intention to disconnect the line but had received no reply.

MS

[17] EU WELCOMES ROMANIAN ECONOMIC STRATEGY

Commission's Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen on 21

March welcomed Romania's medium-term economic strategy as a

guarantee that the country's efforts to meet EU membership

criteria will continue even if the government changes hands

after elections, Rompres reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21

March 2000). He said the strategy's objectives and the

proposed means to achieve them are "satisfactory." He added

that the EU is prepared to help Romania close down

environmentally risky mines but added that the clean-up of

the Tisza River must be paid for by those who caused the

recent environmental damage. Verheugen also urged Romanian

authorities to "pay special attention" to child-care

facilities. VG

[18] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR APPROVAL OF BUDGET

Lucinschi on 21 March called on the Alliance for Democracy

and Reforms "not to destabilize" the country's political

situation and ensure that the 2000 budget is passed by the

parliament, BASA-Press reported. The president was responding

to the ADR's accusations that he has caused disarray in the

country's political life. VG

[19] BULGARIA INTRODUCES ISLAMIC CLASSES IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS

Bulgarian government has introduced elective classes in Islam

at elementary schools in 22 cities with large ethnic Turkish

populations, AP reported on 20 March, citing Bulgarian Radio.

VG

[C] END NOTE

[20] DEMONIZING THE BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION

The Freedom March-2, staged by the Belarusian opposition

in Minsk on 15 March, attracted an estimated 20,000

protesters and, as its organizers unanimously agreed, was a

success. Compared with the Freedom March-1, which took place

on 17 October 1999, the protest ended without incident. There

were no clashes with riot police; though heavily present in

the city on that day, police troops were not deployed along

the march route. After adopting a resolution calling for

political talks between the regime and the opposition, the

marchers dispersed peacefully, while the younger ones

attended an open air rock concert. Thus, it seems that the

opposition scored a considerable propaganda victory in its

fight against the government's extremely biased electronic

media.

Minsk City Deputy Mayor Viktar Chykin--who is also

leader of one of Belarus's two Communist Parties--commented

that the march took place with virtually no breach of the

law. According to Chykin, the march organizers fulfilled all

promises made to the city authorities regarding the conduct

of the event. However, in an overtly Orwellian twist of

reasoning, Chykin the next day accused the march organizers

of blocking traffic, disrupting public transportation, and

preventing people from getting home on time. And he announced

that the authorities will no longer grant permission for

marches to be held in the city. Belarusian Television, for

its part, ensured that the 16 March main newscast included

opinions of Minsk residents who were unhappy about the march.

According to Belarusian opposition parties, the Minsk

authorities imposed a ban on marches under pressure from the

presidential administration and President Alyaksandr

Lukashenka, who, they argue, was annoyed by the success of

the opposition event. Lukashenka told Belarusian Television

that the Freedom March-2 brought together up to 7,500 people.

A majority of the protesters, he said, were rich people in

"mink coats" who are "offended" by his "unpopular" economic

decisions that have diminished their wealth.

It is hard to say how many Belarusians believed this

statement. On the other hand, the regime has consistently

presented Belarus's political opposition as a group of people

devoid of broader popular support. Lukashenka himself has not

lost an opportunity to portray his political foes as the

country's "scum," "dregs," or "drop-outs." "Political

analysts" in Belarusian Television's main newscast readily

transmit such designations to the entire country.

It seems that this time, however, the regime has sensed

it is in danger of losing control over the opposition's media

image. The Freedom March-1, which ended in violent clashes

between young protesters and riot police, provided a good

opportunity for the state-controlled media to portray the

opposition as a destructive and demoniac force that wants

only destabilization and bloodshed. Some commentators also

noted that the October march, during which protesters burned

a draft copy of the Russia-Belarus Union treaty, offended

many in Russia and diminished the readiness of Russian

television channels to objectively cover the Belarusian

regime-opposition standoff. The Freedom-2 March has done much

to counter the opposition's negative media image, as has the

confession by a defector from the Belarusian Interior

Ministry saying that last year's clashes were deliberately

provoked by the police.

Some Belarusian commentators say the ban on marches in

downtown Minsk is aimed at provoking more clashes during the

various protest actions that the Belarusian opposition is

planning for the spring. In this way, they argue, the

authorities will sustain the popular portrayal of Belarusian

oppositionists as trouble-makers and social outcasts. The

commentators add that it would be no problem for the regime

to arrest several dozen protest organizers and do away with

the "opposition problem" for a long time. The regime,

however, will not do this because it appears to need a

bugbear to frighten the population and persuade Belarusians

that there are people in Belarus even more unpredictable and

harmful than Lukashenka.

Whatever the true reason for the ban on marches, it is

clear that Lukashenka will not comply with the international

community's appeal to sit at the negotiation table with the

opposition and resolve Belarus's political standoff in a

peaceful way. It seems that permanent and controlled

confrontation in Belarus suits Lukashenka's authoritarian

rule as the country and its people sink deeper into economic

poverty and political isolation.

No one should expect the opposition protests to change

the political climate in Belarus any time soon. Indeed, as

last year's massive protests in Serbia showed, they may not

change anything at all. The Belarusian opposition must still

find a way to augment its political demands with economic

proposals that could elicit broader public sympathy and build

a social force able to confront the regime. For the time

being, Belarus's opposition parties seem unable to mobilize

support among the country's industrial workers or peasants.

At the same time, those parties have virtually no option

but to practice street democracy. "Demonstrations can be

avoided when a country guarantees free access to the media,

when it holds free and democratic elections. When all this is

non-existent, the authorities should allow street

demonstrations," opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich

commented. It seems that the Lukashenka regime is bent on

denying its opponents even that possibility.

22-03-00

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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