Decree No9 copied from Stalin’s decree of 1940

The discouraging fact was found out at the round table of the legal department of the radio and electronics industry’s trade union.

During the discussion the lawyers found the similarities between the Belarus president’s decree as of 7 December 2012 and the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR as of 26 June 1940.

Salidarnasc gives the excerpts from both documents for comparison.

The decree No9 as of 7 December 2012

“About additional measures for development of timber processing industry”

1. Enact that:

1.2. cancellation of a contract in the period of the implementation of investment projects on initiative of a worker is only possible with the agreement of the employer;

1.5. when cancelling a contract with a worker on worker’s initiative or in the circumstances not dependent on the parties’ will, according to the legislation the amounts of monthly payments are to be returned by the worker to the employer in a month from the contract’s cancellation;

In case of non-payment of the monthly amount…

1.6. after the expiration date, defined in the part one of the paragraph 1.5, the organization appeals to the court in order to exact the monthly payment in accordance with the Civic Code of the Republic of Belarus.

The court’s decision must be taken in three days after the application.

The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR as of 26 June 1940:

“About the transition to an 8-hour working day, seven day working week and the prohibition of the voluntary withdrawal of workers from enterprises and institutions”

…3. Forbid voluntary withdrawal of workers and employees of the state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions, and also voluntary transfers form one enterprise or institution to another.

Withdrawal from an enterprise or institution or transfer from one enterprise or institution to another can only be permitted by the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution.

…5. Enact that workers and employees, having voluntary left state, cooperative or public enterprises or institutions, will be held responsible in a court and sentenced to imprisonment from 2 to 4 months.

Enact that for absenteeism without valid reasons workers and employees of state, cooperative or public enterprises or institutions will be held responsible in a court and sentenced to corrective works at the place of employment for 6 months with withholding up to 25% of their salaries.

We would note that as compared to Stalin’s decree as of 1940 in the decree No9 there is the regulation missing about sending workers to compulsive works, although Aliaksandr Lukashenka considered this possibility before signing the decree.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Head of Russian trade unions threatens Lukashenka with sanctions

Eighty nine trade union centres demand to cancel the “slave decree” in Belarus.

Trade unions across the world continue a campaign of solidarity with Belarusians. Mikhail Shmakov, the chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia and president of the Pan-European Regional Council of the International Trade Union Confederation, joined the campaign, Nasha Niva newspaper writes.

“The essence of the decree is to make people work under force and constraint. The mankind passed the stage of slavery and serfdom long ago. History showed that this kind of labour is ineffective,” Shmakov writes in a letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. “I had to say with regret that conditions of the decree resemble the actions by the authorities of Myanmar, who were severely criticised by the International Labour Organisation and the world community that caused imposing sanctions, which led to economic slowdown and international isolation of the country.”

On behalf of 89 trade union centres from 55 countries of Europe and Asia, Shmakov calls on the authorities of Belarus to cancel Decree No. 9 that gives management of enterprises the right to prohibit workers from retiring on the ground of “modernisation of enterprises”.

Decree No.9 restricts the labour rights of workers of wood processing enterprises. All workers must sign employment agreements that cannot be terminated by an initiative of a worker without the consent of the employer during the period of implementation of investment projects (the years 2013-2014, according to minister of labour and social protection Marianna Shchotkina). Refusal of the employer to terminate the agreement can be appealed against to the chairman of the regional or Minsk city executive committee.

If employees of wood processing enterprises violate their work duties or dismiss, they must pay back the bonuses they received in additions to salaries. “If the employer fails to pay the bonuses, the sum will be collected from their wages at a new job. The unemployed persons must return to their previous job with bonuses being collected from their wages,” the decree reads.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Congressman Smith: Lukashenka and Assad may ask for asylum in any country

The dictator and his henchmen have a chance to avoid the international tribunal.

This opinion was expressed by chairman of the US Helsinki Commission Congressman Christopher Smith in an interview with the Russian service of Voice of America.

He also spoke about the difference between the Magnitsky Act and Russia's response – Dima Yakovlev Bill, the current situation in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

He says Lukashenka will remain in power because he uses force and controls people resembling Nicolae Ceausescu, whose secret police was effective and cruel. He notes that all dictatorships are temporary. They fade and erode from inside unless they are changed by other systems of government. No dictatorships live forever, they all disappear sooner or later, the congressman says. If Lukashenka wanted to leave heritage after him, he should begin to speak about perestroika and glastnost, like Gorbachev did. It's never late to do so whatever terrible crimes he and his henchmen committed. Mr Smith gave an example of South Africa and Salvador, where people unite around the leader, who wants to turn to democracy. The politician says the US, waiting for changes, will impose sanctions on the country within the frames of the Belarus Democracy Act. He is confident the more the US and the EU support Belarusians struggling for freedom, the shorter Lukashenka's days will be.

Christopher Smith compared the Belarusian head of state with Slobodan Milosevic and Ratko Mladic, who stood The Hague Tribunal for war crimes.

He said they had been committing terrible crimes for some period of time torturing people and jailing them without trials, but it ended. As for Lukashenka, the congressman hopes that either people Lukashenka's circle will start reforms, either they will fly to another country and ask asylum there, like Syrian Assad can do. Lukashenka used to be a close friend of Milosevic, but there's no more Milosevic, Mr Smith noted underlining his confidence that Belarus will enjoy all benefits of the real democracy in the future.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Mikalai Statkevich told about the provocation before the Square protest

The full text of the political prisoner’s letter from prison was posted at his web-site. It tells how he got into a trap in Niamiga.

Mikalai Statkevich’s wife Maryna Adamovich provides the text of his letter on her Facebook account and еру statkevich.org web-site. The political prisoner sent it on the eve of 19 December.

“… You know that it is yet another anniversary next week. I am not ashamed of that day. I cannot forgive myself only one thing – I let them to lead me into that trap. I do not know why Prakopavich [Niaklieu – Charter’97] needed to entice me in his office that way. But when we left the office together and I saw their bus with amplifying equipment, which they were going to take to the square, I immediately realized how this was going to end. Probably I should have run from there right away, because I must have been where I called people to come (at the square), but these children were so happy that I would go with them, so I simply could not leave them. And I did not have time to think, because they knew everything and did not let to make even 10 meters.

Although, it seems that I made no more mistakes, because it were instincts that worked further. I immediately covered my back, having stood near the police car, beat correctly, received the punches correctly. If I passed a single punch, I could not have made it anywhere, judging from the condition of my forearm, which I used to block the stick hits. It was also correct that I could not kick the mask that crawled to me because I did not consider it an enemy and was afraid to kick a head with my foot. The most important thing is that the scull appeared to be strong (the result of 600-years evolution) and one leg survived, which allowed to walk”, - Miakalai Statkevich says.

At the end of the letter there is an addition: “What is interesting is that if the Prakopavich’s team, when carrying out this force challenge or force provocation, realized that in our conditions it would inevitably cause the reaction that we got in the end or not. But forgive me for that recollection of the past, Because I told you all that a year ago”.

We would remind that on 19 December 2010 near Niamiga street unknown people wearing masks attacked the column which was going from the office of the presidential candidate Uladzimir Niakliaeu to October square. The incident happened in Niamiga street. A black patrol wagon blocked the way of the column, where Mikalai Statkevich was as well. First a smoke-puff charge was thrown at the column out of the wagon and then a group of unknown people in black got out of it and started beating the oppositionists.

Belarus prosecutor’s office refused to consider the case of the attack at the column.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

David Kramer pickets Belarusian embassy in Washington

Activists of We Remember initiative and members of the Belarusian-American Association picketed the Embassy of Belarus in Washington on December 19, the second anniversary of the Belarusian presidential “elections”.

President of Freedom House David Kramer, president of We Remember initiative Iryna Krasouskaya, members of the Joint Baltic American National Committee ( JBANC), Amnesty International and Fair Vote for Russia participated in the picket.

More than 20 picketers called on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, who were jailed ahead of or just after the “elections”.

Protesters had posters “Freedom for political prisoners in Belarus”, “Stop last dictator of Europe!” and portraits of the Belarusians forcefully disappeared in 1999-2000. Picketers handed out leaflets with information about human rights abuses in Belarus.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Riot police raids in Minsk centre

Riot policemen were stopping and searching young men in the Belarusian capital yesterday.
“Riot police officers stopped almost all young men aged from 16 to 25 near metro stations yesterday,” a reader writes.

Similar raids have become a routine both in Minsk centre and suburbs. The riot police detain young people and search their bags explaining they look for illegal substances.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Doctor from Vitebsk: The authorities are weak and inadequate

A doctor from Vitebsk addresses the head of the Vitebsk region executive committee with a video appeal.
had previously reporter, recently the pediatrician Igar Postnou was fired from a Vitebsk clinic for publicly criticizing the head of the Vitebsk region Aliaksandr Kasinets. He said about squandering the budget resources and decline of public health care in the Vitebsk region, he publicly focused attention on the unfinished surgical building of the oncological hospital, delayed renovation of the infectious diseases hospital, temporary closedown of the Afghan center.

On 20 December the fired doctor recorded a video appeal ad posted it on youtube.

“I am Pastnou Igar Aliakseevich, a pediatrician from Vitebsk, whom, not without the participation of our General Governor, is being thrown out to the street today in the middle of winter for the reason that on many issues I do not agree with the policy carried out by our General Governor, Aliaksandr Mikalaevich Kasinets.

Many people are asking me today: Igar, why do you need that? Why do you need to torture your mother who is worried about you? Why do you need to lose your job, probably, the social status and may be the life itself? So, first of all I would like to respond that I am doing this in order to prove that it is possible to fight for your rights by legal means.

Secondly, I want to show how deprived of our rights we, medical workers, are. Not only do we earn little, but each of us may be treated like a dog, be dealt shortly without any objections. And thirdly, to show to what extent unsubstantiated are their words that they care about children, about patients, about people’s lives.

More than fifty parents have collected signatures today and sent them to the president’s aide demanding for me to be restored at work, for the contract to be prolonged with me and I got my former position. First of all I want to address the General Governor Aliaksandr Kasinets.

Esteemed General Governor, I think, it is improper to treat a person in that way only for the reason that he for the first doctor who refused to send children to the conditions of a casemate that are there in the infectious diseases hospital, where it would be hard to stay even for a healthy person. He was the first one to say the second hospital is not suited for being a medical institution, which people called a death valley for a reason. I was the first one to say that the policy of our General Governor is a soap bubble existing at the expense of loans, which would soon burst and everyone would see what it stood on – on tears, shortage of money or impossibility of a proper renovation of the infectious diseases hospital.

I, for example, have now tears in my eyes, when I see that we have wasted the summer and now, when we are facing the frosts of minus twenty, the finishing works still continue although it can be seen that everything falls apart right away. A cannot look at that, cannot look how money is being buried in the ground. The General Governor Kasinets when still being a rector (and I am responsible for my words) dealt shortly with six professors who had written an open letter against his methods of management. One of the professors had a heart attack; the others lost their jobs and positions.

My case is to the first one that is why I want to say: this will not happen. People, parents, children have all supported me. The methods of the authorities are not very inadequate and coward. That is why I want to say that our authorities are, unfortunately, very weak today.

They are weak in the way that there is only one person who works, only one person who thinks. The officials in the regions have lost the ability to think independently, that is why they take such absolutely inadequate actions.

Today I was forbidden to make rounds in the districts because they are afraid that I will agitate there for parents’ protests against such actions. But the parents are collecting signatures themselves, practically without my participation; they are filled with indignation by such behavior of the authorities. Now everyone has seen how weak our authorities are and how primitive their actions are.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau