CCPR/C/119/D/2586/2015
citizen born in 1953.1 They claim a violation by Belarus of articles 6, 7, 9, 10 and 26 of the
Covenant, read in conjunction with article 2 (1), with respect to Mr. Zakharenko, and a
violation of their own rights under article 7 of the Covenant. The authors are represented by
Raisa Mikhailovskaya, head of the Belarusian Documentation Centre in Lithuania. 2 The
Optional Protocol entered into force for Belarus on 30 December 1992.
The facts as presented by the authors
2.1
Mr. Zakharenko was a former Minister of the Interior who had been actively
opposed to President Lukashenko. In the second quarter of 1999, the Office of the Gomel
Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated a criminal investigation against Mr.
Zakharenko. The authors claim that he was placed under police surveillance with his
telephone tapped and recorded.3
2.2
On 7 May 1999, around 9.30 p.m., Mr Zakharenko was forcibly abducted by
unidentified individuals on his way home in Minsk. According to the authors, he was
forced to get into a car and driven to an unknown destination.
2.3
On 8 May 1999, Elena Zakharenko reported the disappearance of her father to the
Department of the Oktyabrski District of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Minsk. On 12
and 19 May 1999, the Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs and the Head of the Criminal
Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, respectively, requested the Prosecutor General to
initiate a criminal investigation into the disappearance of Mr. Zakharenko. On 17
September 1999, the Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Minsk initiated a criminal
investigation under article 101 of the Criminal Code (murder). The investigation was
launched more than four months after the initial reporting of Mr. Zakharenko’s
disappearance and following the disappearance of other political opponents, namely,
Messrs. Gonchar and Krasovsky, on 16 September 1999.4
2.4
The authors submit that Mr. Zakharenko’s enforced disappearance was politically
motivated. According to a handwritten letter 5 from the Chief of the Criminal Police of
Belarus, the Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council had ordered the murder of Yuri
Zakharenko, to be carried out by a special group headed by a Colonel P., with the assistance
of the Minister for Internal Affairs at the time, Yuri Sivakov. The latter had provided
Colonel P. with a pistol, 6 which had been temporarily removed from a temporary
confinement ward in the prison. According to the former head of the pretrial detention
centre No. 1 (SIZO-1) in Minsk,7 Mr. A., the pistol was given to associates of Mr. Sivakov
— Mr. K. and Mr. D.8 — on 30 April and 16 September 1999, respectively. According to
the authors, Messrs. Gonchar and Krasovsky were disappeared and murdered, as was Mr.
Zakharenko, using the same pistol, which was later returned to the pretrial detention
centre.9
2.5
During the investigation, the Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr. Sivakov, and his
associates, Mr. K. and Mr. D., did not provide any plausible explanation for the removal of
the pistol. On 22 November 1999, Colonel P. was arrested. The arrest warrant was signed
by the then-Chief of the Belarus State Security Committee, Mr. M., and sanctioned by the
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2
Ulyana Zakharenko was the mother of Yuri Zakharenko, while Elena Zakharenko was his daughter.
A power of attorney is attached to the submission. It is submitted that no authorization is submitted by
Mr. Zakharenko owing to his alleged enforced disappearance.
According to the authors, the investigation against Mr. Zakharenko was politically motivated owing
to his opposition activities. The official reason of investigation is not mentioned in the submission.
See communication No. 1820/2008, Irina Krasovskaya and Valeriya Krasovskaya v. Belarus, Views
adopted on 26 March 2012, paras. 2.4. and 2.6., referring to the disappearance of Mr. Zakharenko.
A copy of the letter is on file.
The weapon in question was allegedly a special pistol used to carry out the executions of those on
death row.
SIZO-1 also includes the death row where executions take place.
The authors submit that this information is confirmed in the record on weapons and ammunition of
the prison.
The authors submit that their bodies were buried in the North cemetery of Minsk.