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Prosecutor General. However, Colonel P. was released shortly after, presumably under the
direct order of the President.
2.6
The former Prosecutor General of Belarus, Mr. B., requested the Prosecutor General
of the Russian Federation to provide special equipment for searching buried corpses.
However, the new Prosecutor General of Belarus, Mr. Sh., withdrew the request and no
search was ever conducted. The investigation team, composed of the most experienced
officials of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security
Committee, was suspended from the case when Mr. B. and Mr. M. were dismissed from
their functions. Since November 2000, no real investigation in Mr. Zakharenko’s case has
been conducted.
2.7
In June 2002, Mr Zakharenko’s wife requested the Court of the Oktyabrski District
of the city of Minsk to declare Mr. Zakharenko dead in absentia as of the date of his
abduction, i.e., 7 May 1999. On 9 September 2002, the Court discontinued the examination
of the application owing to the fact that the preliminary investigation of the criminal case
into the disappearance of Mr. Zakharenko had not been closed. The author’s complaints
against the Court’s ruling were rejected.
2.8
On 22 January 2004, the authors and relatives of other disappeared politicians
launched an application for a new criminal case to be initiated under article 128 of the
Criminal Code (crimes against [the safety of] humanity), but to no avail.
2.9
None of the claims submitted by the authors to the investigators was investigated,
and all of their requests to the Prosecutor’s Office were ignored. The authors submit that
the investigation did not bring any outcome in the past 15 years since it is controlled by
political powers that oppose it. Every three or four months, a letter is sent to the authors,
confirming that the investigation is ongoing, but there is no proof that the investigatory
work is being actually pursued.
2.10 In support of their claims, the authors refer to a memorandum by Christos
Pourgourides, prepared for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (the
PACE memorandum). 10 The memorandum concludes that the competent Belarusian
authorities have not conducted adequate investigation into four disappearances, including
that of Mr. Zakharenko. On the contrary, it appears that the highest governmental
authorities have taken active steps to cover-up information and that the authorities might be
involved in those disappearances.
2.11 The authors submit that they have exhausted all available domestic remedies even
though they have been unreasonably prolonged. The disappearance of Mr. Zakharenko was
reported to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. In the view of
the authors, the proceedings before the Working Group do not, however, constitute an
international procedure of investigation or settlement within the meaning of article 5 (2) (a)
of the Optional Protocol.
The complaint
3.1
With reference to the jurisprudence of the Committee 11 and paragraph 4 of its
general comment No. 6 (1982) on the right to life, the authors claim that the State party has
violated article 6 (1) of the Covenant in relation to Mr. Zakharenko, since it has failed to
protect his life, as it is highly likely that he was the victim of an extrajudicial killing
committed by State officials.
3.2
Furthermore, the authors claim a violation of article 7 of the Covenant with respect
both to Mr. Zakharenko and themselves. Referring to the Committee’s above-mentioned
jurisprudence, they maintain that the enforced disappearance constitutes cruel and
10
11
The memorandum presents the results of the investigatory work on four disappearances in Belarus,
including the disappearance of Mr. Zakharenko, carried out by Mr. Pourgourides. The memorandum
was drafted following his visit to Belarus and a number of interviews with government officials.
See communications No. 992/2001, Bousroual v. Algeria, Views adopted on 30 March 2006; and No.
1820/2008 (see footnote 4 above).
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