Belarus: Follow-up to BYS36590.E of 12 March 2001 on the attitude of the Committee of State Security (KGB) towards trade unions and their members; Viktor Elfimov (or Yelfimov), his current activities, affiliations and links to the BTU in 1997 (1996 - January 2002)

A 30 June 2000 report by the Brussels-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) makes reference to a complaint lodged by several Belarusan trade unions in 2000 with the International Labour Organization (ILO), in which they accused the Belarusan government of violating trade unions' rights defined in ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98. In their complaint, the authors accused the Committee of State Security (KGB) of interfering with activities of trade unions (ICFTU 28 July 2000). For example, i n response to an inquiry made by Mr. Marinich, the chair of the Free Trade Union of Metal Workers of MAZ, the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ n.d.), A.Filazafovich, the manager of AO "Priorbank" where the trade union had an account, indicated that the bank statements of the trade union had been "submitted" to the KGB (ibid.).

There are many references to the attitude of Belarusan authorities towards trade unions in reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Freedom House and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. For a general description of the situation of trade unions in Belarus, please see Belarus Background Information, a 9 October 2000 report by the ICFTU available at .

According to the Trade Union Movement in Belarus Website, Viktor Yelfimov co-founded the Free Trade Union of the region of Homel (southeastern Belarus) and chaired it for approximately six years (11 Oct. 2001). Since 1998, he has defended the legal interest of workers in about 220 court cases against the government (ibid.). A March 2001 dispatch of the Trade Union Movement in Belarus provides details on the type of cases in which Mr. Yelfimov was involved. In four civil cases, the court ruled that the "tax inspection police" had illegally punished individual entrepreneurs (Mar. 2001). In another case, a district court in Homel sentenced the House Building Combine of Homel (HBC) to pay eight of its workers 18 months of salaries for failing to fire them as the legislation stipulates (ibid.).

No mention of the BTU could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) [Brussels]. 28 July 2000. Complaint to ILO Against Government of Belarus Concerning C87 and C98. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2002]

International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) [Brussels]. 30 June 2000. Belarus: World's Unions Condemn Rights Violations. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2002]

Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ). n.d. Homepage. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2002]

Trade Union Movement in Belarus. 11 October 2001. October 2001. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2002 ]

_____. 27 March 2001. March 2001. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Lexis/Nexis

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

The Belarusian Free Trade Union

Belarussian Helsinki Committee

British Helsinki Human Rights Group

Freedom House

Global Unions

Human Rights Watch

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

International Labour Organization (ILO)

International Union of Food,, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

LabourStart

Prima - Human Rights News Agency

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1996-2000