"In a letter sent to Belarusian Foreign Minister Ural Latypov on November 2, the CPCE chairman expressed gratitude for addressing the problems of the Polish community in Belarus. The letter followed a meeting of ABP Chairman Tadeusz Gawin with Grodno Regional Executive Committee Chairman Aleksandr Dubko, who had given his oral consent to the construction of the two schools for money provided by the Polish diaspora. But later, on November 16, the Grodno government informed the ABP that it could not give its permission for the construction of the school in Grodno. The Novogrudok government has not so far replied to the ABP's enquiry."
" 'There was nothing to thank the Belarusian authorities for,' said an ABP official while commenting on the CPCE's letter. Nevertheless, Aleksandr Lukashenko used the letter from the CPCE to brush aside criticism that the Belarusian authorities do not respect the rights of the Polish minority."
"In his address to the OSCE Istanbul summit, the Belarusian leader stressed, 'In our country, all citizens irrespective of their religion and nationality enjoy absolutely equal rights.' Having informed the forum of the CPCE letter Mr. Lukashenko said, 'Who is right, Polish President Kwasniewski, who yesterday expressed concern about human rights practices in Belarus, or hundreds of thousands of his compatriots who thank our government of Belarus for securing their rights? I think, however, the common people are right, Mr. Kwasniewski.' "
"The ABP leaders pointed out that Mr. Lukashenko had no grounds to make such a statement. He expressed concern that Belarusian officials' words sometimes differ from their deeds."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 89; Monday, November 22, 1999; 5:20 p.m.
"A quarter of Grodno region's population regard themselves as Poles. The region has 160 Roman Catholic churches and 10 are under construction. There are 2 schools with instruction in Polish. One of them opened in the town of Volkovysk last week [see following article]. Ms. Sagotowska is to visit the town on October 7."
"The Polish MP plans to meet with representatives of the Polish community and officials from the Slonim, Svisloch, and Voronovo districts. Her visit will last until October 8."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 28; Thursday, October 7, 1999; 4:30 p.m.
"According to Tadeusz Gawin, chairman of the Association of Belarusian Poles (ABP), the opening of the school sets a good example of how the authorities should cooperate with national minorities. He also pointed out that equipment delivered for the school from abroad had been exempted from customs duties. Mr. Gawin expressed gratitude to the Belarusian government and the presidential Humanitarian Aid Department for their understanding and support."
"The country's second Polish-language school was built with money provided by the Polish diaspora and will be handed over by the ABP to the local education authorities. This year the school will offer teaching to 131 students belonging to grades 1 through 7. Nearly all the subjects, including mathematics, natural history, labor education, geography, physics, history, drawing, and singing, will be taught in Polish. The school will also offer courses in Belarusian, Russian, and some other languages."
"The staff will include chiefly local Polish-trained teachers, as well as three teachers from Poland. The school will use textbooks in Belarusian, as well as textbooks in Polish published in Lithuania and Poland but authorized by the Belarusian Ministry of Education."
"The country's first Polish school opened in Grodno in September, 1996. This year the school switched to double-shift operation in order to provide instruction to 526 students."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 140; Thursday, September 30, 1999; 5:50 p.m.
"Alongside with Poles, the Polish Army included ethnic Belarusians and many of them were killed defending Grodno from September 17 to 22."
"According to ABP Chairman Tadeusz Gawin, the ABP leaders and the Polish diplomats visited a memorial 'To the Defenders of Grodno in 1939,' a cross commemorating the Grodno inhabitants executed by Stalin's secret police at Katyn in 1940, and a Catholic cemetery. They laid wreaths on the graves of Polish soldiers, paid a minute's tribute of silence to the memory of the defenders of Grodno, who included Poles, Belarusians, Jews, and people of other nationalities."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 81; Friday, September 17, 1999; 6:40 p.m.
" 'We wanted to acquaint Ryszard Czerniecki and his colleagues with not only the association's central office, but also with local branches, their activities and facilities, including Polish schools and clubs,' said Mr. Maliewicz. The Polish delegation visited Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno, Mogilyov, and Polotsk, as well as the Braslav district of the Vitebsk region and the settlement of Ivenets, the Minsk region."
"The ABP leaders told the Polish parliamentarians that the association had broken off all contacts with the Belarusian government as 'absolutely useless.' 'Since the ABP was established ten years ago, the authorities have never had the initiative to consider our problems,' Mr. Maliewicz told BelaPAN. According to him, the Presidential Administration ignores all proposals put forward by the ABP."
"The ABP has refused to accept financial assistance from the Ministry of Culture and the State Committee on the Press. 'We refused because the volume of the state support provided for the ABP much lower than the sum paid by the association in taxes and hundreds of times lower than what the Belarusian community receives in Poland for developing culture and education,' said Mr. Maliewicz. According to him, the State Committee on the Press is trying to place the association's publication, Glos znad Nemna, under its control."
"Mr. Maliewicz expressed hope that the Polish Sejm would remind the Belarusian government of the rights of the Belarusian Poles, including the right to be provided with education in the Polish language."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 131; Wednesday, June 30, 1999; 4:10 p.m.
" 'Either the [local] authorities hate us, Poles, so much or they are implementing the [central] government's policy,' ABP Chairman Tadeusz Gawin told BelaPAN while commenting on the court decision. He pointed out that the ABP will appeal the decision in the Grodno [Hrodna] Regional Court. Mr. Gawin blamed Novogrudok District Executive Committee Chairman Anatoly Lis for 'doing his best to prevent classes with instruction in Polish from being established in 1997 and 1998.' "
"The row between the ABP and the local government began in 1997, when first graders, who studied in a Polish-language class, returned from fall holidays and found their class disbanded. Mr. Gawin claimed that Anatoly Lis had invited the parents of the pupils for a talk during which he attempted to establish their ethnic origin and even asked them to 'say something in Polish without mistakes.' A Polish-language class was not opened in 1998, despite the fact that the parents of 17 children filed applications, Mr. Gawin said."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 40; Wednesday, June 9, 1999; 6:30 p.m.
"Belarusian legislation stipulates that the government must create conditions for teaching children in their mother tongue if their parents want it."
"The report claims that Tadeusz Gawin, ABP chairman, 'has been actively participating in political activities, taking the side of radical opposition forces' and his main motivation is 'alleged infringement of the rights of citizens of Polish nationality in the Republic of Belarus.' The committee points out that most of the conflicts that it had with the ABP were in the area of education. 'This is basically explained by the fact that the Association of Poles' demands are not commensurable with the government's opportunities and the existing conditions.' "
"The report says it is a problem that Polish diplomatic offices, various Polish charitable organizations and foundations and the Catholic Church pay 'particular' attention to pupils of Polish-language schools. 'Regular presents to pupils and their parents, summer recuperation trips to Poland etc. make them feel exceptional and privileged, and create the impression among the children of the same age that Polish-language education and all Polish is prestigious.' "
"The report says that another serious problem is 'poorer results of pupils taught in the Polish language compared with pupils of the same age taught in the state languages,' as well as the condition of patriotic education in the Polish classes and the lack of appropriate control over the work of the ABP's out-of-school establishments. The report blames the ABP for straining relations with the governmental agencies and taking part in opposition activities. The State Committee on Religion and National Affairs has sent a report on the ABP's political activities to the Ministry of Justice and the State Committee on the Press, which it expects to issue a warning to the ABP's newspaper Glos znad Nemna."
"The report recommends that the government:
"The Committee suggests that changes should be introduced into the law 'On Public Associations' to bar national and cultural associations from political activities. Officials of the State Committee on Religion and National Affairs have confirmed to BelaPAN that the report originates with the Committee."
"Commenting on the report Mr. Gawin said, 'We were naive to believe that the State Committee on Religion and National Affairs was set up to help national and cultural associations. . . . The Committee has sent the report to the Belarusian Council of Ministers to stifle us.' "
Source: BelaPAN, No. 113; Thursday, May 27, 1999; 3:30 p.m.
"On April 17, the Grodno police broke a demonstration organized by the ABP. The demonstrators held signs saying, 'Mr. President, you have deceived us!' 'President Lukashenko, fulfill your campaign promises!' and 'Vice Premier Zametalin; Biryukova, deputy chairwoman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee; and Lis, chairman of the Novogrudok [Navahradak] District Executive Committee, are suppressing the Polish language!' "
"The ABP believes that the above-mentioned officials are posing obstacles to the BLS' effort to organize ethnic Poles' education in the native language, in particular by refusing to allow the construction of a Polish-language school in Novogrudok [Navahradak] and the printing of school books in Polish."
"The ABP organized the unsanctioned demonstration after the local government had turned down twice its application for the protest. Mr. Gawin believes that it was not he but the above-mentioned officials who should have stood trial for flagrant violations of the rights of the Polish minority. According to him, the ABP will continue organizing demonstrations in defense of its rights. The ABP is expected to apply for the authorities' permission to stage demonstrations on May 10, 11, and 12. These days, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarusian-Russian Union is expected to hold a session in Grodno."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 89; Thursday, April 22, 1999; 1:50 p.m.
"The authors of the statement point out that the ABP's repeated petitions have not found support with the government. The BSDP stresses that by hindering the development of the country's ethnic minorities, the government acts in violation of international law and the Belarusian Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal rights irrespective of their race, nationality, social status and religion."
"In the opinion of the BSDP, it was not by pure chance that the executive authorities disregard the rights of the over 400,000 ethnic Poles residing in Belarus. Moreover, according to the statement, 'in its effort to re-establish an empire in the post-Soviet space in one form or another, the regime tries to oust the Belarusian language from the educational system as well.' "
"The BSDP regards the government's position on Polish- language schools as ethnic discrimination and expresses solidarity with the ABP."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 72; Friday, April 16, 1999; 4:20 p.m.
"According to Tadeusz Malewicz, the committee has been ignoring the UBP lately, trying to drive a wedge between the Belarusian Poles and the union."
"Mr. Malewicz said that Yury Uralsky, chairman of the Department on National Affairs; and Anatoly Babitsky, an official of the Ministry of Culture, had had talks with officials of the Grodno [Hrodna] regional and city governments and representatives of the Houses of Poles in the town of Shchuchin and the settlement of Porozovo, bypassing the UBP."
"'Earlier we asked the State Committee on Religion and National Affairs and the Ministry of Culture to provide material assistance for maintaining the Houses of Poles functioning in Porozovo, the Svisloch district, and Kemelishki, the Ostrovets district, as well as in the district centers of Lida, Oshmyany, and Shchuchin in the Grodno region,' Mr. Malewicz said."
"According to him, Messrs. Uralsky and Babitsky asked the heads of the Houses of Poles to send their requests for assistance to the State Committee on Religion and National Affairs directly. 'We warned Polish public figures that such development of events was possible and asked them not to hold talks with government officials without participation of the UBP main directorate,' Mr. Malewicz said."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 42; Friday, April 9, 1999; 5:40 p.m.
"'I think the protest has played its role in informing Grodno residents about problems in relations between the Pole's cultural association and the country's authorities,' said Tadeusz Malevic, BUP chairman. He hopes that the demonstration will encourage the State Committee on Religion and National Affairs to enter into a dialogue with the BUP. If the committee refuses to discuss the issue, the BUP may quit the Coordinating Council on Affairs of National Communities, which represents all the ethnic and cultural associations in Belarus, Mr. Malevic said."
Source: BelaPAN, No.59; Friday, March 12, 1999; 8:00 p.m.
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