OSCE human rights office calls for independent investigation of unsolved disappearances and murders in Belarus and Ukraine
(Internet)Spanish journalist Jose Luis Lopez de Lacalle (left) and Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze were posthumously awarded the 2001 OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy. (Internet)
WARSAW, 21 September 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE's human rights institution, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today called for an independent investigation of the murder of the Ukrainian journalist Georgyi Gongadze and the disappearances of several persons, including prominent opposition figures, in Belarus.
"I strongly appeal to the governments of Belarus and Ukraine to allow for an independent investigation of these unsolved cases", said ODIHR Director Gérard Stoudmann following a meeting with Myroslava Gongadze, the widow of Mr. Gongadze, and the wives of several disappeared Belarusian citizens on the margins of the OSCE's annual human rights conference which currently is taking place in Warsaw. "It is unacceptable that after so many months we still don't know anything about who was behind the murder of Mr. Gongadze and what happened to those who disappeared in Belarus."
With its call for an independent investigation of the Gongadze case, the ODIHR supports similar initiatives by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, Reporters sans frontières, and the family of Mr. Gongadze.
"We took note of the expression of sympathy for the relatives expressed by representatives of the Ukrainian and Belarusian governments at the conference, and we hope that this translates into concrete and swift action to finally bring light into these cases", said Stoudmann.
The ODIHR Director stressed that the OSCE will continue to closely monitor the progress in the investigations, and keep these cases on the Organization's agenda as long as they are not solved.
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For further information contact Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, +48-22-5200600, or +48-603 683 122.
"I strongly appeal to the governments of Belarus and Ukraine to allow for an independent investigation of these unsolved cases", said ODIHR Director Gérard Stoudmann following a meeting with Myroslava Gongadze, the widow of Mr. Gongadze, and the wives of several disappeared Belarusian citizens on the margins of the OSCE's annual human rights conference which currently is taking place in Warsaw. "It is unacceptable that after so many months we still don't know anything about who was behind the murder of Mr. Gongadze and what happened to those who disappeared in Belarus."
With its call for an independent investigation of the Gongadze case, the ODIHR supports similar initiatives by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, Reporters sans frontières, and the family of Mr. Gongadze.
"We took note of the expression of sympathy for the relatives expressed by representatives of the Ukrainian and Belarusian governments at the conference, and we hope that this translates into concrete and swift action to finally bring light into these cases", said Stoudmann.
The ODIHR Director stressed that the OSCE will continue to closely monitor the progress in the investigations, and keep these cases on the Organization's agenda as long as they are not solved.
--
For further information contact Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, +48-22-5200600, or +48-603 683 122.