§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received concerning the whereabouts of, and the circumstance relating to the disappearance of,(a) the First Deputy Chairman of the Belarus Supreme Council, (b) Yuri Zakhavenko, (c) Anatol Kvasovski and (d) Dmitri Zaradski; and what representations have been made by (i) the United Kingdom Government and (ii) the European Union on their behalf to the Government of Belarus. [130725]
§ Mr. VazHer Majesty's Government, in concert with our EU partners, has repeatedly asked the Belarusian authorities to investigate the disappearances of Mr. Gonchar, Deputy Chairman of the 13th Supreme Soviet, his associate Mr. Krasovski, and Mr. Zakharenko, a former Interior Minister. The European Union maintains pressure on the Belarusian authorities to pursue their inquiries into these disappearances and keep us informed of progress. In a formal EU representation in April 2000, EU Heads of Mission in Minsk, once again requested information on all 426W cases involving the disappearances of political figures. The whereabouts of these men are still not known. The Belarusian Government argue that there is no evidence to suggest that State agencies were in any way responsible for the disappearances. They claim to have done everything possible to find the missing men.
There is much speculation concerning the disappearance of Mr. Zavadsky, a cameraman working for Russian ORT, on 8 July. We are aware that the Belarusian opposition suspect official involvement but we have not seen any evidence to support this. The Belarusian Government have said that they are searching for Zavadsky. Our Embassy in Minsk are monitoring the situation.