US embassy cable - 05MINSK1006

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 001006 
 
SIPDIS 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y(DECLAS DATE ADDED, CLASS BY ADDED) 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/15 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, BO 
SUBJECT: POLICE DISRUPT U.S. DIPLOMAT'S MEETING WITH 
NGOs 
 
MINSK 00001006  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot, reason 1.4(g) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Gomel Police officers disrupted a 
meeting between NGOs and two Emboffs on August 24 and 
prevented the latter from leaving for 40 minutes. 
Poloff presented his dipcard to police officers and was 
held until two more police and an immigration officer 
arrived.  The immigration officer scrutinized Poloff's 
dipcard and diplomatic passport and continued to hold 
Emboffs until the local government-controlled media 
arrived, which filmed Emboffs as they left.  The police 
left immediately following the Emboffs and did not 
detain or question the NGO representatives.  According 
to an independent journalist, the police had received 
orders to follow the "foreigners."  Emboffs cancelled 
all planned meetings and immediately returned to Minsk. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Poloff and LES political assistant arrived in 
Gomel on August 23 for a two-day visit to meet with 
local NGOs, independent journalists, political parties, 
and Chernobyl rehabilitation programs.  The trip was 
planned three weeks in advance with correspondence 
between the Ministry of Health and MFA to secure 
meetings with Gomselmash and the new radiation center 
hospital.  As Emboffs left a meeting with 
representatives of Belarus' largest combine producer 
Gomselmash, a local reporter and cameraman were outside 
videotaping and asked for a few words about Emboffs' 
visit to Gomel.  Emboffs asked them to stop filming and 
left for their next meeting. 
 
3. (C) Emboffs were to meet leader of the civil 
initiative "Fund for Promoting Local Development" Victor 
Korniyenko and other NGO representatives at his home and 
office at Polesskaya St.  During the meeting with 
Gomselmash, Korniyenko called to inform that the police 
cordoned off both ends of Polesskaya St. due to an 
alleged bomb threat in Korniyenko's neighborhood.  No 
through traffic was allowed and the meeting would have 
to take place at another location. 
 
4. (C) At 14:15, Emboffs arrived at the new location for 
the meeting, 35 Lenin St.  Upon arrival, Poloff noticed 
probable KGB officers standing in the courtyard next to 
darkly tinted cars with multiple antennas.  The meeting 
took place in a vacant apartment on the second floor. 
Those present included Korniyenko, representative from 
the Gomel Regional Center for Social Assistance Elena 
Dedkova, 'Gart' youth group activist Yulia Sivet, 
'Limon' youth group activist Sergey Semenov, civil 
initiative representative Vladimir Katsora, and 
'Yarovit' cultural and educational center director 
Yevginy Kostsyushko.  Five minutes into the discussion, 
a "plumber" arrived to fix a "problem" in the apartment. 
[Note: This is the KGB's most common method to disrupt a 
meeting.] The owner of the apartment refused to let him 
in.  Five minutes later, two police officers entered the 
apartment on the grounds that a neighbor had reported an 
illegal gathering and demanded everyone's 
identification. 
 
5. (C) Poloff presented his dipcard, but the police 
would not allow Emboffs to leave.  The LES' documents 
were in the car and she was not allowed to get them. 
Poloff repeatedly told the officers they had no right to 
keep them from leaving, but the officers continued to 
block the door and would not even look at Emboffs 
directly when speaking.  They asked ridiculous and 
sometimes irrelevant questions, such as "How long have 
you been in Belarus?", "Where do you live?", and "What 
is your nationality?" Poloff continued to keep the 
Embassy informed of the situation via mobile phone and 
took the officers' names and identification numbers. 
Eventually, the commanding officer went outside to call 
his superiors.  When Poloff attempted to follow, the 
remaining officer shut the door, preventing him from 
leaving.  The commanding officer returned and said to 
wait another five minutes until his "colleagues" 
arrived. 
 
6. (C) Twenty minutes after the police entered the 
apartment, two more police officers (this time a major) 
and a representative from the immigration department 
arrived.  Poloff again told the police they had no right 
to detain the Emboffs.  The major looked over Poloff's 
dipcard and damaged it by pulling the inner document out 
of its lamination.  He then passed it to the immigration 
 
MINSK 00001006  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot, Reason 1.4(g) 
 
officer, claiming it was not a real document and that it 
was unclear what embassy Poloff represented.  The 
immigration officer repeated the same actions as the 
major, so Poloff presented his diplomatic passport.  The 
immigration officer briefly looked over the biographical 
information and then scrutinized Poloff's visas and 
entry-exit stamps.  The officers were not interested in 
the other participants' documents.  Emboffs were still 
not allowed to leave. 
 
7. (C) An independent journalist who Emboffs were to 
meet at a later time witnessed the commotion from 
outside.  He called LES and informed her that the local 
government-controlled media had arrived and were 
preparing to enter the building.  Emboffs immediately 
moved to the kitchen to avoid the possibility of being 
photographed.  Fifteen minutes after the immigration 
officer arrived, Korniyenko suggested Emboffs try to 
leave again.  Poloff approached the immigration officer 
and asked to leave.  Her response: "Of course. No one 
has been holding you here."  The same reporter and 
cameraman seen earlier at Gomselmash were standing in 
the stairwell and videotaped Emboffs leaving and then 
rushed outside to videotape the Embassy vehicle. 
Emboffs had been held for 40 minutes. 
 
8. (C) Not long after the incident, Korniyenko called 
and said that the police left immediately after Emboffs 
without questioning or apprehending the NGO and youth 
representatives.  He also reported that the KGB had 
broken into his house on Polesskaya St. and searched his 
documents.  The journalist who had called Emboffs 
earlier reportedly asked a police officer how the 
reporters and police knew about the new location for the 
meeting.  The officer replied that they had received 
orders to follow the foreigners (Emboffs) around town. 
Emboffs tried to leave town via a road that led past the 
original meeting place at Polesskaya St, but a traffic 
police officer stopped the vehicle and said the street 
was closed to through traffic; however, he was allowing 
all public transportation to pass.  Emboffs were forced 
to travel back through downtown Gomel to access another 
exit road to Minsk.  They cancelled all further 
meetings. 
 
9. (C) Comment:  The police hinted that Emboffs' 
detainment was due to LES' failure to have her passport 
on her person, but it was obvious the true reason was to 
harass Emboffs, photograph them, and disrupt their 
meeting.  Local state-controlled media frequently stakes 
out Emboffs' visits to the region.  However, this is the 
first time in recent years that the authorities have 
used such forceful means to stage a photo-op and 
interfere in a meeting.  Charge spoke with the head of 
the Americas' desk at the MFA immediately after the 
Emboffs' release and expressed concern for the 
mistreatment of a diplomat and documents.  Post will 
follow up with a diplomatic note protesting the 
incident. 
 
PHLIPOT