LEGAL REMEDIES IN BELARUS. ASSESSMENT OF INTERNAL THREATS – PATH TO DEVELOPMENT

Survival in adverse conditions became usual for the majority of Belarusian HR non-governmental organizations. For the period of last 5 years we got used and almost submitted to the fact that we do not have real possibilities for constructive dialogue with the authorities and governmental agencies, for participation in the law-making process and more or less considerable distribution of information on our socially useful activities and achievements. No doubt that all these keeps us away from the effective programs and projects, from engaging new adherents, from the perspectives of influencing the changes in the human rights situation in Belarus. We should give a due to the people at power, who might have knowingly set a goal of turning us into social outcasts, scanty groups for self-help, which in the circumstances of obvious hostility become wicker and wicker opponents and cease performing the functions of restraining governmental despotism.
Any systematic assessment gives in the first turn a possibility to become less vulnerable, and as a consequence – more powerful and influential. We are well aware of the threats from the environment.
In this article I propose you my view of the structure of Belarusian organizations that together create a human rights sector, and my assessment of internal threats typical for the sector at this time. Knowledge of the threats is a path toward their elimination, which is the aim of this analytical work.

The system of public groups acting in the field of public interest law
The first group includes  organizations that position themselves as human rights advocacy groups. More than 70% of these organizations are located in Minsk. Most of their systematic activities are carried out within the city boarders. That does not apply to several human rights advocacy organizations that have a network of offices in regional capitals ("large human rights organizations"). 
These organizations try to combine both legal and educational methods: rendering of legal services to the citizenry; courtroom representation of various individuals and groups; collection and compilation of information about human rights violations and circulation of reports among Belarusian and international community. Human rights advocacy groups rarely undertake any public actions, yet there is tendency towards their increased political motivation.

Major problems in the field of human rights advocacy. Organizations of this group demonstrate:

• High level of personification (dependence on a leader);
• Poor ability to do joint, coordinated activities;
• Poor skills of informing the public on a national level;
• Lack of strategic planning;
• Lack of financial sustainability.

Tendencies of quantitative and qualitative growth. No growth in the number of human rights groups has been detected. First of all, there has been no increase in the number of public human rights advocacy initiatives. And second of all, since 1999 (the year when National NGO Registration Commission was established) it is almost impossible to officially register a non-governmental organization pursuing such goals as "protection of human rights and liberties" or "enhancing the development of democratic institutions and rule of law".
On one hand, in order to foster quantitative growth of human rights NGOs we need to have more active citizens and leaders, who are motivated and ready to carry out these activities. On the other hand, we need to create judicial precedents of protecting the right of a human rights advocacy NGO to be registered. 
In order to achieve qualitative growth human rights groups need to:

• Make their work more professional. Define their specialization;
• Expand the spectrum of their project activities that would be focused on the achievement of specific results and changing the situation;
• Lower financial and project writing dependability of regional offices from their headquarters;
• Increase analytical and research activities;
• Include in their activities more professional lawyers, collegium attorneys and young specialists (especially in regional centers);
• Expand activities in the field of informing the public, including cooperation with regional mass media;
• Improve connections within the group (including ties on the regional level) and enhance ability for solidarity actions, mutual assistance and exchange of experience.

The second and the largest group of organizations that use legal methods to protect human rights and liberties includes organizations that work in the fields of freedom of speech, social protection and rehabilitation, ecology and environmental protection, ethnic minorities and protection of consumers' rights; and also organizations of handicapped people, women's and youth and other organizations. We can also include in this group independent trade unions and other self-assistance organizations.
This diverse group has an absolutely clear tendency to open and develop advice centers for different target groups. The majority of activists who work at these centers, especially in regional ones, have no legal background.
Major problems in this field include:

• Low level of participation of professional lawyers and collegium attorneys in the activities of these organizations;
• Poor level of connections and information exchange with human rights advocacy groups, which could become educational and consultative resource for counsels who are not lawyers. In return, these counsels could provide human rights organizations with more information on human rights violations and supply material for strategic trials.   

Risk zone common for these first two groups: legislative regulation of their activities deteriorates.
The possibility of non-governmental organizations to protect citizens' rights in court has been limited. In April 2003 President enacted a Decree which substantially limits the rights of non-governmental organization to participate in civil trials.
Combined with the lack of stable connections with professional legal community, and first of all with collegium attorneys, the Decree puts implementation of the whole range of organizations' functions under a serious threat.

The third group includes active individuals, unregistered organizations and movements. This group's peculiarity is that it is capable of organizing public education events and engaging in public actions. Major problem of this group is that its activities can be easily discredited by authorities.

The fourth group is composed of higher educational establishments that have operating legal clinics. These clinics have several goals: to assist socially vulnerable groups of citizens and protect their rights and interests; to improve the quality of legal education; to create extensive public resonance; increase access to legal profession; to involve lawyers in public interest law activities.
Major problems of these few and young legal clinics include cooperation with professional lawyers and collegium attorneys and poor connections with local community and non-governmental organizations.

The fifth group can be described as private legal community. Under private legal community we understand collegium attorneys (professional individuals), private practitioners, in-house counsels and law professors.
It is important to point out that this community s poorly organized. Today the structure of old-fashioned professional organizations leaves no room for civic initiative. In 2003 we have been observing a tendency among young lawyers of regional centers towards establishing their own associations.

Several proposals for further discussion
In order to achieve quality changes in Belarusian human rights activity, we must:

• achieve activity professionalism, including specialization of human rights structures;
• broaden the range of project activity (ideas);
• concentrate at human rights campaigns oriented at concrete results, and the change of situation, even if the changes would in the beginning concern minor and narrow issues;
• make regional human rights undertakings less dependent from Minsk projects initiatives, strengthening horizontal connections and information exchange;
• broaden analytical and research activity, making research results publicly available;
• involve a bigger number of professional lawyers (especially in regional centers) and young specialists into the activity;
• achieve broader informing of the public about human rights activity;
• strengthen interconnections inside human rights groups, including groups on the regional level; and develop ability for joint activity, mutual help and exchange of experience.