“Social Parasites” Decree: Onwards The Struggle!

Independent trade unions and human rights defenders demand the scandalous decree should be abolished.

In connection with the above, they plan to carry out a whole-nation action for the abolishment of Lukashenka’s Decree #3. Several organizers of the future action held the first press-conference today.

Leader of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry Workers Henadz Fiadynich and human rights defender, former investigator at public prosecutor’s office in Minsk Aleh Vouchak have worded the decisions taken at the press-conference in an interview to the website charter97.org.

Henadz Fiadynich: The conference was dedicated to the abolishment of the so-called “social parasites” Decree.

The trade union’s lawyers receive an enormous number of phone calls from the people who ask what to do and how to act when they receive their “letters of happiness”.

The participants of today’s press-conference took the decision to address to Belarusians, to describe the situation and to suggest collecting signatures all over the country with just one demand – to abolish Lukashenka’s Decree #3.

The website praca-by.info will publish the list of addresses where the people listed as “social parasites” by the tax inspectorates could come, take signature sheets and participate in the collection of signatures for the abolishment of the Decree.

Apart from the above, to prevent the tax inspectorates from putting pressure on the “social parasites”, there will be an opportunity to take a specimen of the application to send to the tax inspectorates in response to the “letter of happiness”. Also, the collection of signatures will be organized electronically at zvarot.by.

As the collection of signatures will proceed, we will conduct a public opinion poll on the issue whether the people are ready to hold a protest action in case the authorities once again ignore the people’s opinion. However, I will tell straightaway – there will be a need for drastic actions.

We are going to start implementation of these decisions since tomorrow.

Aleh Vouchak: First, we summarized the results of our activity together with the Independent Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry Workers – we are collecting the information and help the people defend themselves. Many letters from Belarusians arrive to the independent organizations – the people want concrete actions and algorithms of protection.

At the beginning of the press-conference we told which social groups got affected by this Decree. Unfortunately, it turned out that the least protected social layers got under the Decree: mothers, housewives, and the most interesting is that not only the mothers of children over 7, but also the mothers of children under 7 got listed as “social parasites” by mistake. The tax inspectorates worked with many flaws.

The second group is the people who couldn’t get recorded as persons with disabilities but still cannot work.

The third group is the young specialists who graduated from the higher educational establishments in 2015. They didn’t manage to find employment and so found themselves in a complicated life situation.

15% of addresses are the people living in rural areas, who are engaged in farm household. They should have been released from paying of the fee, but the officials made a connection that a rural resident must take another plot of land and develop it. The people are of course outraged with that.

Military men who quit the army in 2015 and had no opportunity to find employment yet also got listed as “social parasites”.

Another very interesting group of people includes Russians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Lebanese and other foreigners with a residence permit in Belarus. They must also pay the fee.

The biggest group includes the unemployed, the people who want to work, to apply their experience, knowledge and skills, but there are no vacancies. It is especially difficult to get a job in Homel, Vitsebsk, Mahiliou regions.

There are also the people who are willing to work but cannot due to, for instance, their own illness of the illness of their family members, parents – they have to look after them.

Alongside with that, we turned the people’s attention that the authorities made a big mistake. They wanted to take money from the “social parasites”, while the Decree is called “On Prevention of Social Dependency”.

According to the legislation, “social dependents” are the people whom the state should pay, help. Today, the absence of the legal term appears one of the reasons for the abolishment of the Decree.

We suggest to people, of course, to appeal against the Decree, to write statements in accordance with our sample, to sign the e-petition or come to the Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry Workers and sign.

We also warn the government that the people do not want to pay, and therefore there may be different disturbances at places.

The decree forces the "parasites" to seek funds, otherwise people risk arrest, but I do not know how the unemployed can possibly find money.

It has been stated more than once that the Decree violates the Constitution and the International Covenant but there are many people who stand up for their rights.

I can give you an example: a surdomute man wrote to me – he could not obtain recognition as a disabled person and therefore should pay the tax. However, no job exists in the regions for a person with such peculiarities. This is not the first case, there have been plenty of them – so, should these people really be punished with arrest?

A month later, we decided to summarize the results of the collection of signatures, February 20 is the last day when the people either have to pay fees, or give explanations. After February 20 massive administrative processes will start, but I can feel it by the people’s moods that they are determined to fight, to defend their rights.

The most curious thing is that this fee is not included in the tax code, which means that they cannot collect it. We are already getting answers from the tax services to our appeals and I want to emphasize that they have no clear explanations. We ask them the question where the unemployed are supposed to take the money, they do not respond, we ask how they determined the tax-payers’ status, they say that it is a secret.

I would like to note that the “letters of happiness” are sent as spam, no one selects addressees. There have already appeared the first canceled letters, but it cost the people lots of nerves.