The

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian Presidential Guard or officially the Presidential Security Service (, ) is a law-enforcement body that was designed to protect the

President of Belarus The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council of Belarus, Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Supreme_Counc ...

and other high-ranking officials and officers.

History

According to the US and the European Union, the Presidential Security Service and its commanders are actively involved in human rights violations and political repressions in Belarus.

Role during the referendum of 1996

According to the Belarusian opposition, the Presidential Security Service has played a key role in the events around the controversial referendum of 1996, which has resulted in the dissolution of the disloyal

Supreme Soviet of Belarus The Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus () was the unicameral legislature of Belarus between 1991 and 1996. It was essentially a continuation of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR of 1938–1991 immediately after the Soviet Uni ...

and an ultimate concentration of state power in the hands of authoritarian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. Before the controversial referendum, the Presidential Security Service has blocked the office of the

Central Election Commission of Belarus The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus (CEC) is the body responsible for conducting national elections and overseeing local elections in Belarus. The CEC of Belarus is a member of the Association of Central and Eastern Europe ...

and prevented the Head of the commission,

Viktar Hanchar Viktar Hanchar, or Viktar Hančar (, , Viktor Gonchar, September 7, 1957 – disappeared September 16, 1999) was a Belarusian politician who disappeared and was presumably murdered in 1999. He was born in the village of Radzichava, Slutsk Raion. ...

from executing his role. Lidia Yermoshina, a member of the Commission loyal to Lukashenko, has been appointed instead of Hanchar. Three years later, Viktar Hanchar has disappeared and was presumably murdered. After the events, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

stated that the Presidential Guard is a

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

force under the control of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. The State Department in 1996 stated the guard was allowed to use force "''against the President's political enemies with no judicial or legislative oversight."''

Sanctions against officers of the Presidential Guard

Several former Heads of the Presidential Security Service have been included in the sanctions lists of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the

: *

Vladimir Naumov Vladimir Naumovich Naumov (; 6 December 1927 – 29 November 2021) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and pedagogue. He was the People's Artist of the USSR (1983). He was a schoolmate of Sergei Parajanov at th ...

as former Minister of Interior has allegedly failed to investigate the unresolved disappearances of opposition leaders Yuri Zakharenko and

, opposition sponsor Anatoly Krasovski, and journalist Dmitri Zavadski in 1999–2000. He has been included in the sanctions list of the European Union in 2011 and is one of four persons remaining under EU sanctions after 2016. He is also on the sanctions list of the

. Besides that, as one of the persons accused of involvement in the disappearances of 1999–2000, Naumov remains one of the few people on the sanctions list of the

. * Gennady Nevyglas, according to the EU Council's decision following the 2010 wave of repressions,Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
/ref> was "''responsible for organising fraudulent residentialelections in 2006 and in the subsequent repression of peaceful demonstrators''". He has been included in the sanctions list of the European Union in 2011. * Yuri Zhadobin has been described in the EU Council's 2012 decision on sanctions as follows: ''"As a member of the Security Council, he approves the repressive decisions agreed at ministerial level, including the decision to repress the peaceful demonstrations on 19 December 2010. After December 2010, he praised the "total defeat of destructive forces", when referring to the democratic opposition."'' He has been included in the sanctions list of the European Union in 2011. * Andrei Vtiurin has allegedly supervised interrogations of arrested protesters after the demonstrations that followed 2010 presidential elections. He has been included in the sanctions list of the European Union in 2011.

Commanders

* Vyacheslav Korolev (November 1994 - 1995) * Yuri Borodich (1995 - December 2, 1998) * Vladimir Kuzhanov (Acting) (December 2, 1998 - January 20, 1999) * Uladzimir Navumau (January 20, 1999 - September 25, 2000) * Leonid Erin (September 25 - November 27, 2000) * Gennady Nevyglas (December 4, 2000 - September 12, 2001) * Vladimir Klimov (Acting) (September 19, 2001 - October 5, 2001) * Evgeny Dvernitsky (October 5, 2001 - September 10, 2003) * Yuri Zhadobin (September 10, 2003 - July 17, 2007) * Andrey Vtiurin (July 17, 2007 - September 11, 2014) * Viktor Shinkevich (October 20, 2014 - December 21, 2016) * Andrei Pavlyuchenko (21 December 2016 — 11 December 2017) * Dmitry Shakhrayev (From 11 December 2017)

References

External links

U.S. Embassy infopage
{{Law enforcement in Belarus Guards regiments Law enforcement agencies of Belarus Protective security units Alexander Lukashenko