Carnage in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha

The article by Igor Naboychenko, Brest,
Published in «Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta» (The Byelorussian business newspaper) Newspaper, #60(1342),
April 24, 2003

Confrontation in the National Park caused knife-fight

An over two year confrontation growing like a snow-ball in Kamenyuki village, the administrative centre of the State National Park «Belovezhskaya Pushcha», ended in a knife-fight. On the night of Willow Sunday (a religious feast) there was a fight, which ended with a delivery of three locals with knife wounds to the hospital. At first sight, it was a usual fight among young people. However, it is already crystal clear that this «banal» event has deep social roots and, as the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the village believe, is a consequence of a peculiar employment policy of the National Park new administration.

Far not every chief can boast of such a seemingly insignificant fact as the remembering by his employees his own nomination day. But many people do remember the day when Nickolai Bambiza was nominated as a leader of the State National Park. It is the 7th of May 2001. According to the locals who considered the Belovezhskaya Pushcha their life's working place, this is due to the fact that their life style, destiny and very many other things have begun to be transmuted into radical changing ever since. More to say, this change did not go into the direction to the better.

After obtaining the leading post, Nickolai Bambiza has shown himself in a rather peculiar way. The principle of his employment policy has become a big-scale replacement of the local employees by non-residents of the National Park. This is a standing point of nearly all inhabitants of the Kamenyuki village to whom the correspondent of the «BBN» was able to speak. The facts speak for themselves. For two years of Nickolai Bambiza's leadership a substantial number of locals got dismissed from their places, the only mean for their survival. For their replace the director invited workers from other regions of the country and scheduled their work on temporary shifts. Above and beyond, the wages of the visitants who became firmly bound up with the nickname «talibans» were much higher. Being afraid to lose the working places, the locals silently began to hate the visitants. The real fear holds sway in Kamenyuki. People are afraid to meet journalists openly, for it can result in rather undesirable and far-reaching consequences, although they speak willingly about all the offences in secluded places. They introduce themselves, though ask not to call after their names, otherwise — «Bambiza will sack».

On the other hand, the behavior of the «talibans» was far from being exemplary. Among them there are people with previous conviction. Apropos, they live without families, a majority in the local hotel, while some in other places. It is being unnecessary to explain how single men spend their free time, especially with money. Besides, «talibans» were «smart» enough to have called the locals the idlers, as the ones who were unable to work. That is how they explained their need in here. The director of the National Park did not remain aside either — if to believe the locals.

Drop by drop the patience was slowly exhausting and inevitably leading to a serious conflict, which sooner or later was meant to result in the carnage. It is necessary to say that collisions between the local youth and the visitants did occur earlier as well, but the climax was on Saturday night, when people began to break up home after the disco had finally been over.

It is noteworthy that such an extraordinary event as a fight, having caused a transportation of even three men with knife wounds to a hospital bed, was reflected in militia reports only on Wednesday shortly after the visit of the «Minsk (capital)» journalist, an event that had been gossiped around by the whole district. To the locals the reason resides in the mighty capacities of Nickolai Bambiza. Someone in Kamenyuki will suppose that locals have provoked the fight, but its result strikes: all three victims got knife wounds in the back. You would agree, it does testify. Yet the question remains. And hardly anyone thought that such an outcome could have been avoided. It is now common knowledge that the confrontation in Kamenyuki is a result of the socio-economic situation in the National Park. The open letter of the oldest inhabitants of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha to the President, Parliament and citizenry of Belarus and world community is a weighty confirmation of that. Here below is a part of the speech:

«With pain in hearts we witness the »dumping« of the national legacy, the continuous machinations and the heartless trade of the environmental resources that are transforming our land into a lifeless wasteland and turning us into a native population deprived of its rights. We are in our sixties, seventies and eighties. The actions we are witnessing do not only perplex us, but elicit in us the indignation and anger.

Looking for protection forces us to be exiles in our native lands. The Belovezhskaya Pushcha is both our homeland and our home. Here lie the graves of our ancestors; here is our destiny and our life history. The fact that the Belovezhskaya Pushcha has remained unique is a testimony to the locals' achievement, their caring for their native lands.

The Belovezhskaya Pushcha management does not settle accounts with us; our opinion is not taken into account. We, the indigene population, feel terrorized; the work and livelihoods of those who were raised here and have remained here to work and raise their own families are threatened. Hundreds of people — among them specialists, scientists and laborers — have been fired. Our working places are filled instead by «strangers» from other regions of the country, as well as from Russia and Ukraine. We don't know what will happen tomorrow. Traditional forms of social support, such as an assistance in agricultural work (potato planting and harvesting, hey making) have been discontinued. The administration would like to deprive us of hay mowing sites. The Pushcha's inhabitants are restricted from freely communicating with their relatives and friends who live outside the National Park, for the Director has banned them to enter the territory of the Park.

The authorities do not consider the consequences of forcing the local inhabitants into the deadlock, humiliating and harassing our children. Such actions embitter the people and destroy our belief in the equity and future«.