Byelorussia: Information on the current role of the KGB
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | BYS9539 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Byelorussia: Information on the current role of the KGB, 1 November 1991, BYS9539, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abc640.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
On 25 August 1991, the Belorussian Supreme Soviet passed a resolution placing KGB and Interior ministry units on Belorussian territory under the control of the Republic (RFE 20 Sept. 1991, 26). According to the BBC, an agreement was signed on 28 October 1991 between the Committee for State Security of the USSR (KGB) and that of the Republic of Belarus (formerly the Belorussian SSR) stipulating the powers of each organization (31 Oct. 1991). Please see the attached article. No further details on this agreement are currently available to the IRBDC.
Please find attached the Response to Information Request SUN9512 on the status of the KGB in the USSR since the attempted coup in August. Please see also the section on the KGB in the IRBDC's USSR: Country Profile. Recently, TASS announced that the sovereign states of the USSR have exclusive jurisdiction over their republican KGBs, and that three central organs of government would be created on the basis of the old KGB (RFE 1 Nov. 1991, 28). The law on the KGB was suspended (Ibid.). Please see the attached article.
There is no further information currently available to the IRBDC on this topic.
Bibliography
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 31 October 1991. "USSR KGB and KGB in Belorussia Sign Agreement."
Radio Free Europe. 1 November 1991. Report on the USSR. "Weekly Record of Events."
. 20 September 1991. Vol.3, No. 38. Report on the USSR. Stankievich, Walter. "The Events Behind Belorussia's Independence Declaration."
Attachments
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 31 October 1991. "USSR KGB and KGB in Belorussia Sign Agreement."
Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC). 9 October 1991. Response to Information Request SUN9512.
Radio Free Europe. 1 November 1991. Report on the USSR. "Weekly Record of Events."