Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in June 2010
On 8 June, representatives of the Human Rights Center Viasna and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee held a press-conference dedicated to the analysis of the situation during the first six months of 2010. They stated the absence of positive changes concerning the respect of human rights along with the deterioration of the general situation due to the approach of the presidential election. What concerns the latest amendments to the Electoral Code, the human rights activists alleged that they had little influence on the last election, which didn't have significant differences from the previous ones.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in May 2010
In May, the legal proceedings on four politically motivated criminal cases came to an end, two new death verdicts were issued and several peaceful actions were dispersed, including actions of activists of sexual minorities. As a result of a clash with the police, a youth activist Zmitser Parmon got to hospital with a broken clavicle. Although several civil activists were sentenced to arrests, the administrative persecution in May was mainly confined to fines.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in April 2010
The local council elections were the main event in April. According to information of Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, 21,293 deputies were elected to the local councils on 25 April. Among them there are nine representatives of democratic opposition, including 3 members of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, 5 members of the Belarusian Party of Leftists Fair World and 1 member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in March 2010
The situation of human rights in Belarus in March showed the extent to which the Belarusian authorities were ready to follow the way of democratic reforms. Execution of two death convicts was one of the most important events that month. Human rights defenders are of the opinion that it was consciously done to thwart the requirements of the national legislation and the international undertakings that were ratified by the country. On 23 March, the Human Rights Center Viasna, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE adopted an official statement to condemn the actions of the authorities. The international community is indignant that the executions were performed against the background of negotiations between Belarus and the Council of Europe about introduction of a death penalty moratorium.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in February 2010
In February, the conflict between the two Unions of Poles in Belarus, the union that is recognized by the Belarusian authorities and the union that is recognized by the Polish authorities, reached international scale. On 17 February the Valozhyn district court obliged Tereza Sobal, Chairperson of the Ivianets Polish House, to pass the building to the administration of the pro-governmental Union of Poles. Mass detentions of civil activists were conducted during the court hearings on the confiscation of the Polish House. The UPB leaders were punished by courts on charges in organizing an unauthorized action of solidarity in Hrodna on 10 February. An urgent counsel of the Polish MFA was summoned in connection with these events. It was decided that the officials involved in repressions against the Belarusian Poles would be banned to enter the territory of Poland.
Week of election campaign: numbers, events and comments
The last week completely discredited the myth about the 'liberalization' of the election process in Belarus. The results of one of the most important stages of the campaign, the formation of precinct election commissions, just confirmed the pessimistic prognoses of the country's democratic community: the authorities retain the control over the poll. The representation of the democratic community in the precinct election commissions is scanty.
Election campaign: numbers and tendencies of the week
As far as the well-known Stalin's principle 'votes doesn't matter, what matters is who and how counts them' is still actual for Belarus, the week past was very important for the election campaign, because this period was connected with the nomination of representatives to precinct commissions – those who count the votes. This stage of the elections ended on the last day of the week. Now the election committees will decide who to trust to count the poll. The week was also defined by the active nomination of candidates to deputies and presentation of the necessary documents to the appropriate territorial and constituency election commissions. This process will last till 15 March. These two simultaneous processes and the general political atmosphere against the background of which they were taking place were in the focus of attention of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in January 2010
In January, the elections to the local Soviets of Deputies started in Belarus. According to Presidential decree #21 of 18 January 2010, the elections to the local Soviets were appointed on 26 April. It will be the first campaign carried under the amended Election Code. As soon as the decree was published, the Belarusian human rights defenders have started monitoring the electoral process all over Belarus within the frames of the campaign Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections. One of their aims is to analyze the practical implementation of the new provisions of the election legislation. According to these innovations, the subjects who nominate their representatives to election commissions received the right to appeal against their non-inclusion in the commissions by the appropriate state agencies. A number of public and political activists appealed against their non-inclusion in the commissions at court.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in December 2009
At the end of the year its results were summed up. On 22 December the leadership of the United Democratic Forces of Belarus held a press-conference at which it was stated that this year the situation for the opposition was no better than last year. The country again has political prisoners, the Ministry of Justice again denies state registration to political parties and NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies accreditation to foreign media and their correspondents. Besides, democratic activists are kidnapped by unidentified persons and are arrested for participation in unauthorized peaceful street actions.
Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in November 2009
In Belarus November started with the population's panic caused by the epidemic of an acute virus disease that often brought such complication as pneumonia. On 4 November Liliya Ananich, the first Deputy Minister of Information, stated the ministry 'will stop any attempts to misinform the population of the country'. The same day Valiantsina Kachan, Deputy Minister of Health, voiced the data from which it followed that 19 people had died of pneumonia during the two last weeks. All of them were tested for swine flu and in seven cases the tests were positive. This was all official information. Meanwhile, for 2-29 November 170 819 cases of swine flu and acute respiratory viral infection were registered in Homel oblast alone. 44.2% of the ill were children and 55.8% – adults. 3.3% (5 825 persons) were hospitalized. As of 30 November quarantine was declared in ten educational establishments of the Homel oblast.
