Freedom House: No progress in Belarus’ democracy ratings
The US-based Freedom House international NGO has released its annual report “Nations in Transit 2011”, providing a comparative study of democratic development in 29 countries, including Belarus.
According to the survey, most of Belarus’s ratings either worsened or remained unchanged as compared to the previous year. The report mentions Electoral Process and Independent Media among the spheres negatively impacted by the 2010 presidential election and its aftermath.
“Singularly brutal crackdowns on the opposition in the last weeks of 2010 demonstrated that all of Lukashenka’s electoral reforms were cosmetic and calculated to pacify Western powers”, says the survey.
It also stresses that “freedom of expression and assembly remained tightly monitored and subject to regular crackdowns by the government”.
