Human rights in Belarus

Since the election of the country's first president, Aleksandr Lukashenko in July 1994, Lukashenko has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place. Belarus, “republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship” is viewed as a rogue state by the United States and European democracies, i.e. the one whose conduct is out of line with international normals of behavior and whose regime is considered to grossly violate human rights.

Some of the most notable recent examples were the harassment of the Union of Poles in Belarus which represents ethnic Poles in the region; and abduction, unlawful detainment and torture of a prominent American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant and free-lance journalist Vladlena Funk during the US - Belarus hostage crisis in 2008-2009.

Religious, political and journalistic activity is tightly controlled. Other alleged human rights violations have included the digging up of a Jewish cemetery in order to build a sports stadium. Concerns have also been raised by the UCSJ, among others, of Lukashenko’s alleged use of Neo-Nazi thugs in intimidating opposition supporters during general elections. There have also been accusations of widespread spying on ordinary people and minority groups, in what commentators have called a manner reminiscent of the Soviet Union.

The US Department of State repeatedly criticized Lukashenka’s totalitarian regime, describing it as “a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship that blatantly ignores human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Numerous assessments of the United Nations, United States and European and Euro-Atlantic organizations demonstrate Belarus’s disregard for human rights, lack of independent judiciary, subservience of Belarusian courts to Lukashenka’s administration and members of Lukashenka’s corrupt inner-circle; routine use of Belarusian judiciary as an artifice for accomplishing improper political objectives and accommodating the private interests of the powers that be.

United Nations Human Rights Council noted that Belarusian political system is “incompatible with the concept of human rights”, Belarus has been dabbed “the last true remaining dictatorship in the heart of Europe” by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Belarus is subject of US sanctions for “undermining democratic process and constituting an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” It is also subject of the sanctions imposed by the European Union for egregious human rights violations.

Belarus has been repeatedly determined to be a habitual violator of international laws of human rights and universally accepted norms of international behavior by the UN, US, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As stated by the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus “it is impossible to believe that all these people are wrong or biased.”

December 2010 election crackdown

Lukashenko’s regime's recent violent break-up of peaceful demonstration of tens of thousands of people, following fraudulent December 2010 election has stunned people around the world. The strongly worded Joint US-EU Statement on Post-Presidential Elections' Situation in Belarus by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton states:

"The United States and the European Union reiterate their call for the immediate release of the presidential candidates and the over 600 demonstrators who have been taken into custody in the wake of the presidential elections in Belarus. We strongly condemn all violence, especially the disproportionate use of force against presidential candidates, political activists, representatives of civil society and journalists. Taken together, the elections and their aftermath represent an unfortunate step backwards in the development of democratic governance and respect for human rights in Belarus. The people of Belarus deserve better."

State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said this week US sanctions against Belarus, in place since a disputed 2004 referendum that allowed Mr Lukashenko a third term in office, will remain.

"Belarus and - President Lukashenko may well be a country that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Our sanctions will continue in place, and it's tragic what Belarus - what has happened in Belarus", said Crowley. "Respect for the democratic process and human rights of its citizens is at the center of our relationship and our aspirations for Belarus."

The Joint letter of Foreign Ministers of Germany, Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic states:

“Europe has not seen anything like this in years... Summary trials produced sentences without any basis in facts. Political prisoners have become the new reality. Repression is the stated policy. The combination of vote-rigging and outright repression makes what Milosevic tried to do in Serbia in 2000 pale in comparison.”

On 31 January 2011 European Union and the United States announced continuation of the previous sanctions and imposition of new sanctions against Lukashenko and his inner circle. Resolution of the EU Parliament provides that EU Parliamentary Assembly “is dismayed by the unprecedented wave of violence, intimidation, mass arrests and prosecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, media workers, students and citizens of Belarus that followed the announcement of the results of the presidential election that took place in Belarus on 19 December 2010, and further provides:

”Over 600 people were arrested, including presidential candidates, whereas assaults and searches were carried out in the homes of opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists as well as on the premises of several non-governmental organizations and media outlets. In the month that followed the election, the crackdown continued in a more targeted way and today still shows no signs of relenting. Such a violent repression of the political protests and targeted crackdown on political opponents, human rights defenders and media workers constitutes not only a disproportionate response to the action of the protesters but also an outright disregard for the core values upheld by the Council of Europe ... the Assembly in particular condemns the detention by security forces since 19 December 2010 of Irina Khalip, internationally recognized journalist with the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and the brutally wounded presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, as well as the authorities' threat to put their 3-year-old son into a state orphanage. The Assembly also condemns the continued detention of Natalya Radina, editor of the website Charter 97, who was detained when the office of this website was raided by security forces in Minsk on 20 December 2010. (Id.)

US Department of State issued the statement:

The United States announces today measures to respond to the brutal crackdown by President Lukashenka and the Government of Belarus in the wake of the presidential election of 19 December 2010. The disproportionate use of force and initial detentions of hundreds of demonstrators; charging of five opposition presidential candidates; ongoing raids against civil society, media and political parties; the closure of the OSCE’s office in Minsk; and a flawed vote count all represent major steps backwards for the country. These actions oblige the United States and others in the international community to act. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said in their joint statement of 23 December, “the people of Belarus deserve better.”

Government Sponsored Hostage Taking

One of the more notable recent examples of Belarusian government's violation of human rights and international norms is abduction, unlawful detainment and torture of a prominent American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant and free-lance journalist Vladlena Funk. As was widely reported, on 11 March 2008, Mr Zeltser and Ms. Funk had been abducted in London UK by the Belarusian KGB operatives. Both were drugged and secretly renditioned across international borders to Belarus aboard a private jet belonging to Boris Berezovsky, a notorious Russian “oligarch” and close friend of Lukashenka - - wanted by the Interpol for fraud, money laundering, participation in organized crime and transnational financial crimes. Upon landing in Minsk Belarus, Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk had been detained by the personal guard of Alexandr Lukashenka, Belarusian illegally elected president, according to the US Department of State. Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk were transported to “Amerikanka”, the Belarusian dreaded KGB detention facility of the Stalin era. There both had been repeatedly tortured, denied critical medications and told that they would remain in captivity indefinitely unless the United States lifts sanctions against Mr Lukashenka and Belneftekhim. Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk had been held hostage by the Belarusian KGB for 473 days and 373 days respectively.

Mr Zeltser’s and Ms Funk’s seizure, torture and unlawful detention sparked international outrage and significant press coverage, apparently unexpected by the Belarusian authorities.

The US Department of State and members of the US Congress repeatedly demanded the release of the hostages. World leaders, the European Parliament and international human rights organizations joined in the US call for immediate release of Ms Funk and Mr Zeltser. Amnesty International has repeatedly issued emergency alerts respecting “torture and other ill-treatment” of Mr Zeltser. Ihar Rynkevich, a prominent Belarusian legal expert and Press Secretary of the Belarus Helsinki Commission said in an interview: "This is yet another shameful case for the Belarusian judiciary for which more than one generation of Belarusian legal experts will blush". A strongly worded letter from the New York City Bar Association to Lukashenko condemned KGB abuse of Mr Zeltser and Ms. Funk and demanded their immediate release. The Bar Association letter expressed “great concerned about the arrests and detention of Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk and the reports of physical mistreatment of Mr Zeltser” and noted that this conduct is inconsistent with Belarus' obligations under international agreements, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture and Other Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Bar Association letter noted that the charge, which the KGB claimed to have brought against Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk "appears to have no basis to it", lacks "any explanation or detail" and "concerns have thus been reported that this is a fabricated charge, created to justify their unlawful detention.”

Neither Ms Funk nor Mr Zeltser had been lawfully "arrested", "charged", "indicted", "tried" or "convicted" within the meaning of Belarusian or international law. Both had been unlawfully seized and held hostage - - in blatant violation of the laws of nations and of Belarus' own law. During their unlawful confinement, Ms Funk and Mr Zeltser had been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or undignified treatment in blatant violation of the Article 25 of the Belarus Constitution; the US law and numerous international Treaties, including The International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (The Hostage Convention); the United Nation's Convention against Torture;) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) the law of nations and universally accepted norms of the international law of human rights The International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages; the United Nation's Convention against Torture (The Torture Convention);) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Mr Zeltser's and Ms Funk's abduction, detention and mistreatment in the KGB captivity was undertaken to coerce the United States to lift sanctions against Lukashenka and other members of the Belarusian government, and against Belarusian petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, owned by these individuals. As such, Belarus's actions were and remain gross violations of the law of nations, and universally accepted norms of the international law of human rights, including laws prohibiting hostage taking and state-sponsored terrorism.

Yielding to demands of international community, Belarusian dictator Lukashenka had finally released Ms. Funk on 20 March 2009, and Mr Zeltser on 30 June 2009, when a delegation of the members of the US Congress traveled to Belarus to meet with Lukashenka regarding the hostage crisis. US chargé d'affaires in Belarus, Jonathan Moore commented after their release: “At no time have the Belarusian authorities ever provided any indication that the charges against Mr Zeltser and Ms Funk were legitimate. As a result, I can only conclude that the charges in this case are thoroughly without merit; and are the result of extra-legal motivation."

Although US Department of State repeatedly said that it does not use its citizens as “bargaining chips”, many in Belarus still believe that US cut a deal with Lukashenko, inducing him to release hostages in exchange for IMF credits to Belarus. Appearing on Russian TV network, NTV, Anatoly Lebedko, Chairman of the Belarusian United Popular Party said: “Washington was forced to pay ransom for its citizen by providing Lukashenka the IMF credits, pure and simple; in essence, this is hostage-taking, the practice, which is wide-spread in Belarus elevated to international level, where Lukashenko is not only sending a political message but demands monetary compensation for human freedom.”

Use of Judiciary for Political and Personal Reasons

As noted in the 2008 US Department of State Report, while the Belarus Constitution provides for separation of powers, independent judiciary and impartial courts (Arts. 6 and 60); the government ignores these provisions where it suits its immediate needs, corruption, inefficiency and political interference are prevalent in the judiciary; government convicts individuals on false and politically motivated charges, and executive and local authorities dictate the outcomes of trials; the judiciary branch lacks independence and trial outcomes are usually predetermined; judges depend on executive branch officials for personal housing; the criminal justice system is used as an instrument to silence human rights defenders, through politically motivated arrests, arbitrary detention, lack of due process and closed political trials.

Although the Belarus Constitution prohibits the use of torture (Article 25,) in practice Belarus uses torture and mistreatment of detainees; while Belarus Constitution provides for the presumption of innocence (Art. 26,) in practice defendants often have to prove their innocence; while the Belarus Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrests, detention and imprisonment (Art. 25,) Lukashenko's regime disregards the law and practices arbitrary arrests, detentions, and imprisonment of individuals for political reasons; while the Criminal Procedure Code of Republic of Belarus provides that search warrant must be obtained before any searches (Art. 210[1]), in practice the authorities search residences and offices for clearly political reasons; while the Belarus Crim. Proc. Code (Art. 43) provides that the defendants have the right to attend proceedings, confront witnesses, and present evidence on their own behalf; in practice these rights are disrespected . Prosecutors are not independent and that lack of independence renders due process protections meaningless; prosecutors' authority vis-a-vis the accused is “excessive and imbalanced.” (See: US State Department Report, supra, and the UN Special Rapporteur Report, supra.)

“Arbitrary arrests, detentions, and imprisonment of citizens for political reasons, criticizing officials, or for participating in demonstrations also continued. Some court trials were conducted behind closed doors without the presence of independent observers. The judiciary branch lacked independence and trial outcomes usually were predetermined.” (See: US State Department Report, supra)

The section of the Report titled “Arbitrary Arrest or Detention” noted that although “the [Belarusian] law limits arbitrary detention ... the government did not respect these limits in practice [and] authorities continued to arrest individuals for political reasons.” It further notes that during the 2008 “Impunity remained a serious problem”; “Police frequently detained and arrested individuals without a warrant”; “authorities arbitrarily detained or arrested scores of individuals, including opposition figures and members of the independent media, for reasons that were widely considered to be politically motivated.” (Id.)

The section titled “Denial of Fair Public Trial” notes: “The constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the government did not respect judicial independence in practice. Corruption, inefficiency, and political interference were prevalent in the judiciary. There was evidence that prosecutors and courts convicted individuals on false and politically motivated charges, and that executive and local authorities dictated the outcomes of trials.”

“[Belarusian] Judges depended on executive branch officials for personal housing.”

“A 2006 report by the UN special rapporteur on Belarus described the authority of prosecutors as “excessive and imbalanced” and noted “an imbalance of power between the prosecution and the defense.”

“defense lawyers cannot examine investigation files, be present during investigations, or examine evidence against defendants until a prosecutor formally brought the case to court”;

“lawyers found it difficult to call some evidence into question because technical expertise was under the control of the prosecutor's office”;

These imbalances of power had intensified at the beginning of the year “especially in relation to politically motivated criminal and administrative cases.”

“[b]y presidential decree all lawyers are subordinate to the Ministry of Justice [and] the law prohibits attorneys from private practice.”

“[t]he law provides for the presumption of innocence; however, in practice defendants frequently had to prove their innocence;

” the law also provides for public trials; in practice, this was frequently disregarded; “defendants have the right to attend proceedings, confront witnesses, and present evidence on their own behalf; however, in practice these rights were not always respected”;

“courts often allowed information obtained from forced interrogations to be used against defendants.”

In sum, relevant international documents reflect that the Belarusian courts that are wholly subservient to authoritarian executive apparatus, routinely disregard the law of the land and exist merely to rubber-stamp decisions dictated from the outside the four corners of the courtroom This is tantamount to de facto non-existence of courts as impartial judicial forums, save for in name only. Similarly the “law” in Belarus is not something that is mandatory and not optional or subject to discretion. Nominal “law” which in practice is not binding is tantamount to non-existence of law.

Political dissidents and prisoners

In December 2010, Belarusian special security forces attacked the demonstrators, severely beaten and injured many activists with batons and arrested more than 600 people, after a massive rally gathered in central Minsk to protest an outcome of elections widely seen by Western observers as fraudulent. In their joint statement, Clinton and Ashton called for the immediate release of the protesters, including at least seven opposition presidential candidates, and strongly condemned what they termed the "disproportionate" use of force against demonstrators.

Belarus has come under fierce attack from Amnesty International for its treatment of political prisoners, including those from the youth wing of the Belarusian Popular Front, a pro-democracy party. In a report dated 26 April 2005, Amnesty again criticised Belarus for its treatment of dissidents, including a woman imprisoned for publishing a satirical poem. Another political prisoner who has been in jail since 1999 is Yury Bandazhevsky, a scientist who was jailed for publishing his findings about illnesses caused by the Chernobyl disaster.

Belarus and Uzbekistan are the only two countries in the former Soviet Union which officially retain the death penalty, although according to a 4 October 2005 press release by Amnesty International, the number of executions has decreased since 1999.

The United States Department of State issued a report on 14 April 2005, expressing concern about the disappearance and possible summary execution of three political activists in 1999 and a journalist in 2000, as well as continuing cases of arbitrary arrest and detention without trial. The State Department has also appealed to Belarus to provide information publicly about individuals who were executed.

A report dated 31 August 2005 from Amnesty USA claimed that in addition to the Polish minority crisis earlier that year, three Georgians from the youth movement Kmara were detained while visiting Belarus. The activists were detained on 24 August, along with Uladimir Kobets from Zubr, a Belarusian opposition movement. According to the report, he was released after two hours, being told that the police operation was directed at "persons from the Caucasus."

US policy

The United States is pursuing a “selective engagement” policy with the Government of Belarus, limiting access for the government to US Government officials at the Assistant Secretary level and below, and restricting US assistance to the Belarus Government. On 19 June 2006, President George W. Bush declared a national emergency in connection with the actions of corrupt members of Belarusian government, including Aleksandr Lukashenka, directing sanctions against Lukashenka and other members of the Belarusian government and also against Belarusian petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, for “undermining democratic process and constituting an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”. The 2008 US Department of State Background Note: Belarus. notes:

[B]ilateral relations cooled following the election of President Lukashenka in July 1994. After the internationally unrecognized November 1996 constitutional referendum, which resulted in the dissolution of Belarus' legitimate parliament and the centralization of power in the executive branch, Lukashenko provoked a diplomatic crisis by ... confiscating diplomatic residences [of] the US, German, British, French, Italian, and IMF residences away from those missions ... In addition, Lukashenko used his newly centralized power to repress human rights throughout the country *** Since his election in July 1994 ... Lukashenka has consolidated power steadily in the executive branch through authoritarian means and has dominated all branches of government. He used a non-democratic referendum in November 1996 to amend the 1994 constitution to broaden his powers and illegally extend his term in office. *** In 2004, he engineered a fraudulent referendum that removed term limits on the presidency. *** In 2006, Lukashenka “won” another term in an undemocratic election. In January 2007, he further consolidated his rule through local elections that failed to meet international standards.

In mid-March 2008, responding to the Belarusian government's raiding offices of independent media and wholesale arrests of “undesirable” journalists, the US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement condemning the crackdown: “The regime of Alexander Lukashenko has again shown itself as a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship that blatantly ignores human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The 2008 US State Dept. Belarus Report” notes grave and habitual abuses of Belarusian government of human rights and disregard for freedom of speech, press, religion and association. It points out to striking inconsistencies between the Belarusian “official” law and actual courts' practices which wholly disregard the “law.” Critically the 2008 US State Department Report exposes the subservience of Belarusian courts to the Lukashenka administration and private interests of the Lukashenka's inner-circle, to such an extent, that it makes clear that the “courts” in Belarus exist in name only. The following are the salient points:

According to its constitution, Belarus is a republic ... In practice, however, power is concentrated in the presidency. Since his election in 1994 as president, Alexander Lukashenka has consolidated his power over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian means, manipulated elections, and arbitrary decrees. Subsequent presidential elections have not been free or fair, and the 28 September, [2008] parliamentary election failed to meet international standards. [Members of] security forces ... continued to commit numerous human rights abuses. The government's human rights record remained very poor as government authorities continued to commit frequent serious abuses. ... The government failed to account for past politically motivated disappearances [of human beings]. Prison conditions remained extremely poor, and reports of abuse of prisoners and detainees continued.”

"The government further restricted civil liberties, including freedoms of press, speech, assembly, association, and religion ... Corruption continued to be a problem ... Religious leaders were fined, imprisoned or deported for performing services...”

"In the section titled: “Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” the 2008 US State Dept. Belarus Report noted that while Belarusian law prohibits such practices; Belarusian KGB and other special forces disregard the law with impunity, detainees and demonstrators are subjected to beating. The State Department references the 2 September 2008 Report of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) on Conditions of Detention in Belarus which noted “substantial evidence” of the use of torture and mistreatment of suspects during criminal and administrative investigations.”

The section of the State Department Report titled “Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence” notes that “the [Belarusian] law prohibits such actions; however, the government did not respect these prohibitions in practice; while “the law requires a warrant for searches” the KGB “conducted unauthorized searches... without warrants” with “numerous instances in which authorities searched residences and offices for clearly political reasons”. The State Department Report notes that “[t]he lack of independence of the prosecutor's office rendered due process protections meaningless.”

The section of the State Department report titled “Respect for Civil Liberties” notes that “the constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the government did not respect these rights in practice...”; “limit[ed] free speech”; “continued to harass and arrest journalists”; “censored the media”; “fined, or jailed members of the media who publicly criticized the government”; “continued to use its virtual monopoly on television and radio broadcasting to disseminate its version of events and to minimize opposing points of view”, and “took numerous other actions during the year to limit the independent press, including limiting access to newsprint and printing presses”; “restricted access to the Internet, and monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms”; educational institutions were required “to teach an official state ideology that combined reverence for the achievements of the former Soviet Union and the country under the leadership of Lukashenka”; “authorities used intimidation and threats to discourage persons from participating in demonstrations ... and issued heavy fines or jail sentences on participants of unsanctioned demonstrations”; “police and other security officials beat and detained demonstrators” ; “the law provides for freedom of association; however, the government severely restricted it in practice”; ”the law provides for freedom of religion; however, the government restricted this right in practice”; “the law allows citizens to speak freely about their religious beliefs; however, authorities continued to prevent, interfere with, or punish persons who proselytized for any religious group other than the Belarusian Orthodox Church.”

On 12 June 2009, Administration of Barack Obama continued the sanctions against Belarus pursuant to the “Notice on Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Actions and Policies of Certain Members of the Government of Belarus and Other Persons That Undermine Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus.”

UN view

The UN Human Rights Council 2007 Report notes that “the Special Rapporteur has encountered, for the third consecutive year, an absolute refusal to cooperate on the part of the Government of Belarus ... all efforts made to engage in constructive dialogue were fruitless”; “the situation of human rights in Belarus constantly deteriorated”; “The Government of Belarus did not consider any of the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur” and treaty bodies such as the Human Rights Committee.

Remarkably, the UN Special Rapporteur noted that “the political system of Belarus seems to be incompatible with the concept of human rights” and that “the Human Rights Council should either call for the democratization of the political regime and a change in the political behavior of the Government [of Belarus] or admit that Belarus' human rights record cannot be improved because the human rights violations are consistent with the political nature of the regime.” The UN Special Rapporteur states that “Belarus does not respect its obligations under the international human rights instruments to which it has adhered” and reiterates his recommendation “that the Security Council should adopt appropriate measures to ensure the respect by the Republic of Belarus of its legal obligations, including:

... to immediately establish a group of legal experts to investigate whether senior officials of the Government of Belarus are responsible for the disappearance and murders of several politicians and journalists and make concrete proposals for their prosecution, in order to bring to an end the impunity enjoyed by those involved in such crimes;

To “finance ... assistance to the human rights defenders who have been politically harassed, oppressed or prosecuted”;

“... to investigate the apparent involvement of senior government officials in international organized crime and illegal arms sales, monitor the international financial cash flows of Belarus and, if necessary, freeze foreign bank accounts of those involved in illicit trafficking, and prosecute criminals.”

The UN Special Rapporteur stressed that “present trading relations with Belarus do not grant a better quality of life to Belarusian citizens, but allow President Lukashenka's regime to remain in power by systematically violating human rights and threatening international security” and recommended that “the European Union and the United States of America should maintain travel restrictions for Belarusian officials” and all other Member States should adopt similar measures. The UN Special Rapporteur specifically noted that “...the opinions and assessments of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus were confirmed and fully shared by the most important European or Euro-Atlantic organizations, namely the OSCE, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly”, adding: “It is impossible to believe that all these people are wrong or biased.”

The Resolution of the UN General Assembly: provides: “...[t]he situation of human rights in Belarus in 2007 continued to significantly deteriorate, as documented in the reports of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, which found that systematic violations of human rights continue to take place in Belarus...”

[The General Assembly] expresses deep concern:

“(a) About the continued use of [Belarus's] criminal justice system to silence political opposition and human rights defenders, including through arbitrary detention, lack of due process and closed political trials of leading opposition figures and human rights defenders;

(b) About the failure of the Government of Belarus to cooperate fully with all the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, in particular with the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Belarus, while noting the serious concern relating to the continued and systematic violations of human rights in Belarus...”

European Union position

In March 2006, the European Council imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and other members of Belarusian government having “deplored the failure of the Belarus authorities to meet OSCE commitments to democratic elections... and condemned the action of the Belarus authorities ... in arresting peaceful demonstrators exercising their legitimate right of free assembly to protest at the conduct of the Presidential elections. ...

On 10 April 2006, the Council decided to adopt restrictive measures against President Lukashenko, the Belarusian leadership and officials responsible for the violations of international electoral standards and international human rights law, as well as for the crackdown on civil society and democratic opposition. These individuals should be subjected to a visa ban and possible further targeted measures. Common Position 2006/362/CFSP provides that the funds and economic resources of President Lukashenko and certain officials of Belarus that have been identified for this purpose should be frozen.

In its subsequent 8 November 2006 Declaration, the Council stated that the European Union is “deeply concerned” about imprisonment of political leaders which show the “Belarusian authorities' repeated unwillingness to respect international human rights standards, especially the right to a fair trial. The European Union also expresses its concern about the denial of access of observers to the trial.” And in its 2009 Conclusions the Council stated: “Council deeply regrets the recent lack of significant progress in addressing its concerns in the area of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including as regards the crackdown on peaceful political actions...”

UK view

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office June 2008 Release on Belarus Human rights provides:

“Belarus's human rights record since President Lukashenka came to power in 1994 has been poor. A September 2006 report ... by the UNSpecial Rapporteur ... on Human Rights, was highly critical of the situation. This is one of many reports to cite numerous human rights violations ... The situation continues to deteriorate, while the Belarusian authorities continue to ignore concerns raised by the EU and others ... Politically motivated arrests and detentions continue ... The UK and EU continue to raise human rights issues with the Belarusian government by way of regular EU statements, demarches by EU heads of mission in Minsk, and through international organizations including the UN and OSCE.”

Opposing views

Critics such as the BHHRG point out that the US was implicated in both Georgia's Rose Revolution of 2003 and Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004 and suggest that concern about Belarus is motivated by geo-political factors rather than any desire for change in the country.^{[citation needed]} However, groups such as Union of Councils for Soviet Jews and Amnesty International – not related to the US government, the EU, or George Soros – have also repeatedly expressed concern about the situation in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Freedom of the press

In 2005, Reporters Without Borders ranked Belarus 152nd out of 167 countries in its global press freedom listing. The higher the score means the worse the press freedom. Freedom House rates Belarus as "Not Free" according to its 2004 global survey "Freedom in the World". The Lukashenka government systematically curtails press freedom, the organization says. State media are subordinated to the president, and harassment and censorship of independent media are routine, the organization claims.

Freedom of religion

Main article: Freedom of religion in Belarus

Jews are not the only minority who are said to have had their human rights violated in Belarus^{[citation needed]}. On 25 March 2004, the Associated Press reported that a ban exists on home worship in the country and that members of four Protestant churches had recently asked the government to repeal a 2002 law which forbade them worshiping from their own homes, even though they were members of legally registered religions. The Christian Post reported in an 21 April 2005 article that non-denominational, charismatic churches were worse affected by the law, since none of these churches have been able to own buildings. Protestant organizations have also complained of censorship, because of the ban on importing literature without it first being examined and approved by government officials.

According to Forum 18, textbooks widely used in Belarusian schools as of 2002 contain anti-religious views similar to those taught under the communist USSR:

religion does not teach a believer to strive to lead a dignified life, to fight for his freedom or against evil and oppression. This is all supposed to be performed for him by supernatural forces, above all, god. All that is left for the believer to do is to be his pathetic petitioner, to behave as a pauper or slave... Religion's promises to give a person everything that he seeks in it are but illusion and deception."

The organization has also reported that charismatic Protestant churches such as Full Gospel, as well as Greek Catholic and independent Orthodox churches - as in those not affiliated to the Russian Orthodox Church - have found difficulty in registering churches in recent years.

In 2003, Protestant groups accused the government of Belarus of waging a smear campaign against them, telling Poland's Catholic information agency KAI that they had been accused of being Western spies and committing human sacrifice. Charter 97 reported in July 2004 that Baptists who had celebrated Easter with patients at a hospital in Mazyr had been fined and threatened with the confiscation of their property.

Only 4,000 Muslims live in Belarus, mostly ethnic Tatars who are the descendants of immigrants and prisoners in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The administration for Muslims in the country, abolished in 1939, was re-established in 1994.

However, Ahmadiyya Muslims, commonly regarded to be a non-violent sect of Islam, are banned from practicing their faith openly in Belarus, and given a similar status to groups such as Scientology and Aum Shinrikyo. There have been no major reports of religious persecution of the Muslim community, but because of the situation in Chechnya and neighboring Russia, concerns have been expressed by Muslims in the country that they may become increasingly vulnerable.

These fears have been heightened by the fact that on 16 September 2005, a bomb was let off outside a bus stop in the country, injuring two people. On 23 September, a bomb was set off outside a restaurant, wounding nearly 40 people. Muslims are not suspected in the attack, which has been labeled as "hooliganism".

Industrial relations

The situation of trade unions and their members in the region has also been criticized by Amnesty UK, with allegations that authorities have interfered in trade union elections and that independent trade union leaders have been dismissed from their positions.

In recent years, trades unions in the country have been subject to a variety of restrictions, including:

The banning of unregistered trade unions

As of 1999, all previously registered trade unions have to re-register and provide the official address of the headquarters, which often includes a business address. A letter from the management is also required, confirming the address - making the fate of the trade union entirely dependent on the management. Any organization which fails to do so is banned and its membership dissolved.

High minimum membership requirements

In a measure which has also reportedly been used against Jewish human rights organizations, the Belarusian government has announced that any new trade union has to contain a minimum of five hundred members for it to be recognized, making it extremely difficult for new unions to be founded.

Systematic interference

The International Labor Organization's governing body issued a report in March 2001 complaining of systematic interference in trade union activities, including harassment and attacks on union assets. Workers who are members of independent trade unions in Belarus have, according to Unison, been arrested for distributing pamphlets and other literature, and have faced losing their jobs.

Gay rights

Main article: Gay rights in Belarus

Belarus legalized homosexuality in 1994. However, homosexuals face widespread discrimination in Belarus. In recent years gay pride parades have been held in Minsk. One notable parade was staged in 2001, when presidential elections were held in the country. However, according to OutRage!, a gay rights organization based in Britain, a gay-rights conference in 2004 had to be called off after authorities threatened to arrest those taking part. The country's only gay club, Oscar, was closed in 2000, and in April 1999, the Belarus Lambda League's efforts to gain official registration was blocked by the Ministry of Justice.

On 31 January 2005, the Belarusian national anti-pornography and violence commission announced that it would block two gay websites, www.gaily.ru and www.qguis.ru as they were said to contain obscene language and "indications of pornography".

However, Russian gay and lesbian organizations^{[citation needed]} have alleged that the failure of a gay pride parade in 2000 was not down to state-sponsored homophobia but down to the Lambda League themselves, who organized the parade, claiming that the organization was trying to seek publicity abroad rather than promote the human rights of homosexuals in the country.

In 1999, in an extraordinary conference called "The Pernicious Consequences of International Projects of Sexual Education", members of the Belarusian Orthodox Church reportedly accused UNESCO, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization of encouraging "perversion", as well as "satanic" practices such as the use of condoms and abortion. One priest reportedly called for all homosexuals to be "executed on the electric chair".

In August 2004, the International Lesbian and Gay Association reported that the Belarusian authorities had forced a gay cultural festival, Moonbow, to be canceled, amid threats of violence. Foreigners who participated in any related activities would be expelled from the country. In addition, neo-Nazi groups allegedly put pressure on the authorities to cancel the event. Bill Schiller, coordinator of the ILGCN, described the situation as follows:

While the rest of Europe is moving forwards, this last dictatorship in Europe is trying to push its homosexual community into a 1930s Nazi style concentration camp", says Schiller. "Sweden and other democratic governments of Europe must react to the harassment, persecution and international isolation of human beings.

Polish minority crisis

On 3 August 2005, an activist working for the Union of Poles, which represents the Polish minority community, was arrested and given a 15-day jail sentence. Lukashenko also accused the Polish minority of plotting to overthrow him. The former head of the Union of Poles, Tadeusz Gawin, was later given a second sentence for allegedly beating one of his cell-mates, a claim he denies.

The offices of the Union of Poles were raided on 27 July 2005, in a crisis which had come to the surface the previous day when Andrzej Olborski, a Polish diplomat working in Minsk was expelled from the country, the third such expulsion in three months. Poland had accused Belarus of persecuting the 400,000 Poles who have been a part of Belarus since her borders were moved westward after the Second World War.

Anti-semitism

Main article: Freedom of religion in Belarus

President Alexander Lukashenko was accused of praising Hitler in a Russian NTV interview in 1995, saying that:

The history of Germany is a copy of the history of Belarus. Germany was raised from the ruins thanks to firm authority, and not everything connected with that well known figure, Adolf Hitler, was bad. German order evolved over the centuries and under Hitler it attained its peak.

However, this allegation was originally made by the Russian television channel NTV, on the basis of an interview which Lukashenko gave to the German newspaper "Handelsblatt", in which Hitler was not even mentioned. The original interviewer, Dr. Markus Zeiner, said "a tape of the interview had been quoted out of context and with the sequence of comments altered by the Russian media."

In 2004, Charter 97 reported that for some government job applications Belarusians are required to state their nationality. This has been cited as evidence of state anti-semitism in the region, as similar practices were allegedly used to discriminate^{[citation needed]} against Jews in the USSR. They are also required to state information about their family and close relatives, and this is said to be in breach of the constitution. However, it must be remembered that some more developed countries, such as the United Kingdom, also ask applicants to state their ethnicity on application forms in many cases, although this information is usually only used for statistical purposes.

Belarus has been criticized by the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, as well as many American senators and human rights groups, for building a football stadium in the town of Grodno which was on the site of a historic Jewish cemetery. A website called www.stopthedigging.org was set up to oppose the desecration of the cemetery, however this site has since been shut down. The Lukashenko administration has also faced criticism on this issue from members of parliament, as well as from Jewish organizations in Belarus.

In January 2004, Forum 18 reported that Yakov Gutman, president of the World Association of Belarusian Jewry accused Lukashenko of "personal responsibility for the destruction of Jewish holy sites in Belarus", accusing the authorities of permitting the destruction of a synagogue to build a housing complex, demolishing a former shul in order to build a multi-story car park, and the destruction of two Jewish cemeteries. According to the report, he was subsequently detained by police and taken into hospital, apparently suffering from a heart attack.

In March 2004, Gutman announced that he was leaving Belarus for the USA, in protest at the authorities' state anti-Semitism, an opinion backed up by a July 2005 report by UCSJ that a personal aide of the President, a former Communist Party ideologue called Eduard Skobelev, had been publishing anti-Semitic books, and had even promoted the use of guns to solve what he termed the "Jewish problem". In 1997, Skobelev was given the title of "Honored Figure of Culture" by Lukashenko, and was put in charge of the journal "Neman".

UCSJ's representative in Belarus, Yakov Basin, wrote a report detailing the authorities' alleged anti-Semitism. The only Jewish higher education institution in Belarus, the International Humanities Institute of Belarusian State University was closed in February 2004, in what many local Jews believe is a deliberate act of anti-semitism in order to undermine their educational rights and position in society. However, it is not the only educational institution to face closure in Belarus - the last independent university in the nation, a secular institution which received funding from the European Union, the European Humanities University was closed in July 2004. Commentators have implied that this may be part of a wider move by Lukashenko to crush internal dissent.

Jewish observers also cite anti-Semitic statements by legislators and members of the government, as well as the apparently consistent failure of the authorities in Belarus to punish perpetrators of anti-Semitic crime, including violent crime, as pointing to a wider policy of anti-Semitism within the state.^{[citation needed]}

Praise of President Alexander Lukashenko has appeared on several neo-Nazi websites, including the virulently anti-Semitic website Vanguard News Network. A 2005 article openly gloated about the situation in the country as regards Jews and made favourable comparisons with 1930s Germany. One neo-Nazi group, Support88, reportedly describes Lukashenko as being "the only bulwark against the empire of the New World Order", and describes opponents of the leader as "Zionists".

See also

• Day of Solidarity with Belarus

Sources

Freedom of press

• [2] Belarus ranked 16th worst ranked country on RSF Press Freedom index
• [3] Freedom House ranks Belarus as "Not Free"

Gays and lesbians

• [4] Gay Times country profile
• [5] Asylum seeker wins, but still detained
• [6] Belarus gays parade in election fever
• [7] Gay and lesbian websites blocked in Belarus
• [8] Orthodox Church organises homophobes
• [9] ILGA - threats from Belarusian regime force organisers to cancel festival
• [10] Failure of Gay Pride 2000
• [11] Global Gayz - Belarus News and Reports, 2004–05

Polish minority crisis

• n:Poland accuses Belarus of human rights violations Poland accuses Belarus of human rights violations
• [12] Polish chief jailed again
• [13] Belarus-Poland row escalates

Anti-Semitism

• [14] Protests over Belarus Jewish graves.
• [15] Belarus digs up Jewish graves
• [16] President Lukashenko: in quotes
• [17] Belarus lawmakers protest destruction of Jewish sites
• [18] Forum 18 article
• [19] Jews get by in Belarus, but they feel the authorities' watchful eyes
• [20] Lukashenko aide continues anti-semitic publishing
• [21] Belarus aide leaves country in protest at state anti-semitism

Neo-Nazi allegations

• [22] Neo-Nazis continue attacking Belarusian oppositionists
• [23] Minsk Neo-Nazis March To Commemorate Fallen Comrade