Corporate report

Belarus - Country of Concern: Latest Update: 31 March 2014

Updated 16 October 2014

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

There was no significant change in the human rights situation in Belarus between January and March.

Local elections were held on 23 March. Opposition parties, human rights organisations and NGOs reported widespread violations and harassment both during the campaign and on polling day.

Opposition parties and non-registered organisations reported that pressure was put on their candidates during registration and campaigning, resulting in mass withdrawals of potential candidates. Observers and human rights defenders also reported discrimination during the forming of constituency commissions, which were dominated by government representatives.

During the final stages of the campaign, opposition candidates, including leaders of parties and movements, were arrested and fined or given administrative sentences. On 17 March, one Gomel-based and four Minsk-based activists of the opposition United Civil Party were sentenced to ten days’ arrest for taking part in pre-election rallies; two more were fined about US$400. The party leader, Anatoli Lebedko, was also sentenced to 15 days in prison.

The officially reported voter turnout at the elections was 77.3%, with 30% having voted early. Election observers reported numerous breaches of electoral norms (for example, not being allowed to monitor the vote count, detentions, premature opening of ballot boxes, withdrawals of accreditation, voting without passports, voting for relatives etc.). Under a dozen opposition related candidates were elected to the local councils out of more than 2,000 seats.

Freedoms of expression and assembly continue to be suppressed. During January and February, there was a wave of demonstrations in relation to the situation in Ukraine, including outside the Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Minsk. These were quickly broken up and dozens of protesters were detained, and either fined or put under administrative arrest. On 2 March, former political prisoner Zmiter Dashkevich and two other members of the “Young Front” organisation were sentenced to 12 and 10 days respectively for attending a rally at the Russian Embassy. Several dozen other people were also briefly detained at the same rally, including journalists and members of the public who were passing by. On 31 January, two football fans in Borisov were sentenced to five days’ detention for publishing online a photo of 23 fans rallying in support of anti-government protests in Kyiv.

Former political prisoner, Vladimir Yeriomenok, was released from prison on 11 March after serving a three-month sentence for violating the terms of his original release. He will remain under the preventative surveillance scheme for a further five years. Former political prisoners, Zmiter Dashkevich and Aleksandr Molchanov, were fined US$150 and US$80 respectively for the breach of preventative surveillance regime. Dashkevich also had his surveillance regime extended for three months in February.

Nine opposition activists were detained in Minsk following the officially sanctioned Freedom Day march on 25 March, which commemorates the creation of the Belarusian People’s Republic in 1918. Two of those arrested were given sentences of 15 and five days’ detention. Over 2,000 people joined the march. The website server of Nasha Niva, an opposition-minded newspaper, was disconnected from the internet for the entire duration of the march. At the same time, access to several other independent online resources was also severely restricted.

This publication is part of the 2013 Human Rights and Democracy Report.

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