The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 1 Dec 2010

01.12.2010 Procuracy to instigate no criminal case on Aleh Biabenin’s death

The Minsk Region Procuracy won’t bring a criminal case on the death of the journalist Aleh Biabenin. This information was given to the information agency BelaPAN by the senior assisting prosecutor of the Minsk region Tatsiana Kalinkina.

01.12.2010 Election-related detentions

The human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka was detained at Kamenny Loh border crossing point on his way from Lithuania with 10 copies of instructions for observes on him.

01.12.2010 Authorities are forming army of ‘pocket observers’

The heads of the precinct election commissions received the errand to form brigades of observers. The latter ones are instructed how to counteract ‘curious’ journalists and observers during the count of the poll, neutralize the personal opinions entered by observers and witness another ‘elegant victory’. The observer of the NGO BPF Adradzhenne saw it all at the training seminar for the heads of the precinct election commissions of the Maskouski district of Minsk on 30 November.

01.12.2010 Babruisk: state-owned mass media agitate for Lukashenka

The state-owned mass media of Babruisk are keeping to the tactic of silence during the present electoral campaign and publish only general information on elections. The only exception is the mouthpiece of the Babruisk Town Executive Committee Babruiskaye Zhyttsio, which dedicatedly promotes just one candidate, the incumbent Lukashenka.

<em>Homelskaya Prauda</em> publishes only ‘ideologically correct’ opinions about opposition’s candidates

01.12.2010 Homelskaya Prauda publishes only ‘ideologically correct’ opinions about opposition’s candidates

What are your feelings about the speeches of the presidential candidates? – an article with such a title was published in the front page of the newspaper issue for 30 November. Meanwhile, the incumbent Aliaksandr Lukashenka refused to deliver and electoral speech. Hence, the article concerns only other candidates.

01.12.2010 Pinsk: places of work of members of electoral commissions are top state secret

The places of work of some members of election commissions are still a secret even for themselves. For instance, the representative of the Belarusian Popular Front Aliaksandr Ramanovich, a member of the Pinsk precinct election commission #26 tried to find about the places of work of other members of the commission in order to check the legality of the formation of the commission (according to the law, the share of state officials in an election commission cannot exceed 1/3 of the total number of members). However, the commission chairperson refused to answer this question.

01.12.2010 Vitsebsk: does only Lukashenka’s electoral program deserve front pages?

The state-owned newspaper Vitsebski Rabochy seems to know nothing about the fact that all presidential candidates must have equal conditions for canvassing.

01.12.2010 Slonim: ideologists ban TV broadcast of meeting with Seviarynets

Information about the electoral meeting with Pavel Seviarynets, a proxy of the presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski, that took place on 25 November was spread only by the private socio-political weekly Hazeta Sloninskaya.

01.12.2010 Babruisk: prison cells reserved for oppositionists?

A resident of Babruisk (name withheld) told human rights defenders about an interesting occurrence.

01.12.2010 Ihar Alinevich is kept in KGB prison

Ihar's friends had been looking for him in all the police departments and detention centers of Moscow for more than two days. However, Russian law-enforcement agencies denied there was such an arrestee and stated they hadn’t seized Alinevich. The friends managed to find Ihar Alinevich's relatives in Belarus only in the evening on 30 November. Ihar's relatives informed he was detained in Minsk.

01.12.2010 Election: yesterday’s associations

Central Election Commission issued warnings to the presidential candidates Vital Rymasheuski and Mikalai Statkevich for the unauthorized action in Kastrychnitskaya Square in the center of Minsk.

Bishkek: <em>Cities for Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty</em>

01.12.2010 Bishkek: Cities for Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty

On 30 November the Chairperson of the Human Rights Center Viasna, vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Bialiatski took part in the action Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek.

<em>Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty</em> action held in Minsk for the first time

01.12.2010 Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty action held in Minsk for the first time

Activists of the campaign Human Rights Defenders Against Death Penalty and representatives of the Human Rights Center Viasna held the action Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty in Minsk.

01.12.2010 Election of the President of Belarus 2010: Weekly Analytical Review (22-28 November)

Observers have reported the broad use of administrative resources with the aim to ensure mass early voting – the most convenient occasion for falsifications.