The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for December 2010

09.12.2010 Slonim: war on agitation posters

The Slonim activists of the Belarusian Christian Democracy and the Belarusian Popular Front addressed the Slonim District Police Department and the Slonim District Election Commission in connection with the counteraction to posting the posters of their candidates in the places where it is officially allowed to do it according to Ruling #967 of the Slonim District Executive Committee of 22 November 2010.

08.12.2010 Miory: policemen don’t know electoral laws

A police inspector told Zmitser Palcheuski to stop handing out leaflets in support of Uladzimir Niakliayeu alleging that only the candidate or his proxy could distribute any printed materials.

08.12.2010 Ihar Alinevich has confrontations and Mikalai Dziadok – a high temperature

Investigative activities are conducted towards an activist of the Belarusian anarchist movement Ihar Alinevich who was detained on 28 November. According to our information, the investigation has held three confrontations with his participation so far.

08.12.2010 Foreign sociologists charged with electoral fraud are authorized to hold exit-polls in Belarus

Three organizations are to hold exit polls at the presidential election on 19 December. According the Central Election Commission, the commission for conducting polls under the National Academy of Sciences issued licenses for this kind of express polls to two Belarusian structures and a foreign one. Pollsters from the analytical centre EcooM, the Republican Union of Public Association Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations and TNS-Ukraine Company will ask voters after they exit the polling stations, Belorusskiye Novosti informs.

08.12.2010 Let's say 'No!' to forced early voting together

Administrative resource is still widely used all regions of the country to secure mass early voting.

07.12.2010 Central Election Commission: car rally for Lukashenka was unlawful, but no one is guilty

The Human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich received a response to his complaint, in which he asked the Central Election Commission to bring to justice members of the rally We Are for Father! (i.e. for Lukashenka). As previously reported, the rally started in St Petersburg and was organized by the Russian public associations Slavic Brothers and Autoradioclub.

07.12.2010 Homel: human rights defender tries to return confiscated manuals for observers through court

On 30 November officers of the Ashmiany customs office examined the personal belongings of the Homel human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka who was returning home from Vilnius. They confiscated from him 10 copies of Instructions for Short-term Observers at Presidential Election of Belarus.

07.12.2010 Vitsebsk authorities ban human rights picket

The human rights defenders Pavel Levinau and Leanid Svetsik received an answer from the Kastrychnitski District Executive Committee of Vitsebsk concerning their request to authorize their picket on Human Rights Day, 10 December.

07.12.2010 Buda-Kashaliova: democratic activists are threatened with beating

Recently the democratic activists of Homel have established the youth coalition Studyja that launched the project of the electronic complaint book Don’t Keep Silence! Any person who witnesses a violation of the electoral legislation can tell about it at the website studyja.org.

07.12.2010 Homel: city authorities ban picket against early voting

At the end of November the Homel human rights defenders Anatol Paplauny and Leanid Sudalenka applied for holding a picket on 10 December, the Human Rights Day.

07.12.2010 Minsk: lecturers are ‘advised’ to politely herd students to early voting

The preparation to the forced early voting is at its height in the Minsk universities. For instance, the lecturers of some faculties of Belarusian State University were told to ‘politely ask’ their students to come to lectures with passports (that are necessary for early voting).

07.12.2010 Minsk: election commission shuns its member from BPF Party

The member of the Belarusian Popular Front Party Iryna Smiayan-Semianiuk who was included in precinct election commission #104 of the Maskouski district of Minsk is not informed about the time of the commission’s sitting ’.

07.12.2010 Activists of Speak Truth! and European Belarus call to stop one-man show!

At 10 a.m. on 7 December activists of the civil campaigns European Belarus and Speak Truth! held a rally in the center of Minsk demanding to give TV air to opposition candidates.