Tear gas fired and websites blocked as Belarus protesters are targeted
Belarusian authorities must
refrain from using excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International
said today, after police used teargas and arrested more than 300 protesters on
Sunday.
Social networking websites Facebook and Twitter were also reportedly blocked as
thousands of activists gathered in the capital Minsk and other cities to express their
disapproval at President Alexander Lukashenko’s economic policies by clapping
in unison.
Tear gas was used against a group of protesters at Minsk’s Railway Station Square, and protesters
elsewhere in the city were beaten by police. The arrests were carried out by
state security agents in plain clothes who did not present any form of
identification or state the reasons for the arrests.
“Belarus continues to ride roughshod over human rights, but these latest mass
arrests and use of teargas against peaceful protesters show that attacks on
freedom of expression appear to be intensifying, “ said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty
International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.
“These blocks on communication are an attempt to cut off demonstrators from
each other and clearly violates the right to freedom of expression,” said John
Dalhuisen.
President Lukashenko was in defiant mood at a military parade in Minsk to mark Independence Day on Sunday, the anniversary
of the liberation of Belarus
from German occupation in 1944. He blamed the unrest on foreign
intervention.
“We understand the goal of these attacks. It is to sow uncertainty and
disturbance, destroy public consent, and [..] nullify efforts done to gain
independence. This will never happen,” he said.
According to Viasna Human Rights Centre, among the more than 200 protesters arrested
in Minsk were
17 journalists. Some of the journalists have been released, but 340 people
remain in detention. Some 160 are being held in Minsk,
while 180 are in detention centres in cities across Belarus. Some protesters were
beaten as they were arrested and others were beaten in the police vans.
Trials are ongoing, and the detainees are being charged with minor hooliganism
or participation in an unsanctioned meeting, offences which involve short
administrative sentences of 10-15 days.
“Clamping down on peaceful protesters does nothing to address the root causes
of their grievances which relate primarily to the economic situation,” said
John Dalhuisen.
“Concerns about the enjoyment of economic and social rights cannot be removed
by restricting civil and political rights. Peaceful protesters must not be
detained, security forces must not use violence against protesters, and all
those in detention must be immediately released”, he added.