Sunday, February 26
An action on Belarus, but why?
Undemocratic
The current president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenka, has been in power since 1994. Even though elections have occurred, these are flawed and do not comply with the standards set by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE). Opposition candidates and campaign volunteers have been incarcerated for political reasons and the state media either put them in a bad picture or neglect them. Last year, president Lukashenka organised a referendum to ensure that he could run for president even after having served two terms.
"Disappearances"
Since 1999 and 2000, four critics of the regime have "disappeared". The government has displayed a lack of interest to investigate the various cases, and some clous point in the direction of involvement by the regime in the disappearances of the four. Cameraman Zavadsky, the entrepreneur Krasovsky, and opposition leaders Gonchar and Zacharenka have left their families in great uncertainty. Even now, six years later, in spite of repression of manifestations, the four people are commemorated monthly in public by the civil initiatives "We Remember" and "Solidarity16".
Press freedom
Independent media are scarce. The state has several ways to cope with critical newspapers: for example, critique can be viewed as an insult to the president. Once a newspaper is declared illegal, distributing these can be followed by arrests.
Freedom of Association
Manifestations and actions against the regime can lead to fines and incarceration. Even for such a small thing a wearing a mask of president Lukashenka, people can be imprisoned for several years. When people do demonstrate, they risk a violent arrest by the OMON, the special forces.
By organising events in Amsterdam, Bonn, Berlin, Warsaw en Bialystok we try to visualise the current human rights situation in this East European country.
It is possible to participate with the human rights activists in this hitch hiking event or to take down interviews with one of the participants. For more information, contact us at canigetaright@gmail.com.
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