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Human rights defenders describe 2009 as year of «frustrated hopes»

Belarusian human rights defenders describe 2009 as a year of "frustrated hopes," Ales Byalyatski, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday, unveiling an annual report on the human rights situation in Belarus.

The hopes were based on the government's promises to begin serious social and political reform, Mr. Byalyatski said, adding that the European Union had resumed its contacts with Alyaksandr Lukashenka in response to those promises.

In 2009, six EU foreign ministers visited Minsk and Mr. Lukashenka had meetings with Pope Benedict XVI, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Mr. Byalyatski said.

Belarus was invited to participate in the EU's Eastern Partnership program and no conditions were in fact set for this, he said.

However, the promised democratization never took place, Mr. Byalyatski said. The government did not abolish the Criminal Code's Article 193.1, which penalizes acting on behalf of unregistered organizations, and no moratorium was imposed on the death penalty, he noted.

Amendments to the Electoral Code were rushed through the National Assembly without consultations with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights after one meeting between Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, Mr. Byalyatski said. The provision that would allow observes to properly monitor the ballot-counting process was removed from the bill of amendments, he noted.

Although there were no large-scale political campaigns in 2009, the government continued to apply repressive methods to keep society under control, Mr. Byalyatski said.

The authorities simply became more cautious and tricky, and altered their methods, he noted. //BelaPAN