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Britain’s human rights report ranks Belarus «among countries of concern»

There were small but welcome improvements in Belarus` human rights situtition in the course of 2009, says Britain’s latest annual report on human rights that was released by the Foreign Office on March 17.

“But the Belarusian authorities continue to harass civil society, NGOs, religious organizations and the independent media, using administrative powers to restrict their activities,” the report says.

The 192-page report highlights 22 "countries of concern": Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Colombia, Cuba, North Korea, the DR Congo, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The report says that Britain continued in 2009 its policy of engaging with Belarus through the EU, noting Belarus’ “active and constructive role in the multilateral part of the EU’s Easstern Partnership launched in May.” //BelaPAN