Addressing the Permanent Council of OSCE on October 23, Stephan M. Minikes, the US representative in OSCE expressed his concern about the liquidation of some NGOs in Belarus. Following is the complete text of Stephan Minikes’s address:

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Minsk authorities refused the Jewish National Weekend School in renting rooms in the building of evening secondary school N35 for persons with hearing disabilities and with a complete loss of hearing, which is located in Pervomaysky district on Kalinina Str., 17a.

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The Ministry of Justice of Belarus made an appeal to the Supreme Court asking to liquidate a public association “A Hand of Help”. “A Hand of Help” is one of the most famous non-governmental charitable organizations in Belarus. Its activity is directed at the assistance for the imprisoned in Belarusian jails, those who were released, the provision of psychological assistance and help to adapt to life outside the jail. The organization also dealt with the distribution of the humanitarian aid in jails.

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On October 24, as scheduled, another issue of the professional unions’ paper “Salidarnast” was released, regardless the fact that until the last moment it was not clear if it would be published. The Committee of State Control has arrested the account of the paper to cover the economic sanctions, which were imposed against it this summer after it has printed the articles of “Belarusian Business Newspaper”. As Alyaksandar Starykevich, the editor-in-chief, informed, the account is still inaccessible.

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Liubou Sankevich refuses to stop her hunger strike. She demands from the authorities to reconsider her case, and to resume her work at one of the plants in Babruisk, as well as to investigate the abuse.

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