The Grodno branch of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has urged Vladimir Savchenko, head of the regional government, to stop harassing independent media outlets and reporters.

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Aleksandr Yaroshuk, chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, was elected to the executive committee of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) at the 18th ICFTU Congress held in the Japanese city of Miyazaki between December 5 and 10.

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More than 30 Belarusian officers last week took a five-day course in NATO’s English-language glossary of terms and definitions taught by a mobile training group representing the bloc’s Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum.

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Leader of the Russian party Democratic Union Valeria Novodvorskaya, who was born in the Belarusian town of Baranavichy, and, as said by her, always keeps track of the events in motherland with interest, considers the situation with human rights in Belarus catastrophic. Commenting on the situation in Belarus, Valeria Novodvorskaya always adverts to the most obscure times in the history of the Soviet Union, the 30ies of the 20th century. The party leaders also used to talk about observing human rights of Soviet people. “The right of the nation to give away its freedom to the first tyrant who comes along, the right to renounce one’s rights and freedoms does not constitute a right. It is a forced trick, totally peculiar to a concentration camp. A person certainly has a full right to write avowal of guilt confessing to be an American, English and Japanese spy, like they did in the 1930ies. Those people, who were brought to court at that time, obviously had such a right as well. But it cannot be considered a right, “ believes Valeria Novodvorskaya.

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Deputies of the district councils of Minsk region Ales Mikhalevich and Yuri Zenkovich have received an answer to their appeal against robbing them of the possibility to vote in the elections of the members of the Council of Republic from Minsk region. The Prosecutor’s Office of the Minsk region informed that the appeal of the deputies had been forwarded to Maladzechna Prosecutor’s Office, where it had been submitted initially. Thus, the complaint has made a circle and no official dares to make decision about it.

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Chairman of the public chamber of the “union” of Russia and Belarus Gennadiy Seleznev supposes that the Ukrainian scenario can be realized in Belarus. His opinion to this question was expressed by Seleznev in the interview to the newspaper of the parliamentary assembly of the union of Belarus and Russia “Sojuznoe Veche”.

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A number of Belarusian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have announced that they have launched a drive to restore the Belarusians’ right to set up non-profit associations. “In the following two months, NGOs will be discussing possible changes to regulations governing the activities of NGOs,” said lawyer Yuras Chausov at a news conference held in Minsk on December 10, the international Human Rights Day. “The discussion is to result in a list of demands that will be submitted to the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Justice, which is authorized to register NGOs and monitor their activities.”

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In August 2004 Volha Zavadskaya, whose son, ORT cameraman Zmitser Zavadski was kidnapped in July 2000, filed to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus demand to renew the investigation of the case, brought on disappearance of her son in connection with new circumstances and interrogate A. Lukashenka as a witness.

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Saddam Hussein was dead broke, the result of U.N. penalties. Or so it was thought. So where did he find the money to pursue missile technology from North Korea, air defense systems from Belarus and other prohibited military equipment?

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The Belarusian authorities have invited another group of Russian journalists to Belarus as part of their campaign to tout the country’s economic and social development. A group of some 30 reporters representing both federal and local TV networks, news agencies and print press are scheduled to arrive in Belarus on Tuesday to familiarize themselves with the country’s agricultural and food processing sectors, according to the press office of the Belarusian embassy in Russia.

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The new EU commissioner for external affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner of Austria, told reporters on Brussels on December 9 that Belarus is too undemocratic to qualify for an "action plan" under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

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