The meeting of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus”, has taken place today in Minsk. Heads of a number of the civil initiatives have taken part in it, among them head of the civil initiative “We remember”, “Freedom to political prisoners!”, “Chater’97”, “Anti-fascist Action”, “Veterans for Democracy”, “TERRA-Konventsia”, “Volat”. At the meeting the strategy of actions of the “Free Belarus”, and first of all, carrying out of the campaign “Freedom to Political Prisoners!”.
In the news reports on the Belarusian TV channel ONT on January 13, 2005, a number claims to the Belarusian Republican Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future”. In particular, the commissions of the Foundation in some regional capitals of Belarus were accused of groundless refusals to former prisoners of Fascists to accept their applications for money compensations. In this connection the board of the German Federal Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future” has made a statement negating all claims to the Belarusian Republican Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future”.
The draft changes to the Labor Code, touted by the government as aimed at improving the social protection of workers, may in fact turn counterproductive, said Vladimir Antonovich, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Free Trade Union.
On January 13 in Vienna, before the session of the Permanent Council of the OSCE, a meeting of the representatives of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, and ODIHR Director Christian Strochal, took place. At the meeting with the executive director of the IHF Aaron Rhodes among the regions where the human rights are violated, mentioned Chechnya, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The ruling party of German Bundestag, Social Democratic faction, has expressed a strong protest in connection with the sentence to Mikhail Marynich, and prosecution of the Belarusian opposition. German politicians do not doubt that these sentences are politically motivated, as the former Ambassador Mikhail Marynich is a real political challenger to Lukashenka.
Independent trade union leaders Aleksandr Bukhvostov and Gennady Fedynich have petitioned the embassies of European Union member states, the United States, Russia and Ukraine to deny admission into the countries to certain government officials and functionaries of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) whom they listed as involved in violations of trade union rights.
The election authorities in Grodno’s district where a repeat election for the House of Representatives will take place on March 20 have granted registration to nomination groups of four opposition contenders.
The chairman of the permanent committee of the “council of republic” of the “national assembly of Belarus” on International Affairs and National Security, Mikalay Charhinets, is categorically against the statement of the opposition that the country has a “pocket” parliament. The BelaPAN infromes that he told so at a press conference on January 17 on interparliamentary and international activities of the higher “chamber”.
The Latvian Transatlantic Organization (LATO) and the Open Belarus association have launched a campaign to inform the Latvian public about human rights abuses in Belarus.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has decided to spend the European Parliament’s Sakharov prize for purchasing of an office, BAJ Chairwoman Zhanna Litvina told BelaPAN.
“The countries have been increasing the trade turnover though it is far from the volumes which would meet the potential of the economies of Belarus and Iran. However, the 60-70% growth in mutual trade annually is very good dynamics”, the head of state has stated when receiving the letters of credence from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Belarus Abdolhamid Fekri.
An article should be included in the Belarusian Criminal Code introducing criminal responsibly for spreading child pornography on the Internet, Igor Chernenko, chief of the Interior Ministry department for high tech crimes told Interfax.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka has accused Russia of failing to fulfill its agreement on prices for gas delivered from Russia to Belarus and has threatened to retaliate by amending the prices for the transit of Russian gas through Belarusian territory.
The European Commission will continue carrying out its educational programs in Belarus this year. As Anje Schubert, press and information officer of the European Union’s Delegation to Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, told BelaPAN, the Commission plans to provide EUR2 million in grants under the Tempus program aimed at improving the country’s system of higher learning. In addition, post-graduate students at Belarusian schools of higher education will be invited to apply for grants to fund their further education at European universities under the Erasmus Mundus program.
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