On March 29, according to the results of interactive opinion poll carried out by a popular Ukrainian internet-site Korrespondent.net, Belarus is the next country where a people’s revolution is to take place. 3632 respondents have taken part in the poll. They were to answer the question: “What other post-Soviet countries could expect the revolutionary downfall of regime?”
At the 61st session of the UN Commission on human rights Belarusian human rights activists have initiated collection of signatures under the address to Alyaksandr Lukashenka with a demand of immediate and unconditional release of Belarusian prisoner of conscience Mikhail Marynich. In the end of the last year former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Belarus Mikhail Marynich was sentenced to 3.5 years of colony on a frame-up. The petition was signed by members of the governmental delegations, representatives of the numerous international and national human rights organizations, the press service of the Belarusian branch of the Amnesty International informed.
On March 29 in Geneva in the Palace of Nations a briefing was held “Belarus: Tightening the Noose Around Civil Society”. Representatives of the Belarusian human rights organizations have taken part in the briefing: the chairman of the human rights center “Viasna” Ales Bialatski, the leader of the civil initiative “We Remember”, member of the Council of Civil initiatives “Free Belarus” Svyatlana Zavadskaya, a member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Zmitser Markusheuski, the leader of Barysaw non-governmental organization “Skryzhavannie” Syarhei Salash and representative of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus” Volha Stuzhynskaya.
The shock waves from Kyrgyzstan`s lightning revolution are spreading around the former Soviet Union - and into the heart of Russia - leading analysts to wonder which regimes might be next to face the peoples` wrath.
Another action to support one of leaders of Belarusian opposition Mihail Marinich was carried out by “Zubr” activists in Minsk. Several hundreds leaflets with demand to release political prisoner were thrown down from roof off high building on Nemiga street. Several hundreds people became witnesses of the action. None of its participants was detained.
The Belarusian foreign ministry issued a strong-worded statement over a UN report on Belarus’ human rights record, accusing the author, UN Special Rapporteur Adrian Severin, of having an aggressive and extremely partisan approach. The ministry said that the report contains “insinuations that insult the Belarusians.”
Opposition youth leader Pavel Severinets told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday that a criminal case opened against him last week in connection with last October’s street protests was politically motivated.
Authorities in Belarus may call early presidential elections this year, Pavel Severinets, an opposition youth leader, said at a news conference in Minsk on Tuesday. “We received information from civil servants that the idea is under consideration,” he said, noting that a decision is expected to be made before May 9, an anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.
«The report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, rendered at the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, produces a strange image. To a large extent the Special Rapporteur Adrian Severin repeats the same proposals which were expressed by him in 1999, while he was the head of the OSCE Working group on Belarus. At that time he proposed to establish a dialogue between the authorities of Belarus and opposition, and exerted many efforts on that. Then his efforts broke down absolutely, as the regime had no desire to recognize that any dissent exists in the country,” told the international coordinator of the civil initiative “Charter’97”, member of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus” Andrei Sannikov, commenting on the report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus Adrian Severin at the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. “The time has passed since that moment. The authoritarian regime has transformed into a full-fledged dictatorship. It cannot be ignored. But the Special Rapporteur again obstinately insists on organizing some dialogue. He fails to see the blatant facts of human rights violations in Belarus, the growing number of political prisoners. On one hand, he says that the Belarusian regime leaves no space for human rights, and on the other hand, he proposes very ineffective moves for changing this situation,” former deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus believes.
The Belarusian health ministry currently works to set up special state-run medical institutions that would offer the entire range of paid services at fixed prices. Each of the six regional capitals is to have such a center by the end of the year. They have already been established in Brest, Minsk, and Gomel.
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