BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Wednesday, 20 April 2005

Belarus sociological crackdown

Contributed by David Ferguson

"I deeply regret the recent decision of the Belarus court to liquidate the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies," said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The Belarus Supreme Court decided earlier in the week to liquidate the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS). "Since its establishment in 1992 the Institute has become one of the most reputable contributors to independent sociological surveys in Belarus," said Davis. "I urge the Belarus authorities to refrain from further steps which could impede the access of Belarusian citizens to independent sources of information and analysis in the country in the run up to the presidential elections in 2006."

Davis' criticism comes days after that of the OSCE. The organization's ambassador in Minsk, Eberhard Heyken, attended a court hearing on the closure of the institute. One of the main activities of the IISEPS, closed down for 'administrative violations of the law', was to survey public opinion on political events in Belarus. "It is extremely regrettable that the IISEPS has been forced into liquidation," said OSCE Ambassador Heyken. The IISEPS is known in Belarus as a serious institution for the investigation of public opinion and has acquired an excellent reputation. Its publications serve as a reliable and indispensable mechanism to assess Belarusian public opinion in all its diversity.

"The founders of the institute have always attached a great importance to scientific independence and, until the liquidation, a certain freedom from censorship has guaranteed the professional objectivity of the surveys," said Heyken. Belarus has also come in for much criticism from the European Parliament for its human rights record. "We should not shrink back from speaking of a dictatorship as that is exactly what is growing stronger in Belarus," said MEP Elisabeth Schroedter. "And this is also the situation when political prisoners like Michail Marinich, Valery Levonevski, Alexander Vasilyev and professor Jurij Bandaschewski suffer restrictions to their freedom."

Source:

http://euro-reporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=1