BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02 November 2005

U.S. Condemns Belarus Harassment of Election Training Group

Urges Belarusian government to respect the democratic rights of its citizens

The United States on November 2 condemned the recent arrest, detention and conviction of Belarusian citizens from the nongovernmental organization (NGO) known as Partnership, which seeks to train Belarusians as election observers and to educate them on their rights under Belarusian law as voters.

Belarusian police arrested approximately 70 members of Partnership October 29 on charges of attending an unauthorized meeting, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

"This harassment of Partnership and other Belarusian NGOs is the latest of many examples raising doubts about the intentions of the Belarusian authorities to conduct free, fair and open presidential elections next year," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

He called on Belarusian law and court authorities to respect the democratic rights of Belarusians in accordance with its constitution and its international commitments as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The United States also has called on Belarus to cease harassment of the Belarus Helsinki Committee. (See related article.)

The most recent State Department human rights report on Belarus is available on the State Department Web site.

Following is the text of McCormack's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of State

Office of the Spokesman

November 2, 2005

Statement by Sean McCormack, Spokesman

BELARUS HARASSMENT OF NGO PARTNERSHIP

The United States condemns the recent arrest, detention and conviction of Belarusian citizens of the Partnership organization who were peacefully and legally meeting in Minsk. Partnership is a Belarusian non-governmental organization devoted to training Belarusians to be election observers and to educate Belarusians on their voter rights under Belarusian law. This harassment of Partnership and other Belarusian NGO's is the latest of many examples raising doubts about the intentions of the Belarusian authorities to conduct free, fair and open presidential elections next year. The United States calls on Belarusian law and court authorities to respect the democratic rights of Belarusians in accordance with the Belarusian Constitution and Belarus' international commitments as a member of the OSCE. Belarus should take these and other essential steps to hold free and fair Presidential elections in 2006 and restore democracy in the country.

Source:

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=November&x=200511021649531CJsamohT0.6069605&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html