HUMAN RIGHTS IN BLEARUS



Map:  Belarus.  Credit:  CIA

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Human Rights in Belarus on the Anniversary of the December 19, 2010 Crackdown
Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 18, 2012
　

Two years after the Belarusian Government launched its brutal crackdown on civil society, the democratic opposition, and independent media, we remember the political prisoners who remain in detention and reiterate our call for their immediate and unconditional release. We note the December 1, 2010 joint statement between our two countries, which affirmed that enhanced respect for democracy and human rights remains central to improving bilateral relations. We regret that Belarus’ leadership has instead followed a path of self-isolation by repressing its own people.

As we mark the second anniversary of the events of December 19, 2010, we note Belarus’ unfulfilled promise and reaffirm our readiness to help the people of Belarus build a democratic, prosperous, and truly independent European state.


　


Locator Map:  Belarus.  Credit:  CIA

ADDITONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.

U.S. PRESS ISSUES NEGATIVE PRESS STATEMENT ON BELARUSIAN ELECTION

Map Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Belarusian Election

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC
September 24, 2012

The September 23 parliamentary elections in Belarus fell short of international standards and their conduct cannot be considered free or fair. The preliminary assessment of the OSCE election observation mission found that the elections were "not competitive from the start." The observer mission cited the limitation of choice for voters, the lack of impartiality on the part of the election commission, and the lack of proper counting procedures.

Map Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

The United States urges the authorities to take steps to meet Belarus’s international commitments to hold genuinely democratic elections and to foster respect for human rights. Enhanced respect for democracy and human rights in Belarus, including the release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners, remains central to improving bilateral relations with the United States.

CIA BACKGROUND OF BELARUS
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.

ECONOMY
As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base; it retained this industrial base - which is now outdated, energy inefficient, and dependent on subsidized Russian energy and preferential access to Russian markets - following the breakup of the USSR. The country also has a broad agricultural base which is inefficient and dependent on government subsidies. After an initial burst of capitalist reform from 1991-94, including privatization of state enterprises, creation of institutions of private property, and development of entrepreneurship, Belarus' economic development greatly slowed. About 80% of all industry remains in state hands, and foreign investment has been hindered by a climate hostile to business. A few banks, which had been privatized after independence, were renationalized. State banks account for 75% of the banking sector. Economic output, which had declined for several years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, revived in the mid-2000s thanks to the boom in oil prices. Belarus has only small reserves of crude oil, though it imports most of its crude oil and natural gas from Russia at prices substantially below the world market. Belarus exported refined oil products at market prices produced from Russian crude oil purchased at a steep discount. In late 2006, Russia began a process of rolling back its subsidies on oil and gas to Belarus. Tensions over Russian energy reached a peak in 2010, when Russia stopped the export of all subsidized oil to Belarus save for domestic needs. In December 2010, Russia and Belarus reached a deal to restart the export of discounted oil to Belarus. In November 2011, Belarus and Russia reached an agreement to drastically reduce the price of natural gas in exchange for selling to Russia the remaining share of Beltransgaz, the Belarusian natural gas pipeline operator. Little new foreign investment has occurred in recent years. In 2011, a financial crisis began, triggered by government directed salary hikes unsupported by commensurate productivity increases. The crisis was compounded by an increased cost in Russian energy inputs and an overvalued Belarusian ruble, and eventually led to a near three-fold devaluation of the Belarusian ruble in 2011. The situation has stabilized short-term due to a $3 billion loan from the Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Community Bail-out Fund, a $1 billion loan from the Russian state-owned bank Sberbank, and the $2.5 billion sale of Beltranzgas to Russian state-owned Gazprom.