Why Belarus Officials Do Not Blog – Digest of Belarusian Analytics
Pauliuk Bykouski
Experts discuss issues ranging from the presence of officials on social networks to the catalogue of old Belarusian cemeteries.
Governmental Websites One Decade Behind: Svabodaby.net journalist and media expert Pauliuk Bykouski discuss why Belarusian officials do not have blogs and pages in Facebook, as well as what can contribute to the information openness of state agencies. The main conclusion is that because Belarusian officials are not elected they are not particularly interested in impressing the population and building public profiles. The article also provides a brief review of websites of ministries and both chambers of the Parliament of Belarus.
POLITICS
Ioffe about Belarusian Politics and Economy: Liberal Club conducted video-interview with Grigory Ioffe, Radford University Professor, while his visiting Minsk. Prof Ioffe shared his vision of democracy in the world and in Belarus; specifics of "Belarusian regime"; his impressions of his latest meeting with Alexander Lukashenka. In particular, Ioffe considers Lukashenka as an extremely dynamic and flexible person who responds to the changing socio-economic environment; the question is how radically Lukashenka is ready to change.
Asking Questions to Lukashenka. Survival School – Alexander Klaskovsky, following the recent press conference of Lukashenka, gives advice to journalists how to work effectively in such format. The expert believes that the professional and psychological tricks help to talk with a sophisticated manipulator with high status. In addition, journalists also must have a charge of civil courage, because "journalist in Belarus is more than a journalist".
Optimistic about Belarus? – Edward Lucas, European Voice, considers Belarus' regime as "a dark disgrace for Europe" but believes that it is possible to be hopeful for change – not because the opposition is strong, but because the regime is looking weak. He notes that inviting Belarusians where possible to events in EU countries, and visiting Belarus whenever possible, all help breach the sense of isolation that sustains the disgraceful regime.
Results of the 2012 on the Version of the Editors of Analytical Information E-Resources – CSOs websites' editors and journalists discussed the key events of 2012, which received most coverage on their web platforms. The discussion was attended by representatives of EuroBelarus, online magazine "New Europe", Alternative Youth Platform", "Nashe Mnenie".
Belarus: Pulling the Plug (by Index on Censorship) – Index on Censorship prepared a policy paper on digital challenges to freedom of expression in Belarus. The document evaluates most up-to-date data, legal and technical background, and gives recommendations to Belarusian authorities on how to ensure freedom of expression online.
Review of Development in Politics, Business Life and Regions in Belarus in 2012 – Solidarity with Belarus’ Information Office summed up the results of 2012 and concluded that the most notable trends in Belarusian politics were the relative influence enhancement of the Administration of President and Alexander Lukashenka personally with the overall reduction of the government machine controllability and transition to "manual" management methods; an unsettled crisis in the relations with the EU and the U.S.
Youth Participation in the Youth Policy – the policy brief authored by Alternative Youth Platform’s experts presents a description of opportunities for youth participation in the development of the state youth policy in four countries – Russia, Poland, Finland and Belarus. The analysis shows that, although the involvement of young people in political decision-making is seen as an imperative of youth policy, an effective solution is not found in any of these countries.
FOREIGN POLICY
Foreign Policy Index, November – December of 2012: BISS presents the 11th issue of Belarus’ Foreign Policy Index, which examines five areas of Belarus’s foreign policy in the November-December of 2012. The experts not only assess the foreign policy vectors in their annual dynamics, but also tried to forecast the development of the foreign policy of Belarus in 2013. One of the most important findings is that China is gradually taking place of the EU in a "policy of maneuvering" of the official Minsk.
Ulad Vialichka: Relations of Belarus and EU Should Change – this forecast after evaluation of the relation of EU and our country shared the chairman of the International Consortium "EuroBelarus" Ulad Vialichka. He believes that in 2012 Belarus did not become “more European country”. Moreover, the last year pushed Belarus away from Europe rather than bring closer to it.
CIVIL SOCIETY
The Future Role of Civil Society: The report is the outcome of an eight-month project, in collaboration with KPMG International and involving over 200 leaders and experts, looking at how trends in technology, politics, society, economics and the environment are affecting the evolution of civil society and its implications for stakeholders. The report presents the main global trends impacting the relationships between sectors, highlights the value that civil society provides and explores how the role of civil society might change over the coming two decades as a result.
Main Development Trends of Gomel Region CSOs. November-December 2012 – Gomel Regional Development Agency "Strategic Thought" started publishing the results of monitoring of the Gomel third sector. The monitoring will be conducted quarterly and cover the CSOs’ events that take place in Gomel region, as well as their media coverage.
Anonymous Donations in Belarus: Ways to Improve the Regulatory – Yury Chausov (The NGO Assembly) and Olga Smolyanko (Lawtrend) present analysis and specific recommendations on possible improvements to the legal regulation of charitable activities in Belarus through simplification and liberalisation of donations procedure. The paper was prepared with the BPPF support.
The First Interactive Catalogue of Old Belarusian Cemeteries (in BY language) has become a great tool for historians and those Belarusians interested in their family tree. The map was developed for free by IT young specialists, led by youth NGO Falanster. Earlier they announced a call for proposals among CSOs for IT products which could advance civic issues, received 10 projects and selected the cemeteries as the most promising.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
Vitali Silicki Prize, Budzma, Tsmoki – Civil Society Digest
Tsmoki (picture: svaboda.org)
Gallery Ў hosts a presentation of a book on Ales Bialiatski in Minsk. The Center for Legal Transformation trains the first group under its not-for-profit Law School. A Minsk court orders compensation to former political prisoner Dmitry Bondarenko.
BISS shares plans for 2013. The public announcement of the foundation of the Vital Silicki Prize For Contributions to the Promotion of Political Thought in Belarus became the focal point of the gala evening that Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies traditionally holds on 14 January to celebrate Old New Year’s Eve.
The Vital Silicki Commemoration Committee established the Vital Silicki Prize to commemorate the first BISS director. Alexei Pikulik, BISS Academic Director, presented the new staff members of BISS, drew up the results of BISS' activities in 2012 and spoke about the projects planned for 2013.
Efficient press services. Human rights Centre Viasna, UCP and the Tell the Truth campaign have the most efficient press services, in journalists' opinion. Among CSOs, journalists also noted the Green Alliance and human rights institution Platform.
“Bialiatski’s Case” presented in Minsk. On 18 January, the Minsk-based Gallery Ў hosted the presentation of a book titled Bialiatski’s Case, a documentary novel by journalist Valer Kalinouski. The event was attended by Ales Bialiatski’s relatives and colleagues, as well as prominent human rights defenders, political and cultural figures.
Partizaning in Gomel and Brest. On 17 January, an open lecture titled Partizaning: Tactics of street art for improvements the city, was held in Gomel. The event was organised by the youth club Civilization, a project of the Gomel Democratic Forum. The invited guests were the Belarusian street-art community SIGNAL and a famous Russian street artist and a leader of the Partizaning Igor Ponosov. The meeting was attended by over 70 young Gomel residents. The same lecture took place in Brest, organised by youth NGO Dzedzich.
Not-for-profit law School. On 12 January, the Legal Transformation Center graduated the first group of the Not-for-profit Law School, organised under the Flying University. 3 people compete for every place; the course was attended by practitioners, civil society activists, and students of humanities.
"Flight"- animation about the death penalty in Belarus (video). The animation film, created by volunteers of the Human Rights Defenders against Death Penalty campaign, dwells on the topic of the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty in Belarus.
New cultural CSO. On 12 January, in Minsk, an organisational meeting of the founders of the Society of Amateurs of Belarusian History Vaclav Lastovsky was held. The founders are professional historians, writers, journalists, artists. The new organisation will apply documents for registration.
December 2012 disability rights monitoring. In December 2012, the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities received 38 citizen appeals. The largest number of complaints concerned issues of adequate standards of living, habilitation and rehabilitation. The Office conducts such monitoring on the monthly basis.
Expert discussion on capacity building. On 10 January 10 2013, the Capacity Building Market place conducted an expert discussion titled Capacity development of Belarusian CSOs in 2012. The event was attended by about 30 CSO experts and consultants. The discussion summed up the major trends in the capacity development field and concluded that Belarusian CSOs should get out of their "comfort zone" in order to develop.
IT in Belarusian. The students of Belarus State Technological University have launched the Centre of Assistance to Students which organises courses on trend IT technologies. The lessons are conducted mainly by students, and two of them teach in Belarusian.
International conference in Warsaw. Lazarski University in cooperation with the Belarusian office of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, NED and the Visegrad Fund announced a call for applications for participation in the 5th International conference, titled 'Revolt in the name of liberty: the forgotten Belarusian gene?'. The conference is aimed at searching for historical inspiration for civil society in Belarus today. It will take place on 8-10 March 2013, in Warsaw.
Czech authorities register Belarusian House in Prague. The Belarusian House is now able to establish official contacts and cooperate with Czech governmental agencies, the city authorities and local NGOs. The Belarusian House is expected to function as an alternative to the Belarusian embassy in Prague and to become a human rights and information centre for Belarusians in the Czech Republic.
INTERACTION BETWEEN STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
Gomel authorities hinder registration of "Stop Drinking – Start Living". The Gomel civil initiative "Khopic Pic – Treba Zhyc" ("Stop Drinking – Start Living") cannot get egal status due to obstacles put up by the authorities. namely preventing the initiative from getting a legal address.
Tsmoki at state TV. National TV picked up the rhetoric of the promotion of Dragon (Tsmok) as a symbol of Belarus. The video shows the initiators of the very idea – the Budzma! campaign which at the beginning of 2012 launched a pilot project ttled Searching for Tsmok, which aims to provoke wide public discussion of ‘cool’ Belarusian cultural heritage and the country’s brand.
Budzma and Mogilev City Executive Committee have published a joint call for citizens’ ideas on how to improve cultural life in Mogilev. Partnership between Budzma! and the city authorities will allow citizens to present and discuss their ideas in a creative lightning talk format, honouring the election of Mogilev as the 2013 cultural capital city of NIS and Belarus.
Fine for online photo. On 5 January, three local human rights defenders Victor Sazonau, Raman Yurguel, and Uladzimir Hilmanovich were fined 15 base amounts each (about €140). The activists staged their solidarity action on the international day of human rights: they took a photo in the street with Ales Bialiatski’s portrait and later published the photo on the website of the HRC Viasna. On 18 December, the local police made up a protocol on an unsanctioned picket based upon the media fact only.
Warnings and detentions in 2012. BAJ summed up the information about detentions and warnings, issued by law enforcement agencies and special services to members of the organisations: at least 12 journalists received warnings from the prosecutor’s office for contributing to foreign mass media without accreditation; at least 4 journalists had prophylactic talks with the KGB; and around 60 cases of detention occurred.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
