In his article for the Jamestown Foundation the known expert on Belarus David Marples portrays Andrei Sannikau who recently announced his willing to run for the presidency.
The American Comedy star Lisa Kudrow has found her Belarusian roots in NBC's project Who Do You Think You Are. Her ancestors were Jews from the village Illia, Minsk province of Belarus. Some of her relatives have been killed during the Second World War. The World War has put an end the Jewish Belarus after 800 thousands Belarusian Jews have been exterminated by Nazis.
Last week Belarusians Andrey Zhuk and Vasil Yuzepchuk were secretly executed in the Minsk Detention Center No. 1. They were informed of the execution only minutes before they were shot. Their families were not notified that the execution would take place, given the bodies after the execution, or told where the executied were buried. Having circumnavigated the globe by means of the foreign media, the news of the executions has still not been confirmed by the Belarusian authorities. The official notification of the punishment will probably take months. Secrecy a-la Felix Dzerzhinsky is how the capital punishment is routinely carried out in Minsk, a city in the heart of Europe (dis?)graced with a 10.5-foot-tall statue of the founder of the Soviet secret police. Belarus is the only European country that still carries out the capital punishment. In the 21st century even Russia observes moratorium on the death penalty. Capital punishment is prescribed “for especially grave crimes and only in accordance with the verdict of a court of law,” according to Article 24 of the Belarusian Constitution. The “grave crimes” include treason, conspiracy to seize state power, sabotage, and murder of a police officer. With a population of approximately ten million, Belarus has executed about 400 people since 1991, according to Amnesty International’s estimate.
It is becoming a good tradition within Belarusian community in Washington, DC to start Freedom Day celebrations at the Victims of Communism Memorial. It is becoming a good tradition within Belarusian community in Washington, DC to start Freedom Day celebrations at the Victims of Communism Memorial. This year the wreath-laying ceremony was attended by a large group of young Belarusians from the states of New York and New Jersey, leaders of the Ukrainian and Baltic Diasporas and Swedish MP Göran Lindblad.
On March 25, 1918, the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, a representative body formed as a result of a nationwide congress in 1917, has adopted its Third Charter declaring independence of Belarus from the Russian Empire.
An article by one of this website's authors for Novaja Europa magazine The Belarusian liberal United Civil Party has decided not to participate in the local elections scheduled for April 2010. the authorities have started a new wave of repressions against independent media and conduct the election campaign in the same undemocratic way as during all previous elections in Belarus since 1995.
By organizing repressions against the unloyal fraction of the Polish minority the Belarusian officials only want to test what EU's response will be, the Belarusian political analyst Vitali Silicki argues. Indeed, unlike several years ago, the regime in Minsk can't afford tearing its relations with the EU now.
Solidarity and support from European civil society is crucial for democratic forces in Belarus. Belarus is indeed the last Eastern European country that has not joined the Free World after the breakdown of the totalitarian Socialist camp. It is one of the few countries of the region that have not joined the NATO and the EU and where the situation with democracy and human rights is still much worse than in other European countries.
The UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband singled out Belarus in his introduction to the Foreign Office's Annual Report on Human Rights 2009.
A bit of sensational news came today in the morning: starting May, Belarus will daily buy 80,000 barrels of oil from Venezuela. According to media reports, this number is comparable to the current amount of agreed duty free Russian oil supplies (6.3m tons per year, i.e. 130,000 barrels per day). Before the crisis, annual Russian oil supplies to Belarus were between 20 million and 25 million tons.
What do you think is the difference between Belarus and Eastern Ukraine? Despite being as much slavophilic, predominantly Russian-speaking and Soviet-nostalgic, the Belarusian society seems to be less pro-Russian then the population of Eastern Ukraine. There are fewer ethnic Russians in Belarus than in Ukraine. Because of president Lukašenka's policy towards Russification and neo-Sovietism, there have been no tensions regarding mass introduction of the national language as in Ukraine.
The US Department of State released its annual report on human rights in Belarus. The report meticulously documents problems with human rights in Belarus ranging from discrimination of Belarusian-speakers to forced disappearances. It appears that the main targets of Belarus authorities, as in previous years, were independent press, participants of unsanctioned demonstrations and Protestant Christian groups. Apparently, these three groups are seen as the most dangerous for the longevity of the current political order in Belarus. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices March 11, 2010 Belarus is a republic with a population of 9.5 million. The country has a directly elected president, who is chief of state, and a bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, consisting of the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Council of the Republic (upper house). A prime minister appointed by the president is the nominal head of government. In practice, however, power is concentrated in the presidency. Since his election in 1994 as president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has consolidated his power over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian means, manipulated elections, and arbitrary decrees. Subsequent presidential elections have not been free or fair, and the September 2008 parliamentary election failed to meet international standards. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, their members continued to commit numerous human rights abuses. The US Department of State released its annual report on human rights in Belarus. The report meticulously documents problems with human rights in Belarus ranging from discrimination of Belarusian-speakers to forced disappearances. It appears that the main targets of Belarus authorities, as in previous years, were independent press, participants of unsanctioned demonstrations and Protestant Christian groups. Apparently, these three groups are seen as the most dangerous for the longevity of the current political order in Belarus. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices March 11, 2010 Belarus is a republic with a population of 9.5 million. The country has a directly elected president, who is chief of state, and a bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, consisting of the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Council of the Republic (upper house). A prime minister appointed by the president is the nominal head of government. In practice, however, power is concentrated in the presidency. Since his election in 1994 as president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has consolidated his power over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian means, manipulated elections, and arbitrary decrees. Subsequent presidential elections have not been free or fair, and the September 2008 parliamentary election failed to meet international standards. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, their members continued to commit numerous human rights abuses.
Several observers say that the introduction of a common currency should be the next step of the integration of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The three countries have recently created a customs union and it is logical to assume that the integration will continue. However, there are reasons for being sceptical about it. Russian officials have been feeding the world -- and in first place the Russian public opinion -- with promises of a soon restoration of the USSR since the very moment of the USSR's collapse.