OSCE Conference about Belarus: Lukashenka’s regime is dangerous
- 29.09.2011, 18:21
The situation in Belarus is actively discussed at the OSCE Human dimension implementation meeting in Warsaw.
Opening the consultations on September 26, Matteo Mecacci, chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions urged the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners. The politician noted that so far the PA OSCE is disappointed by the developments in Belarus after the presidential election and expressed deep regret concerning closing the OSCE office in Minsk.
As said by Matteo Mecacci, human rights violations in all spheres continue in Belarus, crackdown on opposition and civil society goes on.
The Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIHR) Khadija Cherif in her address focused on the arrest of the chairman of the Vyasna human rights centre in Belarus, the Deputy chair of the FIHR Ales Byalyatski. “Some European countries share responsibility for the arrest of the human rights activist,” she stressed. “For pragmatic reasons they cooperate with the dictatorial regime.” As a sign of solidarity participants of the summit, human rights activists, were listening the address of Khadija Cherif standing. They had T-shirts with Byalyatski’s portraits on.
At the opening of the plenary session the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic stated that the OSCE had always been fighting for security of journalists and plurality of opinions in mass media, but over the last year the situation in the OSCE region had deteriorated: journalists are still arrested, and newspapers closed. Freedom of speech is continued to be limited and it is necessary not only to speak, it is necessary to take concrete steps, in order to make tangible changes in this situation.
“The growth of technology has given more opportunities for access to information, but many states are trying to limit them. Internet is a fantastic resource, which has changed our society for the better essentially. It is to continue making positive impact, if we would allow it. The recipe is simple: the Internet should remain free.
There could be no security without freedom of the media, and on the contrary, there could be no freedom of the media if there is no security in the state. The OSCE is valuable by its ability for self-criticism. Today we need concrete measures to change the situation. The OSCE commitments are universal. And I see a tendency: some OSCE countries adopt laws on mass media with reservations, referring to some peculiarities of the national legislation. When the national legislation contradicts the OSCE principles, it should be changed,” Dunja Mijatovic stated.
Addressing the problems of violence against mass media, Dunja Mijatovic noted that governments should bring to responsibility those who commit crimes against journalists in the framework of the strategy on stepping-up journalists’ security.
“We must constantly repeat the names of courageous people who have lost their lives for the words they had written,” she said. “They are the vanguard for the freedom of speech, freedom of expression and finally free and democratic society.”
In the framework of the OSCE consultation the delegation of the US has organized a meeting on the topic “Basic freedoms in digital epoch”. Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, the editor-in-chief of charter97.org website (Belarus) Natallya Radzina and Agata Waclawik-Wejman, a policy counsellor for Google, have made their statements at the session.
Speaking about repressions against journalists worldwide, Thomas Melia, Hillary Clinton’s assistant, expanded on the Belarusian situation, welcoming charter97.org editor:
“Charter97.org website reports about the crackdown in Belarus. On the day of the presidential election Natalya Radzina was arrested for that. She was in prison, she faced up to 15 years of imprisonment. The journalist managed to escape from Belarus to Russia, where the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and a number of countries helped her to go to the West. You cannot imagine how happy we are to welcome Natallya here today.”
In her speech Dunja Mijatovic noted that more and more states are taking steps for excessive control over access to Internet.
“Natallya Radzina is a proof that we are right when we struggle for freedom of expression and for journalists’ safety. She has undergone awful things only because she is a courageous journalist. And she is not the only one. I know many journalists who are kept behind the bars. It’s not just figures, they are people, made of flesh and blood,” said the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.
Dunja Mijatovic has also expressed concern over persecution of a journalist Iryna Khalip in Belarus. Today the conditions of serving the sentence for her are harshest among those who had not been sentenced to prison terms after trials in December 19 case. Khalip has been sentenced to two years of restriction of freedom with suspension for two years, she is under constant control of the KGB and police and cannot leave the territory of Belarus, and also her flat after 10 p.m. It’s long time the OSCE representative wants to visit Belarus and all journalists repressed in Belarus, however the Belarusian authorities deny entry visa for her.
In her speech at the OSCE session Natallya Radzina, the editor-in-chief of charter97.org website, noted that not a single independent journalist in Belarus today can feel safe, as long as Lukashenka stays in power.
“For the entire period of 17 years of the dictatorship in Belarus, there is no freedom of expression there, there are no independent TV channels, radio stations, and almost all independent newspapers are closed. The two nation-wide newspapers which are left, “Narodnaya Volya” and “Nasha Niva”, are fighting for existence every day and could be closed every minute. The role of the Internet has grown under such circumstances. Today it is the only relatively accessible source of truthful information about the events in the country. In response the authorities increased repressions. Under the decree on internet which is currently in force in Belarus, popular independent websites at state-run institutions are blocked. Websites charter97.org, Belarusian Partisan, Radio Liberty, Nasha Niva, the European Radio for Belarus are blocked at the territory of Belarus everywhere during opposition rallies and on election days. However the authorities have found another way of struggle against freedom of expression on the web. The example of that is charter97.org website.
For the last half a year several criminal cases have been opened against the website, five searches were held, dozens of computers have been confiscated.in September 2010 the founder of charter97.org Aleh Byabenin (Oleg Bebenin) was found hanged. We have every reason to believe that it was a murder disguised as a suicide. On the election day I was arrested and spent a month and a half in prison. After that I had to flee the country as it was impossible to work in such situation.
In this way the Belarusian authorities crackdown on political undesirables in the most brutal way. What should be done for security of journalists in Belarus? To fight against the dictatorship. As long as Lukashenka stays in power, neither journalists nor common citizens of Belarus could feel safe.”