Russian human rights defenders: Gross human rights violations in Belarus

• 18.01.2012, 11:44

The Moscow Bureau for Human Rights released a special statement on the human rights situation in Belarus.

Russian human rights activists note “During the last few years Belarus has been remaining among the countries of the world where human rights are broken to the greatest extent: breaches of human rights in economic sphere and first of all in social-political sphere are the main object of criticism of international organizations,” Viasna human rights centre writes.

“In Belarus ideological dissension was permanently suppressed, human rights activists were arrested and opposition journalists vanished without a trace,” the statement reads.

Representatives of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights commented on the law “On measures to improve the use of national segment of the Internet”. “The Belarusian authorities obviously restrict the freedom to receive information. Though the law is said not to affect individuals, owners of Internet cafes and Internet clubs are obliged to inform about visiting websites containing extremist and pornographic materials in their institutions. So, owners of such cafes and clubs are supposed to interfere with private life of people by watching the websites they visit,” the human rights activists note.

As the director of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, Alexander Brod, thinks, “Russia should consistently follow the way of democratization of the country and get rid of double standards towards the brotherly country that has close historical ties with Russia. This way would be beneficial both for us and Belarus.”