EaP CSF Monitoring Mission: Belarus - political and societal developments after the presidential elections #Belarus September 2020 Methodological Note The EaP CSF Monitoring Mission to Belarus was formed based on the suggestions of the EaP CSF Belarusian National Platform (BNP) with the support of the EaP CSF Steering Committee and the participation of experts representing EaP CSF members. Its task was to monitor all stages of the 2020 presidential election, from the calling of the election by the House of Representatives of the National Assembly on May 8 to the announcement of the final election results by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on August 14, paying particular attention to the adherence of the authorities to political and human rights standards, and the civil society and media environment. It also took note of further political and societal developments in the post-election period when drafting its final report. For the full Mission methodology, please see Annex I. Authors The Mission was composed of six experts from EaP CSF member organisations: Hennadiy Maksak (Mission Leader – Ukrainian Prism, Ukraine), Zofia Lutkiewicz (Political Accountability Foundation, Poland), Nicolae Panfil (Promo-LEX, Moldova), and three experts from the Belarusian National Platform of the EaP CSF. All six experts contributed to the drafting of the final Mission Report. The Mission Report was edited by Natalia Yerashevich (Director), Vera Rihackova (Advocacy Manager), and Billie Bell (Administrative & Advocacy Assistant), from the EaP CSF Secretariat. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 1 Legal framework ............................................................................................................................... 1 Media freedom .................................................................................................................................. 2 Civil society environment ................................................................................................................ 3 International solidarity and support ............................................................................................... 3 RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 4 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 4 To the Belarusian authorities: ..................................................................................................... 4 To the EU institutions: ................................................................................................................. 4 To the EU member states and EaP partner countries: .............................................................. 6 CONDUCT OF THE NEW PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION .................................................... 7 To the Belarusian authorities: ..................................................................................................... 7 To the OSCE/ODIHR: .................................................................................................................. 8 COMPREHENSIVE ELECTORAL REFORM ........................................................................ 8 To the Belarusian authorities: ..................................................................................................... 8 To the EU institutions, EU member states and the OSCE/ODIHR: ........................................ 9 MEDIA FREEDOM ..................................................................................................................... 10 To the Belarusian authorities: ................................................................................................... 10 To the EU institutions, EU member states and EaP partner countries: ................................ 10 CIVIL SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................... 11 To the Belarusian authorities: .................................................................................................... 11 To the EU institutions, EU member states and EaP partner countries: ................................ 12 To the OSCE/ODIHR: ................................................................................................................ 13 To international civil society: .................................................................................................... 13 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL DONORS ........................................... 13 Emergency support: ................................................................................................................... 13 Programming priorities: ............................................................................................................ 14 Methods of work:........................................................................................................................ 16 MAIN REPORT ................................................................................................................................... 17 1. Key findings ............................................................................................................................. 17 1.1 Results of the August 9 presidential election ...................................................................... 17 1.2. Legal framework .................................................................................................................. 17 1.3. International and domestic observation ............................................................................ 18 1.4. Media freedom ..................................................................................................................... 19 1.5. Civil society environment ................................................................................................... 20 1.6. Post-election developments ............................................................................................... 20 1.7. Options for international solidarity and support .............................................................. 21 2. Background ............................................................................................................................. 21 2.1. Legal framework and political context ............................................................................... 21 2.2. Media freedom .................................................................................................................... 23 2.3. Civil society environment ................................................................................................... 24 2.4. International response to human rights violations .......................................................... 25 3. Adherence to political and human rights standards during the pre-election period (May 8, 2020 - July 14, 2020) ..................................................................................26 3.1. Official decisions which run counter to political and human rights standards ..............26 3.2. Media freedom ....................................................................................................................29 3.3. Civil society environment .................................................................................................. 30 3.4. Observation and monitoring .............................................................................................. 32 4. Adherence to political and human rights standards during the election campaign (July 15, 2020 - August 8, 2020) ....................................................................... 32 4.1. Official decisions which run counter to political and human rights standards .............. 32 4.2. Media freedom .................................................................................................................... 34 4.3. Civil society environment ................................................................................................... 35 4.4. International observation ................................................................................................... 36 5. Adherence to political and human rights standards during the early voting period (August 4-8, 2020) and election day (August 9, 2020).................................... 36 5.1. Official decisions which run counter to political and human rights standards .............. 36 5.2. Media freedom .................................................................................................................... 39 5.3. Civil society environment ................................................................................................... 39 5.4. International observation ................................................................................................... 41 6. Adherence to political and human rights standards during the post-election period ............................................................................................................................................ 41 6.1. Official decisions which run counter to political and human rights standards .............. 41 6.2. Media freedom .................................................................................................................... 43 6.3. Domestic civic response to the