1 The Human Rights Center Viasna Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in 2010 Minsk 2011 2 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in 2010 The book was prepared on the basis of the short reviews of human rights violations for each month of 2009. It opens with a general analysis of the socio-political situation during the specified period, a description of important events and the reaction of the international community to them. This is followed by concrete facts of human rights violations illustrating the history of struggle of the Belarusian democratic community for the fundamental rights and freedoms. Politically motivated criminal and administrative persecution, trampling of the freedom of word, bans on peaceful assemblies and deprival of the right to association are among the most frequent violations. The book also features photos from the internet sources photo.bymedia.net, belapan.by, nn.by, svaboda.org, spring96.org, etc. 3 Contents Foreword .........................................................................................7 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in January 2010 ............................................................................. 19 1. Politically motivated criminal persecution .................................................. 21 2. Persecution of civil and political activists ...................................................22 3. Freedom of speech and the right to impart information ............................22 4. Death penalty ...............................................................................................23 5. Freedom of associations ...............................................................................24 6. Persecution of civil and political activists ...................................................25 7. Freedom of conscience .................................................................................25 8. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ..................................................................26 9. Electoral rights .............................................................................................26 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in February 2010 ............................................................................28 1. Politically motivated criminal persecution .................................................. 31 2. Persecution of civil and political activists ...................................................32 3. Freedom of speech and the right to impart information ............................33 4. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ..................................................................35 5. Freedom of association ................................................................................35 6. Violent and inhuman treatment ..................................................................37 7. Freedom of conscience .................................................................................37 8. Death penalty ...............................................................................................38 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in March 2010 ................................................................................39 1. Death penalty ................................................................................................43 2. Persecution of civil and political activists ...................................................44 3. Freedom of word and the right to impart information ...............................44 4. Politically motivated criminal persecution ..................................................46 5. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ..................................................................46 6. Freedom of associations ..............................................................................47 7. Freedom of conscience .................................................................................47 8. Electoral rights ............................................................................................48 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in April 2010 ..................................................................................49 1. Electoral rights ............................................................................................. 51 2. Persecution of public and political activists ................................................53 3. Freedom of word and the right to impart information ...............................55 4. Politically motivated criminal persecution ..................................................57 5. Freedom of association ................................................................................58 6. Activities of security services .......................................................................59 4 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in May 2010 ...60 1. Death penalty ................................................................................................62 2. Politically motivated criminal persecution ..................................................63 3. Persecution of civil and political activists....................................................65 4. Freedom of speech and the right to impart information ............................66 5. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ..................................................................67 6. Torture and other kinds of inhuman treatment ..........................................69 7. Freedom of association ................................................................................69 8. Politically motivated dismissals from work ................................................70 9. Freedom of conscience ................................................................................. 71 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in June 2010 .................................................................................. 72 1. Persecution of civil and political activists ....................................................74 2. Death penalty ...............................................................................................74 3. Politically motivated criminal persecution ..................................................75 4. Prison conditions .........................................................................................76 5. Freedom of speech and the right to impart information ............................ 77 6. Torture and other kinds of cruel and inhuman treatment ......................... 80 7. Freedom of association .............................................................................. 80 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in July-August 2010 ....................................................................... 81 1. Persecution of civil and political activists ....................................................81 2. Freedom of word and the right to impart information ...............................83 3. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ..................................................................84 4. Politically motivated criminal persecution ..................................................85 5. Freedom of association ............................................................................... 86 6. Freedom of consciousness ...........................................................................87 7. Deportation ................................................................................................. 88 8. Death penalty .............................................................................................. 88 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in September 2010 .........................................................................89 1. Persecution of public and political activists .................................................92 2. Politically motivated criminal cases ............................................................95 3. Freedom of speech and the right to impart information ............................96 4. Freedom of association ................................................................................97 5. Death penalty .............................................................................................. 98 6. Freedom of conscience .................................................................................99 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in October 2010 ............................................................................ 101 1. Freedom of association ...............................................................................103 2. Politically motivated criminal cases ..........................................................104 3. Persecution of public and political activists ..............................................106 4. Freedom of word and the right to impart information ............................. 107 5 5. Freedom of peaceful assemblies ................................................................108 6. Freedom of conscience ...............................................................................109 7. Death Penalty ............................................................................................. 110 8. Electoral rights ........................................................................................... 110 9. Prison conditions ........................................................................................111