Council of Europe and Belarus

Strasbourg, 15.02.2011 – “I am deeply disappointed and concerned by the decision taken on Friday by the Supreme Court of Belarus to confirm yet another death sentence in the country,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.

Place: Minsk (Belarus)

Description: The Information Point, which is intended to inform Belarusians about Council of Europe activities and convey European values and standards, particularly in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, will be housed in the Institute of Journalism at the Belarusian State University.

Strasbourg, 28.04.2006 – “The promotion of the democratic developments in Belarus has been one of the constant concerns of the Romanian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. I do not see any future for the people of Belarus outside the European family. The people of Belarus have a right to their own identity and voice.

Strasbourg, 27.04.2006 – “In recent days the Belarusian authorities have repeatedly detained and interrogated Alexander Milinkevich. I hope that they will use this opportunity to listen carefully to what he has to say to them” said Terry Davis in reaction to the arrest of the Belarusian opposition politician.

Strasbourg, 28.03.2006 - Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania, Chairman-in-Office of the Council of Europe Committee of Minister, today made the following statement:

“I am deeply concerned over the last developments in Belarus following the presidential elections held on 19 March, which were marred by a series of major irregularities. I consider unacceptable the attitude of the Belarusian authorities which, on 25 March, chose to respond to the legitimate actions of the people of Belarus through threats, the use of force, and arrests. This is a regretful confirmation of the aggressive suppression of freedom of expression and association and of the forceful intimidation of the political opposition that the authorities of Belarus operated in the run-up to the presidential elections.

Strasbourg, 21.03.2006 - Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, today made the following statement:

“Unfortunately, once again the people of Belarus were not given the chance to express their political options within a transparent and free electoral framework during the Presidential elections held on Sunday. As was concluded in the preliminary statement of the ODIHR Election Observation Mission, the elections were marred by the arbitrary use of state power and restrictions on basic rights.

Strasbourg, 20.03.2006 - “Alexander Lukashenko is a president with a tainted mandate” said Terry Davis, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe following the presidential elections in Belarus. “Some elections are stolen by tampering with people’s votes, others by tampering with people’s minds through threats, harassment and intimidation. Of course, the turnout and the margin of the victory of the incumbent president are suspiciously high, but the main problem with Sunday’s presidential elections is not so much that the regime may have cheated in the ballot box, but that it cheated in the run up to the elections. In a country in which freedom of expression and association are so thoroughly and aggressively suppressed, a vote is not an exercise in democracy, it is a farce.

Strasbourg, 17.03.2006 - The Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is deeply concerned that the Presidential elections to be held in Belarus on Sunday will take place in a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Evidently the authorities in Belarus are failing to meet basic international standards for democratic elections, as the pre-election campaign is dominated by a climate of fear, involving intimidation and detention of candidates and their campaign representatives.

Strasbourg, 16.03.2006 - “The Belarus presidential elections will take place in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. There is no genuine freedom of expression and no freedom of association. Political opponents of the President have been repeatedly and violently harassed. Whatever the outcome, these elections cannot be qualified as democratic in any meaning of the word” said Terry Davis on the eve of the elections in Belarus.