Belarus

President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994. His regime relies on an authoritarian system of control strongly reminiscent of the Soviet period. Media, the opposition, and organisations are all tightly monitored. Several well-known opposition politicians have disappeared without a trace, or have been imprisoned on highly questionable grounds. This tight political control has hurt the country’s economic development. Belarus is often described as Europe’s last dictatorship.
According to the international community both the last parliamentary and presidential elections failed to meet democratic standards. Likewise the 2004 parliamentary elections and the referendum on changing the constitution were completely rejected by international observers.
Presidential elections were held in 2006, and as in previous elections the opposition was prevented from carrying out an election campaign and to appear in the media. The obviously rigged results indicated that Lukashenko received more than 82 percent of the votes. Discontent with the cheating was so great that there were protests on the streets of Minsk, despite a ban on demonstrations and the obvious risks for the participants. A small tent city grew up in the central square in Minsk. The parallels with Georgia and Ukraine were obvious, and after several days the protesters were driven away by the military.
Analysis
Respect for human rights in Belarus is very weak. Oppression, censorship, threats, the disappearance of dissidents, and rigged show trials against the opposition have led to the United Nations appointing a special Rapporteur to document human rights violations in Belarus.
Pluralism is opposed in most areas: politics, media, organisations, business, and religion.
The rules for starting and registering organisations have become stricter, along with the requirements for an organisation to continue to operate. Voluntary organisations are closed or refused permits to continue operations, and it is increasingly difficult for representatives of foreign voluntary organisations to enter the country. Today there is no organised, active, and democratic civil society in Belarus. A few voluntary organisations are trying to create alternatives and demonstrate possible paths for democratic development, but they are restrained by the regime’s threats of reprisals, the widespread corruption, and the rules which have been introduced to squash organisations.
The opposition and the free trade union organisations are divided and weak, generally because of the government’s policies. Belarusian society, like many other former Soviet states, lacks deep democratic traditions. The Palme Center finds it necessary, therefore, to show its solidarity with the forces working for political change.
Belarusian women have a higher average education than the men. There is, however, a patriarchal mind-set in the country. There is trafficking with women. Belarus is both an point of origin and a transit land for human trafficking with women and girls, who are taken to Central and Western Europe, where they are sexually exploited.
Belarus is one of the countries in the region suffering most from HIV/AIDS. Initially narcotics abuse was the most common path of infection, today it is sexual contacts.
The media are more or less completely state-controlled, except for a handful of independent newspapers and individual television channels. It is common for the opposition, organisations and independent media to receive unfair treatment from the authorities.
Development Co-operation
Democracy is the collective headline for all of the Palme Center’s projects in Belarus.
Through its member organisations, the Palme Center is carrying out a number of projects in Belarus. This includes the Swedish Co-operative Union, which together with the Belarusian co-operative movement has a project aimed at improving business methods and developing the organisation so that the co-operative can better meet its members’ needs.
The Workers' Temperance Society, Verdandi, is working on two independent projects concerning public health issues such as HIV/AIDS, and drug abuse prevention.
The Social Democrats’ youth organisation, the Young Falcons, has succeeded in creating a children’s and youth organisation in the Minsk area. The organisation Lily centers around a number of teachers.
Verdandi and the Young Falcons are two of the Palme Center’s member organisations which have suffered to varying degrees from harassment from the Belarusian authorities.