Human Rights in Belarus - December 2010 Election Crackdown

December 2010 Election Crackdown

The Lukashenko regime's recent violent breakup of a peaceful demonstration of tens of thousands of people following the fraudulent December 2010 election stunned many. The strongly worded Joint US-EU Statement on Post-Presidential Elections' Situation in Belarus by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton states:

The United States and the European Union reiterate their call for the immediate release of the presidential candidates and the over 600 demonstrators who have been taken into custody in the wake of the presidential elections in Belarus. We strongly condemn all violence, especially the disproportionate use of force against presidential candidates, political activists, representatives of civil society and journalists. Taken together, the elections and their aftermath represent an unfortunate step backwards in the development of democratic governance and respect for human rights in Belarus. The people of Belarus deserve better. —Joint US-EU Statement on Post-Presidential Elections' Situation in Belarus

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that US sanctions against Belarus (in place since a disputed 2004 referendum giving Lukashenko a third term in office) would remain.

Belarus and President Lukashenko may well be a country that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Our sanctions will continue in place, and it's tragic what Belarus - what has happened in Belarus. Respect for the democratic process and human rights of its citizens is at the center of our relationship and our aspirations for Belarus. —U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley

A joint letter from the foreign ministers of Germany, Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic published in the New York Times stated:

Europe has not seen anything like this in years... Summary trials produced sentences without any basis in facts. Political prisoners have become the new reality. Repression is the stated policy. The combination of vote-rigging and outright repression makes what Milosevic tried to do in Serbia in 2000 pale in comparison.

On 31 January 2011, the European Union and the United States announced the continuation of existing sanctions and the imposition of new ones against the Lukashenko regime. A resolution of the EU Parliament stated that EU Parliamentary Assembly “is dismayed by the unprecedented wave of violence, intimidation, mass arrests and prosecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, media workers, students and citizens of Belarus that followed the announcement of the results of the presidential election that took place in Belarus on 19 December 2010, and further attested:

Over 600 people were arrested, including presidential candidates, whereas assaults and searches were carried out in the homes of opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists as well as on the premises of several non-governmental organizations and media outlets. In the month that followed the election, the crackdown continued in a more targeted way and today still shows no signs of relenting. Such a violent repression of the political protests and targeted crackdown on political opponents, human rights defenders and media workers constitutes not only a disproportionate response to the action of the protesters but also an outright disregard for the core values upheld by the Council of Europe ... the Assembly in particular condemns the detention by security forces since 19 December 2010 of Irina Khalip, internationally recognized journalist with the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and the brutally wounded presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, as well as the authorities' threat to put their 3-year-old son into a state orphanage. The Assembly also condemns the continued detention of Natalya Radina, editor of the website Charter 97, who was detained when the office of this website was raided by security forces in Minsk on 20 December 2010.

The U.S. Department of State issued the following statement:

The United States announces today measures to respond to the brutal crackdown by President Lukashenka and the Government of Belarus in the wake of the presidential election of 19 December 2010. The disproportionate use of force and initial detentions of hundreds of demonstrators; charging of five opposition presidential candidates; ongoing raids against civil society, media and political parties; the closure of the OSCE’s office in Minsk; and a flawed vote count all represent major steps backwards for the country. These actions oblige the United States and others in the international community to act. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said in their joint statement of 23 December, “the people of Belarus deserve better.”