Civil Society Watch Action Alerts
BELARUS: Government stamping out civil society.
Since the advent of Presidential Decree No. 2 of 1999, modifying the system for registering associations, provisions have been extremely restrictive. Where associations have not complied, their activities have been deemed illegal and the associations have been disbanded.
Decree No. 2 required all political parties, trade unions and nongovernmental organisations to re-register with the authorities. The decree considerably increased the required number of members required in organisations in order for them to re-register, an action which is clearly aimed at restraining their activities. Decree No. 2 was later modified by Presidential Decree No. 1, 2003, which extended the system of registration to "unions of associations" (umbrella organisations) too.
The next set back for civil society was the series of regulations prohibiting organisations from using private residences for their legal addresses. This is another blatant attempt to clamp down on civil society due to the fact that the government controls the vast majority of office space in the country. These regulations effectively achieved the goal of preventing many organisations from re-registering.
By December 1999, with another amendment to the Administrative Offences Code, any activities carried out by unregistered NGOs became punishable by fines. This has not however killed all form of local civil society groups; there are still some in the areas of environment, health care, education, social services and culture. But the outcome of their vital coverage is that they are the most harassed, and have had some of the worst trouble registering, activists have been detained and prosecuted, groups have been denied status on special grounds, dubious tax audits have been instigated, and correspondence has been monitored.
International NGOs working permanently in the country have also had their activities limited. And one of the most far reaching blows of the Belarusian denial of civil society is Decree No. 8, 2001, "On Certain Measures of Regulation of the Procedure of Receipt and Use of the Foreign Charitable Aid." It has restricted foreign aid to NGOs impacting heavily on democracy building, human rights and election monitoring.
The Belarusian Constitution does provide for freedom of association, as it does for freedom of expression, and in particular that there should be no monopolization of the mass media by the state, with no censorship. This constitutional prohibition has not however seemed to carry any weight with the current government.
The Constitution also provides for the freedom to disseminate information on the activities of state bodies and public and political associations, these bodies are instructed by the Constitution to allow citizens to familiarize themselves with the materials that effect their rights and legitimate interests. Importantly it also provides for the recognition in Belarusian law of the supremacy of universally acknowledged principles of international law.
This may be the case on paper, but in actuality there are reports by opposition parties that the government frequently denies them permission to hold meetings in public buildings - this is despite the fact that Belarus is supposed to be a multi party democracy – as is also enunciated in the Constitution. There are also reports that employees at state run enterprises are discouraged from belonging to independent trade unions; authorities harass members and supporters of the opposition, and appropriate their materials.
There is continued violence and threats against civil society actors principally including the right to freedom of assembly and association; the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right to freedom of religion and belief; arbitrary arrests; and deprivation of property.
This flagrant disrespect for the Constitution is alarming both in itself and for its repercussions. The rule of law is severely compromised when the supremacy of the constitution is not upheld and this also limits the possibilities for the protection of the vital space that civil society plays in acting as another check and balance on government power. The situation in Belarus seems to suggest a Governmental Policy against the existence of civil society organisations. In 2003 alone, judicial attacks against associations have resulted in the disbandment of 51 organisations.
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