Belarusians Rally Against Dictatorship

"Free Belarus" bracelet sold by Polish democrats who donate the money to the Belarusian opposition, www.opaska.pl

The Liberal group fully agreed with Mr. Lukashenko when he said, "Belarusians cannot be strangled, they cannot be manipulated." However he also said that the opposition should not humiliate the country. That leads me to ask several questions.

If there is a country where university students and civil servants are forced to take part in the parliamentary elections under the threat of being fired from their jobs or places at university, that is a humiliation for that country, but it was not inflicted by the opposition but by the government. If there is a country in which a new penal code is introduced before the elections that puts members of non-governmental organizations into jail for the crime of wanting to observe the elections, that is a humiliation for that country, but it was not inflicted by the opposition but by the government.

If there is a country where there is no independent media because there is a desire to prevent the people from understanding different ideas, and where the last three independent newspapers were closed one week before the election, that is a humiliation for the country, but it was inflicted not by the opposition but by the government.

If there is a country in which after the elections more than 1000 people are arrested — and not only Belarusians but Poles, Lithuanians, Canadians, and Russians — that is a humiliation for that country, but it was inflicted not by the opposition but by the government. For example, Alexander Kozuljev is now in jail facing five years' imprisonment for the crime of being an opposition candidate. That is a humiliation for the country but it was inflicted not by the opposition but by the government.

If there is a country where after elections all the prisons in the capital city are full so that prisoners are taken to closed cities to be arrested and put in jail, that is a humiliation for that country, but it was inflicted not by the opposition but by the government.

In Budapest, we went to demonstrate in front of the Belarusian embassy, which was protected by the police. Similar events occurred in other European countries. If a country's embassy must be protected by the police on its election day, that is a humiliation for that country, but it was inflicted not by the opposition but by the government.

What can we do? Of course, we should draft resolutions and reports, but we should go beyond that. I am convinced that we must be united. Democrats from all over Europe and from whatever party they represent must make it clear that what happened in Belarus was wrong. I underline the importance of being united, and on that point I turn to my Russian colleagues as they will take the presidency of the Council of Europe. Like no other nation, the Russians know what a bitter dictatorship means and they remember Stalin who said that it does not matter how people vote but that what matters is who counts the votes. I am sure that Russians will join the democratic world in expressing the view that what happened in Belarus was wrong. I ask Russian colleagues to join the liberal democrats of Europe in condemning what happened in Belarus.

I repeat what Mr. Lukashenko said, "Belarusians cannot be strangled, they cannot be manipulated" or humiliated. To stop that happening, Lukashenko must go.

On May 1, 2006, Several thousand Belarusians rallied for the freedom of political prisoners, despite a ban on protests. Charter 97, a Belarusian human rights organization whose name echoes the Czechoslovakian organization Charter 77, reported on the demonstration.

Yury Khadyka, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, said, ""Today every patriot of Belarus, every conscious citizen has all reasons to show solidarity. On March 19 we have understood that there won't be free elections in Belarus. We have been deprived of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of associations. A senseless reprisal over our brave young people, over opposition leaders is taking place. The regime has shown that it cannot exist without violence, without breaking laws, without lies. This regime is on the verge of death."

Inna Kulej, who shares a marriage with the jailed opposition leader, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, proclaimed, "Look how the regime is afraid of us! They were afraid when a free tent camp emerged on the square of Kalinouski, when thousands of people took to the streets on March 25.... Disgrace to this regime! Let's be strong, let's be together, and we are bound to win!"

Downloaded from http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/Records/2006-2/E/0604131000E.htm#5

PACE resolution, http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta06/ERES1496.htm
Belarus in the aftermath of the Presidential election of 19 March 2006 www.charter97.org/eng/news/2006/05/01/may

See also the Human Rights Center, Viasna,