On 11 May, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) held its annual convention. Lawyer Aleh Hulak was elected the new chairperson of the organization. “The BHC is ready to assist governmental agencies, organizations and officials in democratization and the protection of human rights.”  It is also going to monitor upcoming parliamentary elections. (15-MAY-08)

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During the BHC convention the organization’s new resolution was adopted. It states that human rights violations in Belarus have become systematic and fundamentally disrupt the constitutional system. BHC representatives call upon Belarusian authorities to immediately take measures to respect human rights. In particular, attention was drawn to:
-release prisoners of conscience. That could be an important signal about the authorities’ readiness for dialogue and cooperation to improve the situation;
 -withdraw article 193.1 of the Criminal Code (“the activity on behalf of … (the name of unregistered organization)”), that is in conflict with the Belarusian Constitution;
-embark on a process, together with civil society, to reform both the legislation and it’s implementation in the field of human rights and bring it in line with Belarus’s international obligations and the realization of the citizens’ rights;
-the importance of making the upcoming elections free and fair.

Offered assistance
 The BHC wants to help “our citizens, our authorities, our state to become a genuinely democratic country,” the former chair of the Committee, Tatsyana Pratsko, said. “We offer governmental agencies our assistance in highlighting human rights problems and briefing officials who work with a large amount of people on what human rights are, how they are exercised in other countries and why it is important to exercise them exactly for the strengthening of the state.” Mr. Hulak added that “the BHC is open to cooperation with all people and organizations that share our values and objectives.” “The BHC is ready to assist governmental agencies, organizations and officials in democratization and the protection of human rights.” “People often do not understand the meaning and the mission of human rights activities. We see our goal as helping the state become fair and abide by its laws and international treaties,” he concluded.

Aleh Gulak.jpgNew chairperson
Thirty-six delegates attended the convention. Mr. Hulak, left, formerly acting chairperson, was voted in unanimously after his predecessor, Tatsyana Protska, withdrew her candidacy. “There will be no drastic changes in our activities,” Mr. Hulak said. “We have our time-tested traditions. Monitoring parliamentary elections is an important task for us this year.” The organization plans to step up human rights monitoring in Belarus and its analytical and educational work, Mr. Hulak said.

Election monitoring
BHC is the only official human rights organization left in the country. It is going to monitor upcoming parliamentary elections in Belarus this autumn even if the opposition ignore the elections. As Mr. Hulak mentioned at the press conference -“BHC has great experience in conducting such monitoring. Since 2000, the committee has regularly organized such actions. To every political campaign, we have given our recommendations on improvements of the legislation. However, provided the political will is there, it is possible to hold fair elections even with the current legislation”.

BHC background
The BHC is a member of the International Helsinki Federation, which has consultative status both with the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Its declared purpose is to defend human rights that are guaranteed by the Belarusian constitution, the Helsinki Accords and other international agreements, detect human rights violations, put pressure on the Belarusian government to make it abide by its international commitments, and help human rights defenders in the provinces. In 1998, the BHC received the USA-EU Democracy-Civil Society Award.