On 28 September 2008 Belarusians elected members of the House of Representatives. These elections were internationally expected to bring further positive changes on the country´s political arena, but unfortunately the elections fell short of OSCE’s standards. National observers stated numerous violations of international standards. However EU still wants a dialogue with official Minsk (01-OCT-08).
This analysis is written by Anna Gerasimova, Director of the Human Rights House in exile in Vilnius. Photos: Photo.ByMedia.Net
The election campaign and the elections as such were accompanied by numerous violations of both international standards and national legislation. The Belarusian campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” has monitored the entire process and has regularly reported on the breaches, since the launch of the election campaign in summer 2008. They presented their preliminary conclusions at a press conference in Minsk on 29 September 2008 (http://www.spring96.org/en/news/25611/). Further conclusions will be presented at a press conference at the Human Rights House in Vilnius on 3 October.
Minor improvements
The findings of the Belarusian human rights defenders were seconded by the OSCE observers, who, according to the BelaPAN news agency (http://www.belapan.by), reported that despite some minor improvements, Belarus’ September 23-28 
House of Representatives elections “ultimately fell short of OSCE commitments for democratic elections.” Although the OSCE did not recognize the results of the elections, Ambassador Geert Ahrens, head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, noted “improved cooperation” with the Belarusian authorities during this election campaign and expressed hope that this will be “the basis for a genuine dialogue” on implementing the OSCE recommendations. These hopes were expressed just eight days after President Lukashenka had told reporters that if the elections were not recognized as democratic, the Belarusian authorities would stop any talks with the West (http://naviny.by/rubrics/inter/2008/09/25/ic_articles_259_159151/).
Dialogue with EU
The OSCE expectations regarding the “genuine dialogue” fully correspond to the new policy of building a dialogue and closer ties between the European Union and Belarus, in which the elections, completely falling foul of international standards, cannot be an obstacle. All this is happening against the background of the repressive legislation that does not only remain in force in Belarus but is constantly amended to introduce new restrictions of human rights and freedoms. The situation for the civil society development, human rights activism and freedom of expression remains rather harsh. a protest rally held in Minsk on 28 September 2008 by the opposition, calling for the boycott of the unfair elections.
Administrative persecution
In the course of 2008, the Belarusian Human Rights Centre Viasna has registered 
over 350 cases of administrative persecution, most of which are related to the government´s attempts to restrict the Belarusian citizens´ freedom of assembly and distribution of information. In March 2008, in an attempt to clamp down on the flow of independent information to Belarus, KGB conducted nationwide raids of the offices and homes of journalists working with electronic media broadcasting to Belarus from abroad, detained and questioned journalists and seized equipment. A long-expected new media law was finally adopted in the summer of 2008 and was recognized by independent media experts as introducing further restrictions to the media freedom, independence and economic survival.
Continued repression
According to the Belarusian legislation, participation in the activities of an unregistered organization is a criminal offence leading to up to two years in prison, which makes human rights activities dangerous for the activists themselves, their families and friends. With all this arsenal of repressive methods, still actively employed, the Belarusian government can hardly be expected to change, and the desire to establish dialogue with official Minsk may lead the European Union to disregard human rights abuses in the country. This may legitimize these abuses and further worsen the conditions for the civil society and human rights and freedoms.
