Isolation of Belarus is not a strategic policy

-An open dialogue with Belarus is a threat to President Lukashenko´s dictatorship. Sanctions and isolation will strengthen the status quo, said representatives of the Belarusian opposition when they visited the Human Rights House in Oslo 18 November in a conference organised by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and NUPI, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. (22-NOV-04)

Support Belarus- not Lukashenko
-10 millions citizens have become Lukashenko´s hostages in Belarus. Please, bring us back to Europe. Zhanna Litvina, the leader of the Belarusian Assosiation of Journalist (BAJ) appealed to the European governments to cooperate with the Belarusian NGOs. The NGOs are the greatest threat to the sitting regime, she said and asked the Western Europe for political and financial support.

(Picture, from the right: Ane Tusvik Bonde from HRH Oslo, Alexander Milinkevitsj from Ratusha, and Zhanna Litvina from BAJ)

Political repression
At the conference “ Belarus – after the parliamentarian election and referendum” the three representatives from the opposition referred to the violations of international standards which have taken place before and after the referendum and the election campaign.

– The election was completely falsified, said Berit Lindeman (picture, in the middle) from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, who was in Belarus to observe the election for the  Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

– Officially president Lukashenko won the referendum in Belarus with 87 %. If the majority of the population supported the president, a new wave of political repression should not have been necessary after the referendum. But Lukashenko  has only 38 % support in the population, said Anatoliij Lebedko, the leader of the liberal United Civil Party.  As one of the main leader of the opposition Lebedko was arrested during a demonstration after the referendum. Lebedko is part of the coalition called 5+, which includes liberals, communists and nationalists. 

A system based on lukashism
Anatoliij Lebedko characterised the political regime as a monopolised power structure with a neo-authoritarian ideology. The strict vertical leadership, the control over the electronically media and lack of independent judiciary make it difficult for the opposition to survive.
-In Western Europe election and referendum are words associated with democracy and freedom. In Belarus we have a system based on lukashism; a mixture of fascism, populism and chauvinism. The use of fear is one of the regime’s instruments of control. Since almost 80% of the people are employed within the state agency they need to be loyal to keep  their jobs.

The situation of the mass media
One of the governmental newspapers, which was distributed to 3,5 millions citizens before the election stated, that a change in the political leadership would lead to more criminality, terrorist attacts and an economic backlash. It is difficult for the opposition to repudiate the propaganda when they do not have access to any official information channels.  

Zhanna Litvina referred to the fact that 19 newspapers have been closed down the last ten months. Most of the independent newspapers have been forced to operate underground. Several journalists have been arrested according to the New Criminal Code for insulting the president.

Hope for the future
In spite of the difficult situation, Alexander Milinkevitsj, the leader of the regional Reource centre Ratusha in Grodno, stressed the positive developments during the election campaign.
-In view of the tence political situation the civil society is quite strong. The election campaign gave us the possibility to get in contact with ordinary people. We discovered the will of political change within the population. Milinkevitsj will continue to work for a greater awareness among ordinary people and belives there is important to learn from the experiences of the grassroots movements in Poland and Lithuania to further strengthen the opposition in Belarus.