The annual meeting of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) is deeply concerned about the critical situation for human rights in Belarus 19 March. When thousands of demonstrators took to the streets protesting against the unfree nd manipulated elections, President Lukachenko’s regime reacted with mass arrests and violence. (27-MAR-06)

Based on the communique of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s annual meeting, this article has been written by HRH / Niels Jacob Harbitz.

NHC’s annual meeting emphasies that Norway must support actively the democratic movement in Belarus for as long as Lukachenko remains in power. Norwegian authorities must also urge the Russian Federation to play a constructive role towards Belarus. Norway must also:
 
-join the sanctions that have been decided by the European Union, -support the independent civil society economically through securing a marked increase of contributions to various projects and activities in Belarus
-secure alternative opportunities in Norway to Belarusian students who have lost their right to continue their education due to their participation in the peaceful protests in favour of democracy.

Background
The Presidential Elections 19 March were conducted in an atmosphere of fear where lots of voters were put under pressure and threatened to cast their vote in favour of the current President. Among the means of force were threats of being sacked from state employers and expulsion from universities and other institutions of education. The opposition has not been allowed to campaign, but, on the contrary, has been prevented from accessing the media and arrange meetings. The independent press has been severely reduced and independent organisations have been prohibited and harassed. In the last two weeks, more than five hundred activists and demonstrators have been arrested. Nearly all of them are being sentenced to between five and twenty days’ imprisonment for causing unrest in the streets or using unacceptable, dirty language. Among the arrested are large parts of the opposition leadership, editors and a great number of Belarusian and international journalists. Many among the arrested will lose their jobs or registrations and right to study at the institutions of education they used to attend. The opposition presidential candidate Aleksnder Kazulin is arrested, and risks six years’ imprisonment.