This review is based on information from publicly available sources, in particular the mass media. Additionally interviews with journalists themselves and the Belarusian Association of Journalists news bulletins were extensively used. The survey documents detentions and other forms of restricting the freedom of journalists while performing their professional duties in covering political events. It also includes facts of the physical force application by the authorities during forced searches and seizures of equipment before, during and after the events of 19 December 2010 on the Independence Square in Minsk.
Some facts reveal how journalists were treated during arrests and how law enforcement proceedings could be regarded as a violation of the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as a violation of the right to liberty and security of a person.
Based on the facts, the report concludes that since the last presidential election in 2006 the Republic of Belarus has not moved on the path of providing freedoms of expression and assembly. Moreover, it has not fulfilled its undertaken obligations in the context of the international UN and OSCE agreements in this sphere, in particular the recommendations mentioned in the 2007 Special Report on Handling of the media during political demonstrations.
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