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Belarusian Police Torture Detainees
Police violence, last seen on the 19th of October, has a long history in the Republic of Belarus. In 1996 the first violent beatings and detentions of opposition activists during Lukashenka´s rule took place. Since then, thousands of people have faced beatings, fines and imprisonments, according to registrys of Belarusian human rights organizations. (25-OCT-04)
Azerbaijani activists concerned about violations in Belarus
Human rights defenders in the Republic of Azerbaijan have published a statement where they express their “deepest concern at acts of violence, harassment and procedural irregularities that characterized the latest referendum poll in the Republic of Belarus, resulting in the allowing the President Alexander Lukashenko to run for a third term in office and to remain as Europe’s last true dictator.” (25-OCT-04)
Azerbaijani opposition leaders sentenced to long prison terms
Though the Council of Europe´s (CoE) most recent resolution stipulated that seven key opposition party leaders would be released, the Azerbaijani government ignored the CoE resolution and sentenced the seven to long prison terms. Disappointingly, CoE kept silent. (25-OCT-04)
– Beslan tragedy used to strengthen Putin’s power
– The apocalyptic Beslan tragedy was used by Putin as a chance to strengthen the power vertical and to have a free hand in pursuing the goal of consolidating his personal power, said Ida Kouklina from the Soldiers´ Mothers Committee in the Russian Federation, at the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October 2004. (24-OCT-04)
AYLU tables anti-corruption in Azerbaijan
Republic of Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Union (AYLU) is a non-political, non-governmental and non-profit organization, which targets to advocate laws and rights among youth, support proposals strengthening and protecting human rights and legal regulations, to achieve reforms in legal system basing on development of legal relations. From October 2004 AYLU started to impellent the project directed to the struggle against corruption. As a part of the project activities recently the website www.anticorruption.az had been created. The website had been presented to the public at the Round Table conducted by AYLU at Hyatt Regency Hotel, in October 20, 2004 in Baku. (24 OCT 2004)
Police tortures detainees
In the Republic of Belarus the use of the police force has a long history. In 1996 there took place the first violent beatings and detentions of opposition activists during Lukashenka´s rule. Since that time many thousand of people went through beatings, fines and imprisonments. Human rights organizations of Republic of Belarus always try to register such facts. The protest action of 19 October is one of the examples. (23-OCT-2004)
Public protest in Minsk continues despite imprisonments
The first actiong of protest against the shameless falsification of the results of the election and the lawless referendum took place on 18 October. It was attended by numerous foreign observers and journalists. That´s why all the detainees were released. The detainees of the second protest action, 19 October, received huge fines or 3-15 days of jail. Nevertheless, the protest actions in Kastrychnitskaya square in the center of Minsk continue. (22-OCT-2004)
VIASNA statement: New wave of political repression has begun
The Parliamentary election and the republican referendum in the Republic of Belarus were conducted with numerous violations of the national electoral legislation and international standards. The falsifications and manipulations that were committed during the electoral campaign resulted in the wave of fair protest of the country’s citizens. That’s why the authoritarian regime in Republic of Belarus started an unheard assault on human rights and liberties. (22-OCT-2004)
Crackdown on demonstrators in Belarus
Representatives of the Human Rights House Network condemn the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, journalists and representatives of the Belarusian political opposition by Belarusian authorities on the 19th of October. (21-OCT-04)