Human rights in Belarus have been described as poor. The Belarusian government is criticized for human rights violations and its persecution of non-governmental organisations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. In a testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labeled Belarus as one of the world's six outposts of tyranny. In response, the Belarusian government called the assessment quite far from reality. As at 2017, the Viasna Human Rights Centre lists two political prisoners, down from 11 in 2016 currently detained in Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko has described himself as having an authoritarian ruling style. Western countries have described Belarus under Lukashenko as a dictatorship; the government has accused the same Western powers of trying to oust Lukashenko. The Council of Europe has barred Belarus from membership since 1997 for undemocratic voting and election irregularities in the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections.Dozens of Belarusian government officials responsible for political repressions, propaganda, electoral fraud have been subject to personal sanctions by the United States and the European Union.
Continue reading...From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.