Written question asked by Richard Younger-Ross (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 4 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 May 2006. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Thursday, 11 May 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mikola Kalinin

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment of the human rights conditions in Belarus she has undertaken since the recent attack on Mikola Kalinin.

Answer: The human rights situation in Belarus remains of concern. Following the flawed Presidential elections on 19 March the Belarusian regime has moved to crack-down on the opposition and to stifle any dissent. Demonstrations have been broken up and the main opposition leaders and their key supporters have been arrested or detained. The independent press remains muzzled or has been driven underground. Non-governmental organisations are subject to harassment and their funding severely curtailed. The attack on Mikola Kalinin, an activist on Roma rights, is an example of the atmosphere of intimidation that exists for those seeking to support the fundamental freedom and right of civil society to express its concerns.We deplore this situation and the unjustified actions taken to prevent demonstrators, human rights campaigners and opposition leaders from exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. We support calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested for taking part in demonstrations and of those political prisoners arrested before the election. My right hon. Friend the then Minister for Europe (Douglas Alexander) did so in Vilnius on 4 May when he met the wives of the arrested opposition candidates, Milinkevich and Kazulin.

Secondary information