PACE ex-president: Under current conditions Belarus won’t enter Council of Europe

Such a statement has been made by Lluís Maria De Puig at a press-conference dedicated to the end of his mandate.

Under present conditions Belarus won’t become a member of the Council of Europe, and the number of the organization members is to remain 47, Lluís Maria De Puig is quoted as saying by Informer.Az.

Mr De Puig noted that despite of numerous demands to abolish capital punishment, the authorities of Belarus have not fulfilled that, moreover, on the contrary, recently a death sentence was executed.

“We tried to hold talks with Lukashenka and other official persons of Belarus. However they failed to take I consideration the position of the Council of Europe on this issue, which makes impossible integration of Belarus,” De Puig said.

As www.charter97.org informed earlier, on June 23, 2009 the Council of Europe adopted a resolution according to which the Belarusian “parliament” will restore its special guest status in the PACE only after the capital punishment is abolished. Right after that in a few months two death sentences were issued in Belarus.

At the same time, the document reads that despite of some positive changes, “the situation in Belarus is still causing concern”.

In particular, the parliamentary elections of September 2008 fell short of the European standards, persecution and intimidation of opposition activists continues, political and human rights organizations still face hindrances during registration, journalists of independent and foreign media face difficulties when applying for accreditation.

The PACE called upon the authorities to carry out an independent investigation in the case of businessmen from Vaukavysk Mikalai Autukhovich and Uladzimir Asipenka, in order to find out “whether these persons are political prisoners, and if so, demand their release”.

Besides, the PACE calls upon Minsk to erase the criminal record of former political prisoners, in order to enable them fully to exercise their civil and political rights; refrain from the harassment and intimidation of opposition activists; discontinue the practice of forced conscription of opposition activists into the military service despite previous declarations of being unfit for service; allowing the registration of the human rights organisation Nasha Viasna; ensure the respect of freedom of assembly and freedom of association; ensure freedom of the media and the provision of pluralist information, reform the electoral legislation and practice by taking into account the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission).

It is also specially mentioned that “in the context of the restauration of Special Guest status for the Belarusian Parliament and until the opposition is adequately represented therein, ensure that a delegation of the Belarusian extraparliamentary opposition is invited to participate in the work of the Assembly and its committees, according to modalities which will be established by the Bureau itself”.

The PACE also many times stated that high-ranking Belarusian officials are strongly suspected of involvement in disappearances and murders of Belarusian opposition leaders and a journalist.

Belarus was granted the Special Guest Status in the PACE in 1993. In the absence of progress in the areas of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, this status was suspended in 1997 following a Constitutional referendum in 1996 which increased powers of the president. After the referendum Belarus’ application to join the Council of Europe was frozen, and it remains the only European country that is not a member of the Organisation. Since that time the Belarusian authorities made numerous attempts to return to Strasbourg.