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ARTICLE 19 ISSUES OMINOUS REPORT AS LUKASHENKO RE-ELECTED

A report released by ARTICLE 19 on the eve of the Belarus presidential election has proven to be prescient in its analysis of the country's press conditions. While 75 per cent of electors returned incumbent Alexander Lukashenko to power on 7 September 2001, observers said the electoral process "failed to meet international standards," reports the BBC.

The day before, ARTICLE 19's report concludes that "the government of Belarus demonstrates complete contempt for its own people in the way it censors news and stifles dissent." A follow-up to its May 2001 report on freedom of expression in the country, the document condemns the government of Lukashenko for its attacks on press freedom, which have intensified in recent months.

"There is no doubt that the state-sponsored campaign against the non-state press coupled with severely limited access of opposition candidates to state-owned media has failed to meet minimum democratic standards in an election," observed ARTICLE 19.

The report cites the government's installation of an appointed official as director of Magic, the only remaining independent printing press, as the most egregious example of such attacks. [See IFEX "Communiques" #10-34 and #10-24.] ">http://communique.ifex.org/articles.cfm?system_id=3505">#10-34 and #10-24.]

Interestingly, the report notes that representatives from ARTICLE 19 and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) were denied visas to visit Belarus in June and July 2001.

The full report is available at www.article19.by. ">http://www.article19.by/publications/repressionupdate/index.html">www.article19.by.

For more information, see www.cpj.org.">http://www.cpj.org">www.cpj.org.