OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued a final report of the observation mission on February 22 over the last presidential election in Belarus. In particular, they pointed out that the arrests of the opposition members on December 19, as well as istitution of the criminal case on the riots, undermined confidence in the election.
«The presidential election indicated that Belarus has a considerable way to go in meeting its OSCE commitments for democratic elections,» the document says.»There was a lack of independence and impartiality of the election administration, an uneven playing field and a restrictive media environment, as well as a continuous lack of transparency at key stages of the electoral process. Election night was marred by detentions of most presidential candidates, and hundreds of citizens, among them journalists, human rights activists and other civil society representatives,» leads the conclusion of the OSCE / ODIHR website.
«At the same time the Belarusian authorities explained at the time that a number of participants in «unsanctioned activities» have been sentenced by the courts to administrative arrests and fines, in addition to which criminal proceedings have been instituted under the title of «mass disturbances.» Meanwhile, most detainees were released, yet dozens of them, including three former presidential candidates continue to be detained at the time of writing this report. One former presidential candidate has been placed under house arrest. Overall, these circumstances undermined confidence in the election,» wrote the authors of the report.
The January 2010 amendments to the Electoral Code addressed a number of long-standing OSCE/ODIHR recommendations: the replacement of a permission-based system to hold public meetings with an advance notification procedure, a provision for debates between candidates in the state media, the possibility for candidates to establish individual campaign funds, and new regulations governing some aspects of early voting. «Despite these significant improvements, the legal framework still does not fully comply with OSCE commitments and other international standards, and continues to contain serious shortcomings,» believe the report’s authors.
Members of Election Commissions Characterized by Marginal Understanding of Politics, OSCE
The new legal provision that at least one-third of Territorial and Precinct Election Commissions (TECs and PECs) be drawn from representatives of political parties and public associations could have been a positive step. However, the absence of formal criteria in selecting commission members and the lack of detailed implementing procedures reduced the effectiveness of this provision.
«While almost all nominees from organizations considered to be in support of the president were appointed (93% for TECs and PECs), the nominees from organizations considered in opposition to the president were far less successful (20% for TECs and 17% for PECs). Nominees were also rejected without proper explanation. TECs and PECs were predominantly composed of state employees with a marginal representation from political parties. They were dominated by members supportive of the incumbent president, which calls into question their impartiality,» said in the document.
It’s also stated that «the Central Election Commission lacks independence, impartiality and collegiality. «Important parts of the legislation, especially regarding counting procedures remained ambiguous, and in the absence of clear CEC implementing procedures, this led to inconsistent application of the law by election commissions,» noted in OSCE.
Lukashenko Used Administrative Resources for Re-election, OSCE
They question the quality and accuracy of the voter lists and also indicate that the campaign «is characterized by a lack of a level playing field between the incumbent and the other nine candidates, and was marked by instances of pressure, harassment and misuse of administrative resources to promote the incumbent.» For example, they remind that the delegates of the Fourth All-Belarusian People’s Assembly received the appliances as a gift for their participation in the event.
In addition, harassment and intimidation of journalists remain one important challenge to media freedom. All major TV stations with nationwide coverage demonstrated a clear bias in favour of the incumbent, devoting 89% of primetime news coverage to his campaign activities and official duties. «The tone of coverage of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was exclusively positive or neutral, while the tone of coverage of other candidates was mostly negative, in some cases neutral,» they say.
It’s Clear Election Fraud, OSCE
While the overall voting process was assessed as good, the process deteriorated significantly during the vote count, undermining the steps taken previously to improve the election process. Observers assessed the vote count as bad and very bad in almost half of all observed polling stations. Clear instances of ballot stuffing and tampering with the results were noted by international observers. The count was largely conducted in a non-transparent manner, generally in silence, which undermined its credibility and raised
questions about the integrity of the election. In over a third of PECs, access of observers was limited. Tabulation of results was assessed as bad or very bad in about one fifth of observed TECs,» reported the mission.
On December 25 the CEC announced the official election results, according to which President Alexander Lukashenko received 79.6% of votes; some 6.5% of voters voted against all candidates; the voter turnout was established at 90.65%. However, the CEC has not publish the disaggregated results by precinct, either on its website or in any other format, noted by the authors of the report.
Belarus Lacks Freedom of Association in Practice, OSCE
«While the law provides for freedom of association, in practice the government restricts operation of political parties, civil society organizations, and other public associations that oppose the president. Participation in the activities of unregistered political party or any other public organization is a criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison,» they underline.
CEC Independence is Questionable, OSCE
Rapporteurs draw attention to the fact that in Belarus six of the twelve members of the CEC, including the chairman, are appointed by the head of the country. «Such broad powers of the president question the independence and impartiality of the main electoral authority, responsible for organizing and holding of presidential elections,» stated in the document.
«The CEC Chairman has repeatedly and publicly expressed admiration for the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko,» underline the report’s authors.
OMON Used Force against Peaceful Demonstrators, OSCE
As for the developments after the elections, in the evening of December 19 candidate Vladimir Niakliaeu was severely beaten on his way to Kastrychnitskaya Square. He was hospitalized, and subsequently removed from hospital by unidentified individuals. All the remaining presidential candidates, except the incumbent, as well as thousands of demonstrators, gathered on Kastrychnitskaya Square, from where they headed to the Independence Square.
«A group of individuals attempted to break into the House of Government, causing damage in the process. This action was countered by the OMON (riot police), which used force against the assailers, but also against peaceful demonstrators. Indiscriminate use of disproportionate force left several demonstrators suffering from severe head injuries,» the authors report.
They recall that shortly before midnight, hundreds of OMON officers violently dispersed the demonstration. Seven presidential candidates, their campaign managers and proxies, hundreds of activists, among them journalists, civil society representatives and foreign citizens, were arrested during and immediately after the demonstration.
«Immediately after the election night events, the OSCE/ODIHR EOM attempted to schedule meetings with the courts and the City Department of Internal Affairs, but was not successful. Moreover, these institutions refused to provide any information on the arrests and trials,» informs the mission.
