U.S. Urges Belarus to Abide by Commitments on Elections (Press release by the U.S. Embassy Minsk)

2002-02-28

Press release by the U.S. Embassy Minsk

The United States Embassy in Minsk urges the Government of Belarus to abide by its OSCE commitments in the conduct of elections. The action follows the Central Election Commission's denial of access to the upcoming local elections by international observers.

On February 23, the United States Embassy in Minsk submitted an official request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Election Commission to accredit the Embassy's diplomatic staff members as international observers during local elections on March 2. On February 25, the Central Election Commission denied the Embassy's request because the Central Election Committee had not issued an invitation for the Embassy to participate as observers. The CEC informed the Embassy that it did not intend to extend invitations to international observers for the upcoming local elections.

The CEC decision contradicts statements made in a diplomatic notice sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 24. The document, which was sent to all accredited diplomatic missions in Belarus, provided background information describing the March 2 local elections. On the election process, the documents states, "all measures of the electoral process (the formation of districts, election commissions, nomination of candidates, candidate registration, open and free discussion of pre-election programs, establishment of a transparent election process, participation of national and international observers, and freedom of mass media) are open for society in accordance with the principles of openness, purposefulness and, most important, democratic elections."

The decision is also contrary to past practice, where international observers were invited to observe the 2000 parliamentary elections and the 2001 presidential election.