The Association of Christian Democrats in Eastern Europe expresses concern in respect to the condition of the human rights and freedoms created in Belarus, especially after the presidential elections of December 19, 2010.

The rights to freedom of assembly and free speech continue to be violated in this country. In the last months in the Republic of Belarus freedom of conscience and religious rights were seriously violated, in many parts of the country the Prosecutors Office issued official warnings on the bases of art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code, which provides  imprisonment for up to two years for Protestant Christians, performing activities within unregistered religious and political organizations or public associations.

Opposition leaders continue to be detained, among them Paul Severineţ, the party leader of “Christian Democracy in Belarus”, Nicolai Statkevici and Andrei Sanikov, ex-presidential candidates in recent elections, Alesi Beleaţkii, Vice-President of International Federation for Human Rights, President of the Center for Human Rights "Vesna", Zmiţer Daşkevici,  leader of the  "Youth Front", other political and civic activists, recognized by the Belarusian and international organizations for human rights as political prisoners.

We also express our concern about the fact that the legislation of Belarus has suffered a series of changes without any prior public discussion, aimed at restricting the rights and liberties of the citizens and the onset of even harsher repression from behalf of law enforcement authorities.

The listed facts raise the concern of the international community regarding the situation of observing democratic standards and human rights in Belarus.

Expressing our solidarity with the international community's position, we call on Belarusian authorities to respect fundamental human rights, release and rehabilitate the opposition leaders and civic activists.

Christian Democratic People’s Party from Moldova
Christian Democratic Union of Armenia
Christian Democratic Union of Latvia
Christian Democratic Union of Ukraine
Christian Democratic Movement of Georgia
Christian Public Movement "Благодатная Россия"
Christian Democratic Party of Belarus

Chisinau
October 22, 2011