Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

U.S. critical of "brutal" Belarus crackdown
27 Mar 2008 19:48:27 GMT
 Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday strongly condemned Belarus authorities for the latest crackdown on journalists and protesters, calling the government brutal and authoritarian.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack slammed tough action in Belarus against the media, in which he said about 30 independent journalists in 12 cities were detained "without legitimate cause."

"The regime of Alexander Lukashenko has again shown itself as a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship that blatantly ignores human rights and fundamental freedoms," said McCormack.

Security police raided Belarussian broadcasters' offices in the former Soviet republic on Thursday, just two days after police broke up a rally by opponents of Lukashenko and arrested protesters.

McCormack urged the Belarus authorities to immediately release all of those arrested and said the government must ensure detainees who were injured received proper medical care and that those responsible were held to account.

"We also call on Belarus to stop its harassment of the remaining media still striving to report on the realities in Belarus and to respect freedom of assembly, speech and independent media in Belarus," he said.

Relations are very strained between the United States and Belarus, and earlier this month the U.S. ambassador left the former Soviet republic. Belarus authorities, objecting to what they saw as new sanctions against Belarus, had urged her to go.

The U.S. embassy has since stopped issuing visas and complied with a request to cut diplomatic staff in Minsk. (Reporting by Sue Pleming, editing by Philip Barbara)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Direct Relief International Recognizes World TB Day 2008
DRI - USA

•  Five-Year Iraq Conflict Has Caused Massive Refugee Crisis; IRC Commission Calls U.S. / World Response 'Grossly Inadequate'
International Rescue Committee

•  CWS situation report: 2008 March tornadoes
CWS

•  CWS appeal: 2008 Fernley, Nevada flood
CWS

•  Direct Relief, Safety-Net Clinics Coordinate for Emergency Response
DRI - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

•  U.S. critical of "brutal" Belarus crackdown

•  FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, March 27

•  Iraq's Maliki says he'll fight militia to the end

•  Total curfew imposed in Baghdad after clashes

•  Lhasa monks accuse China of lying over unrest

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
U.S. critical of "brutal" Belarus crackdown (1 minute ago)

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, March 27 (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
MEDIAWATCH: Women's Day, a time to grieve, a time to be inspired (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
Direct Relief International Recognizes World TB Day 2008 (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Are the radicals of 1968 the humanitarian hawks of today? (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Global flood locations week ending Feb 14,2008 (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
United States of America Belarus

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-26T165540Z_01_MOS20_RTRIDSP_2_BELARUS-PROTEST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MOS20.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-26T151747Z_01_MIN11_RTRIDSP_2_BELARUS-PROTEST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MIN11.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-26T142910Z_01_MOS10_RTRIDSP_2_BELARUS-PROTEST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MOS10.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-26T142623Z_01_MOS09_RTRIDSP_2_BELARUS-PROTEST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MOS09.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-26T142527Z_01_MOS08_RTRIDSP_2_BELARUS-PROTEST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MOS08.htm

Belarussian riot policeman detains journalist Andrey Lenkevich during an opposition rally in Minsk March 25, 2008. Courts in Belarus on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, began sentencing dozens of protesters detained in ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Mar 27 19:45:53 2008