Key Events: March 8-14

BELARUS

 

Mar 08: Belarus opposition leader calls for global action, not words

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition, is appealing to the Western democracies “to prove that human rights is not just words for them.” The UN Human Rights Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the crisis in Belarus. Tsikhanouskaya would like the resolution to create a group of experts to monitor deteriorating conditions in Belarus.

Mar 08: IOC EB decides further provisional measures against NOC of Belarus

The International Olympic Committee did not recognize Aleksandr Lukashenko’s son, Viktor Lukashenko, as the new President of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus.

Mar 10: Putin’s stealth takeover of Belarus gains momentum

Putin’s strategy in Belarus is apparently to leverage the unrest to ensure its long-term influence there. Russia is preparing the groundwork. Plans were announced for joint military training centers. A new pro-Kremlin Belarusian political party, Soyuz (Union), was founded in Minsk last week. It held its founding congress in Minsk on March 6. Prominent guests included a Russian lawmaker from Ukraine’s occupied Crimean peninsula and an advisor to Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Mar 10: Used by repressive governments, Belarusian facial recognition software tracks dissidents

The Belarusian regime relied on Kipod, AI-based facial recognition software, to track and identify protesters. Kipod is used to analyze video from numerous CCTV cameras. One of the first to warn about its use for surveillance purposes was a prominent anarchist blogger Nikolai Dedok. Dedok himself was tracked down and detained with the help of Kipod. Dedok was severely beaten and tortured at the time of his arrest. Kipod software is the product of Synesis, a company residing in Belarus’s state-supported High-Tech Park, a kind of institutionalized Silicon Valley. Synesis has been sanctioned by the European Union.

Mar 10: Norwegian agro-giant faces pressure to leave Lukashenka’s Belarus

Yara, a Norwegian agriculture business giant, faces calls to leave Belarus and cut ties with Belaruskali, a state-run potash producer, at least temporarily, due to Belaruskali’s continued intimidation of its workers. In the past, Yara has exercised its influence with the authorities, calling to rehire workers fired after going on strike. Belaruskali is an important source of currency for the Belarusian regime. Russian potash producer Uralkali has long been interested in acquiring Belaruskali.

Mar 10: “Lukashenko. Goldmine”: film alleging Belarusian leader has gilded life gets 5 million views online

A documentary film by NEXTA, an oppositional news service team, accused Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on his luxurious lifestyle, including multiple palaces, planes, and a collection of luxury cars.

Mar 12: Bloomberg: EU calls on Belarus not to rush to start up new nuclear plant

Safety concerns led the EU’s energy chief to urge Belarus not to rush starting up the Astavets nuclear plant. Belarus is expected to begin commercial operations there at the end of March.

Mar 12: Belarus Eurovision song rejected due to political lyrics

Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest rejected Belarus’ song entry due to its controversial political lyrics, mocking the Belarusian anti-regime demonstrators.

Mar 12: Polish diplomat expelled over “cursed soldiers’ event

Belarus expelled a Polish diplomat after he participated in a Feb 28 event dedicated to commemorating Poland’s “cursed soldiers,” underground partisans who fought against both German and Soviet occupation during WWII. The Director of the Brest-based organization Polish School was detained as part of the criminal case connected to the same event and “heroization of war criminals.”

Mar 14: Latushka: “Do the lives of the Belarusians mean anything for the world and Europe?”

Belarusian oppositional leader Pavel Latushka recorded a video appealing to the EU leaders in connection to torture in Belarusian prisons. Two bloggers, Ihar Losik and Syarhei Pyatrukhin, tried to kill themselves by slitting their wrists to protest absurd charges and inhumane conditions. Ihar Losik and musician Ihar Bantser are on a hunger strike, refusing both water and food.