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De president van Wit-Rusland doet met enige regelmaat mee aan sportwedstrijden. Hij wint deze altijd omdat zelfs topsporters hem niet durven in te halen. Dit jaar deed ook zijn zoontje Kolya mee, die ook regelmatig mee gaat op staatsbezoek.
Bron: Charter97
De mensenrechtenorganisatie Freedom House heeft haar jaarlijkse overzicht gepubliceerd van de vrijheid in alle onafhankelijke landen. Wit-Rusland zit in de laagste categorie met landen als Soedan, Somalia, China, Cuba en Noord Korea. Zelfs Iran en Irak scoren beter. Ten opzichte van 2008 is de situatie in 2009 verder verslechterd.
Op 17 december 2009 nam het Europees Parlement een resolutie over Wit-Rusland aan. De voortdurende schending van de mensenrechten wordt stevig veroordeeld, ondanks de incidentele verbeteringen zoals de verspreiding van twee onafhankelijke kranten. Opheffing van de sancties is pas aan de orde als de mensenrechten structureel worden verbeterd. Voorwaarden zijn onder andere:
| – | ensuring respect for freedom of expression by bringing the Media Law into line with the recommendations contained in the report of the International Fact-Finding Mission to the Republic of Belarus of 20-24 September 2009; | |
| – | guaranteeing freedom of association and assembly by repealing Article 193-1 of the Belarus Criminal Code, which makes activity on behalf of unregistered public associations, political parties and foundations a criminal offence; | |
| – | allowing the registration of all political parties and civil society organisations; | |
| – | safeguarding freedom of religion for religious denominations other than the Orthodox Church, in particular to let New Life Church operate freely; | |
| – | to avoid hampering the activities of organisations already operating in Belarus, for example by raising rents (as was the case regarding the Belarusian Popular Front) or imposing illegal taxes on projects carried out using EU grants (for example, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee); | |
| – | creating favourable conditions for the operation of NGOs and independent media; | |
| – | guaranteeing political rights and freedoms by discontinuing the practice of politically motivated acts of intimidation, in particular dismissals from jobs and universities (as was the case regarding Tatsyana Shaputska, expelled from her university for participation in an Eastern Partnership civil society forum in Brussels); | |
| – | stopping prosecutions, for allegedly avoiding military service, of students who have been expelled from universities for their civic stance and are being forced to obtain their education abroad; | |
| – | reviewing all the cases of forcible conscription which have violated the legal rights of several young activists, such as Franak Viačorka, Ivan Šyla and Zmiter Fedaruk, and which are tantamount to State-practised hostage-taking; |
