Tatsiana Shaputska took part in Civil Society Forum within Eastern Partnership program last November in Brussels. Immediately after her return to Belarus, she was expelled from Belarus State University, where she had been studying.

 

Slovak foundation Pontis published a new issue of their newsletter on scholarships, internships, conferences and other opportunities for Belarusians. See their 19-page-long newsletter.

Lawyers from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and Georgia can take part in a one-year course that will teach them how to apply human rights concepts in their daily practice without leaving their homes. The deadline for submitting applications is December 20, 2009. For more information see Human Rights House webpage.

In November, the European Radio for Belarus – supported among others by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs – received the accreditation to open a representative office in Belarus. On 30th November, twelve ERB journalists gained accreditation to work in Belarus. The Belarusian authorities adopted this fairly ground-breaking decision several days before the EU revision of the sanctions against Belarus.

 

Attached you can find the Monitoring Report on Developments in Belarus for the period March – October 2009 along with a set of criteria for assessing the progress of the Belarusian government and recommendations for promoting more tangible and consistent change in Belarus.

 

Belarusian participants can apply to attend a week-long intensive study course in Vilnius on election observation and to become accredited short-term international observers in Ukrainian elections on 17 January 2010. Application deadline is 8 November, 2009.

 

In July, Civic Belarus addressed an open letter to several Belarusian state institutions. We pleaded the authorities to abolish article 193.1 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes work for an unregistered organization. At the end of August, Civic Belarus has received a reply from the Ministry of Justice.