Apparent manipulation of some international observers in Belarus

WARSAW, 17 October 2000 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) cannot be associated with the conclusions of some international observers who appear to have been manipulated.

Responding to a press statement issued by the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, the OSCE/ODIHR notes the following:

• Some 150 international observers, with no relation to the OSCE/ODIHR, arrived mostly on the invitation of the Belarusian authorities to observe the 15 October parliamentary elections. They were present in country for only 4-5 days.
• The OSCE/ODIHR is informed that the Central Election Commission (CEC) has offered or has paid the hotel expenses for some of these observers.
• On election day, the CEC organized guided bus tours for some observers to visit polling stations.
• The CEC provided to these observers OSCE/ODIHR reporting forms, without the authorization of OSCE/ODIHR.
• At the end of the process, the CEC gave these observers a prepared statement to sign, praising the elections, without supportive findings.

The OSCE/ODIHR only established a Technical Assessment Mission for these elections, and no short-term observers were deployed on election day. Based on a month-long monitoring of the process, the Technical Assessment Mission produced detailed and documented findings, which were published on 16 October in a Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions. The Statement can be found on the OSCE website at /odihr.

For further information, please contact: Elisabeth Rasmusson, Head of the ODIHR Technical Assessment Mission in Minsk (+375.17.270.39.94); or Andy Bruce, ODIHR Election Adviser, or Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, ODIHR Public Affairs Officer, in Warsaw (+48.22.520.0600).