Charter 97 (Belarusian: Хартыя'97; Russian: Хартия'97) is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a pro-human rights news site taking its inspiration from the declaration.
The document – the title of which deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declaration Charter 77 20 years earlier – was created on the anniversary of a referendum held in 1996, and which, in the words of the organization of the same name, declares:
"devotion to the principles of independence, freedom and democracy, respect to the human rights, solidarity with everybody, who stands for elimination of dictatorial regime and restoration of democracy in Belarus".
News siteEdit
HistoryEdit
Belarusian journalist Pavał Šaramiet acted as the group's spokesman at the declaration's public launch.[1]
Charter 97, as a citizens' human rights organisation based on the principles outlined in this document, is a non-partisan organisation which has organised protest rallies and has provided a springboard for other democratic movements in the country. It also maintains a website of news with a focus on human rights developments. The site's editor-in-chief, Natalla Radzina, received the 2011 International Press Freedom Award, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism", for her work.[2]
On 3 September 2010, the body of the founder of Charter 97, Aleh Biabienin, was found in his house near Minsk. According to initial statements by the Belarusian government, Biabienin committed suicide by hanging himself. However, friends of Biabienin have rejected this, stating that there was no indication he was planning to commit suicide, and that there were no messages or notes left behind.
In the weeks following the disputed December 2010 presidential election – in which pro-democracy candidate Andrej Sańnikaŭ lost to Lukashenko, often called "Europe's last dictator"[3] – a number of opposition protesters took to the streets, alleging fraud. Radzina and the Charter 97 staff posted numerous articles documenting arrests and injuries to the protesters by state security forces.[4] On 21 December 2010, the Charter 97 office was raided by agents of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (known in Russian as the "KGB"). Radina only had time to post "We're all at the KGB" on the site before being arrested and taken away.[4]
On 30 December 2011, Charter 97 fell victim to a hacking attack that deleted archives and posted false news articles to the site; it also suffered a denial of service attack.[5]
In 2020, the logo was changed to display "Charter 97%", referencing the fact that according to opposition groups, internet polling shows that support for President Lukashenko is low enough to be a statistical error, or around 3%. The phrase "97%" had become a rallying symbol of the opposition.[6]
In August 2022, the Belarusian authorities recognized the Charter’97 as an extremist group.[7] Earlier in 2021-2022, the Telegram channel, logo, website and pages of the Charter on social networks were included in the list of extremist materials.[8]
On July 31, 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution in which it asks the European Commission and the Member States, to strengthen Belarusian media outlets, such as Charter 97.[9]
^"REPORT on relations with Belarus". europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
External linksEdit
Charter 97 website
Telegram channel
October 22, 2023
charter, belarusian, Хартыя, russian, Хартия, declaration, calling, democracy, belarus, human, rights, news, site, taking, inspiration, from, declaration, formatdigital, newsfounder, aleh, byabenin, xeditor, chiefnatalya, radinafounded1998, years, 1998, politi. Charter 97 Belarusian Hartyya 97 Russian Hartiya 97 is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a pro human rights news site taking its inspiration from the declaration Charter 97FormatDigital newsFounder s Aleh Byabenin XEditor in chiefNatalya RadinaFounded1998 25 years ago 1998 Political alignmentBelarusian oppositionLanguageEnglish Russian BelarusianWebsitewww wbr charter97 wbr org Contents 1 Charter 2 News site 2 1 History 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksCharter EditThe document the title of which deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declaration Charter 77 20 years earlier was created on the anniversary of a referendum held in 1996 and which in the words of the organization of the same name declares devotion to the principles of independence freedom and democracy respect to the human rights solidarity with everybody who stands for elimination of dictatorial regime and restoration of democracy in Belarus News site EditHistory Edit Belarusian journalist Paval Saramiet acted as the group s spokesman at the declaration s public launch 1 Charter 97 as a citizens human rights organisation based on the principles outlined in this document is a non partisan organisation which has organised protest rallies and has provided a springboard for other democratic movements in the country It also maintains a website of news with a focus on human rights developments The site s editor in chief Natalla Radzina received the 2011 International Press Freedom Award an annual recognition of courageous journalism for her work 2 On 3 September 2010 the body of the founder of Charter 97 Aleh Biabienin was found in his house near Minsk According to initial statements by the Belarusian government Biabienin committed suicide by hanging himself However friends of Biabienin have rejected this stating that there was no indication he was planning to commit suicide and that there were no messages or notes left behind In the weeks following the disputed December 2010 presidential election in which pro democracy candidate Andrej Sannikaŭ lost to Lukashenko often called Europe s last dictator 3 a number of opposition protesters took to the streets alleging fraud Radzina and the Charter 97 staff posted numerous articles documenting arrests and injuries to the protesters by state security forces 4 On 21 December 2010 the Charter 97 office was raided by agents of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus known in Russian as the KGB Radina only had time to post We re all at the KGB on the site before being arrested and taken away 4 On 30 December 2011 Charter 97 fell victim to a hacking attack that deleted archives and posted false news articles to the site it also suffered a denial of service attack 5 In 2020 the logo was changed to display Charter 97 referencing the fact that according to opposition groups internet polling shows that support for President Lukashenko is low enough to be a statistical error or around 3 The phrase 97 had become a rallying symbol of the opposition 6 In August 2022 the Belarusian authorities recognized the Charter 97 as an extremist group 7 Earlier in 2021 2022 the Telegram channel logo website and pages of the Charter on social networks were included in the list of extremist materials 8 On July 31 2023 the European Parliament passed a resolution in which it asks the European Commission and the Member States to strengthen Belarusian media outlets such as Charter 97 9 See also Edit nbsp Belarus portal nbsp Internet portalTelegram Belarusian democracy movement Charter 77 Czechoslovakia Charter 08 China References Edit Belarus government accused of human rights abuses BBC News 11 November 1997 Retrieved 28 January 2012 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards 2011 Committee to Protect Journalists 2011 Retrieved 28 May 2011 Andrew Osborn 20 December 2010 Alexander Lukashenko Europe s last dictator The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 17 January 2012 a b Michael Schwirtz 21 December 2010 Clashes in Belarus Show Resilience of Both Sides The New York Times Retrieved 17 January 2012 Pro opposition news website attacked shut down IFEX 30 December 2011 Retrieved 17 January 2012 Charter 97 We re The Better Part charter97 org Retrieved 2021 05 25 Review of the fight against extremism in Belarus in July September 2022 Respublikanskij spisok ekstremistskih materialov REPORT on relations with Belarus europarl europa eu Retrieved 2023 09 20 External links EditCharter 97 website Telegram channel Belarus Now article about the movement Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charter 97 amp oldid 1176260548, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
