Belarus accuses U.S. of human rights violations for suppressing Texas’ secession

[Ichingcarpenter]

Should Texas ever secede from the United States, it already has found its first international ally: Belarus.

The former Soviet republic — the last Stalinist-style dictatorship in Europe — is accusing the United States government of human rights violations for suppressing Texas’ independence movement.

Belarus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the alleged anti-Texas human rights violations in its recently published report entitled “Human Rights Violations in Certain Countries in 2012.“


http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/02/belarus-accuses-u-s-of-human-rights-violations-for-suppressing-texas-secession/

HUMAN RIGHTS IN BELARUS
The increasingly repressive government of Aliaxander Lukashenka continues to clamp down on dissent in Belarus. Human rights defenders, civil society activists, and independent journalists are routinely persecuted for expressing any signs of discontent with the authorities. Hundreds of pro-democracy participants have been punished with administrative or criminal sanctions, frequently in absence of sufficient evidence of an offence having been committed. Violations of detainees’ due process rights, including access to defense counsel, are widespread. The authorities enforce new laws further restricting freedoms of association and assembly. Independent media is virtually non-existent with the exception of a small number of online outlets.

http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/belarus


The article made me smile

[Fresh_Start]

1. Denying a non-official petition is a human rights violation?

get a grip there Belarus.

[leftyohiolib]

2. texans who want to secdee can leave anytime they want no one is stopping them -

[Puzzledtraveller]

12. They can self deport to Mexico.

[siligut]

3. Sounds like the loud minority in Belarus

Just like our teabaggers here.

[malaise]

4. I well remember people in the US cheering on the breakup of the

Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. Back then I told hubby that it wouldn't be long before people wanted to secede in the US. We have a proverb here - same knife stick goat stick sheep.

[RZM]

8. The dissolution of the Eastern bloc was a wonderful thing

I'm mainly talking here about the satellite states, which were (at least on paper) independent and not part of the Soviet Union. Their revolutions in 1989 were great moments in history.

The transition in the USSR itself was a much rougher process, but that was kind of inevitable anyway. The ship was sinking fast and the Republics knew it was time to get off.

[Orrex]

5. Of all the shit we've done, *THIS* is what sets them off?

Nice priorities, Belarus.

[Enrique]

10. unfortunately no

the Texas part was just what made the headlines. I say unfortunately because the idea of a Texas-Belarus affinity would be hilarious.

In a long list of human rights violations, the report also points to the police crackdowns on the Occupy Wall Street movement and anti-NATO demonstrations last year, concerns over government unauthorized wiretapping, Washington, D.C.’s lack of representation in Congress, and the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes.

[Orrex]

13. Ah. Thanks.

Wasn't able to read the whole article at work, etc.

[ladjf]

6. More meaningless bunk. nt

[RZM]

7. Lukashenko is a complete tool

He's been flailing around looking for some sort of support in the West the last several years - I guess this means he's given up on the US.

[pinboy3niner]

9. Texas' independence movement, lol!

[Puzzledtraveller]

11. That's kind of funny, Belarus, LOL.

Texas gets a shout out from Belarus!!

[Chathamization]

14. They brought up DC, too

From the DCist:

In the section focusing on the U.S., the Belarusian noted that "600 thousand of Washington’s residents are not entitled to elect their representatives to the Senate and the House of Representatives." This, it claims, is a violation of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights' provision affording all people the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs.

Obviously, the report should be taken with a grain of salt. This is Belarus, after all, and the report also criticizes the U.S. for not allowing states to secede based on—wait for it—those petitions on the White House's website. According to Belarus, o Texas, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee have a right to be free!

Still, Belarus isn't alone in pointing out the contradiction that D.C. faces: it might be the seat of U.S. democracy, but its 630,000 residents lack many of those same democratic rights. In 2005, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe backed D.C.'s request for full democratic representation. In 2004, it was the Organization of American States that found the U.S. in violation of basic human rights treaties for denying D.C. residents their rights.