Central Election Commission of Belarus

The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus (CEC; Belarusian: Цэнтральная выбарчая камісія Беларусі, romanizedCentraĺnaja vybaračaja kamisija Belarusi; Russian: Центральная избирательная комиссия Республики Беларусь, romanizedTsentralnaya izbiratelnaya komissiya Respubliki Belarus) is the body responsible for conducting national elections and overseeing local elections in Belarus. The CEC of Belarus is a member of the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials.[1]

International sanctions

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On 10 April 2006, following the 2006 presidential election in Belarus, the Chairwoman of the CEC, Lidia Yermoshina, was placed on a list of over 40 members of the Belarusian government banned from entering the European Union and the United States for allegedly participating in the manipulation of the results of the presidential election; the ban was lifted in 2008.[2] Also in 2006, Yermoshina was added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List of the United States,[3] while CEC member and Minister of Justice Oleg Slizhevsky was designated in 2007.[4]

In 2011, Yermoshina was again sanctioned by the EU, following the 2010 presidential election.[5] These European sanctions were lifted in 2016.[6]

On 2 October 2020 the European Union imposed sanctions on all 12 members of the commission for violations in the August election.[7] In the autumn of 2020, the UK,[8] Canada[9][10] and Switzerland[11] also imposed sanctions against all CEC members. The United States imposed sanctions against CEC Deputy Chairman Vadzim Ipatau and CEC Secretary Alena Dmukhayla on 2 October 2020,[12] and on 21 June 2021 extended them to cover the rest of the Commission members.[13] In addition, on 23 December 2020 the Central Election Commission itself was added to the SDN list.[14]

In March 2022, the new head of the CEC, Ihar Karpenka, was added to the Canadian sanctions list.[15] In June 2022 Karpenka was also blacklisted by the European Union;[16] Switzerland joined these sanctions shortly thereafter.[17]

In March 2023, Karpenka and other members of the Belarusian CEC who had joined the commission after 2020 were added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[18]

Chairpersons

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Notes

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  1. ^ Ikstens, Jānis and more (October 2001). "Party and Campaign Funding in Eastern Europe: A Study of 18 Member Countries of the ACEEEO" (Document). International Foundation for Electoral Systems. found at Google Scholar Archived 2004-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "EU lifts Belarus travel ban". Aljazeera. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Issuance of new Belarus Executive Order; Belarus Designations; Liberia Designation Removal". United States Department of the Treasury. 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Treasury Targets Destabilizing Belarusian Officials". United States Department of the Treasury. 27 February 2007. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Beschluss 2011/69/GASP des Rates vom 31. Januar 2011 zur Änderung des Beschlusses 2010/639/GASP des Rates über restriktive Maßnahmen gegen einzelne belarussische Amtsträger" (in German). EUR-Lex. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ Денис Лавникевич (15 February 2016). "Батьке простили старые грехи" (in Russian). Gazeta.Ru. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Евросоюз ввел санкции против Беларуси" (in Russian). Novaya Gazeta. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK" (PDF). Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury. 25 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Backgrounder: Belarus sanctions". Global Affairs Canada. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Belarus sanctions". Global Affairs Canada. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  11. ^ Searching for subjects of sanctions
  12. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Belarus Officials for Undermining Democracy". United States Department of the Treasury. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Treasury and International Partners Condemn Ongoing Human Rights Abuses and Erosion of Democracy in Belarus". United States Department of the Treasury. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Additional Belarusian Regime Actors for Undermining Democracy". United States Department of the Treasury. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations: SOR/2022-49". Canada Gazette. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Official Journal L 153/2022". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Searching for subjects of sanctions". Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft.
  18. ^ "Treasury Targets Belarusian State-Owned Enterprises, Government Officials, and Lukashenka's Aircraft". United States Department of the Treasury. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
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