Belarus Defense
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Burundi is a source country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced child soldiering. The country is emerging from a 12-year civil war in which government and rebel forces used approximately 3,200 children in a variety of capacities, including as cooks, porters, spies, sex slaves, and combatants. There are reports that the government army and two former rebel groups the CNDDFDD (Nkurunziza) and the CNDD (Nyangoma) still have a small number of children in their ranks. While there were unconfirmed reports that these two rebel groups recruited boys in 2004, there were no reports that the army recruited child soldiers. The one rebel faction that remains outside the peace process, the PALOPEHUTU-FNL, continued to recruit and use child soldiers. The Government of Burundi does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, ... [Read More]
Baker Spring, "THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: INFLUENCING THE DEBATE ON MISSILE DEFENSE" - U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, November 2002, Department of State, International Information Programs
Congress, nevertheless, kept pressing the Clinton administration on the potential of a sea-based option for ballistic missile defense. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 1998 included a requirement for the Clinton administration to report to Congress on whether the Navy's Upper Tier system could be upgraded to provide a limited defense against long-range ballistic missiles. The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) produced the report, and a summary of its findings was released on June 1, 1999. The BMDO's report referenced a later edition of the report by The Heritage Foundation's Commission on Missile Defense. 3 More importantly, the BMDO report confirmed the Heritage findings that an upgraded version of what was by then called the Navy Theater-Wide (NTW) system would be capable of intercepting long-range missiles. ... [Read More]
Bureau of Arms Control
The Bureau of Arms Control, headed by Assistant Secretary Stephen G. Rademaker, is responsible for developing policy in the areas of conventional, chemical/biological, and nuclear forces, for supporting arms control negotiations, for implementing existing agreements in these areas, and for advising the Secretary on related national security issues such as nuclear testing and missile defense. ... Under Secretary for Arms Control and International SecurityBureau of Arms Control [Read More]
Belarus
The Constitution upholds the right of workers, except state security and military personnel, to form and join independent unions on a voluntary basis and to carry out actions in defense of worker rights; however, these rights were not respected in practice. Measures to suppress independent unions included the arrest of members of independent trade unions for distributing union literature, confiscation of union materials, the denial to union members of access to work sites, excessive fines, and pressure on union members by managers and state authorities to join pro-government unions. Workers engaged in trade union activities not approved by the Government were pressured to quit their jobs. ... [Read More]
Press Releases
1111--05/11/01 Missile Defense Consultations In Rome (Taken Question) ... [Read More]
2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Belarus
A presidential decree that subordinates all lawyers to the MOJ compromised the independence of lawyers. Several lawyers have claimed that they were told they would not receive licenses because of their activities in defense of NGOs or opposition political parties. ... The Constitution upholds the right of workers, except state security and military personnel, to form and join independent unions on a voluntary basis and to carry out actions in defense of worker rights; however, these rights were not respected in practice. Measures to suppress independent unions included the conversion of all government employees to short-term contracts, the nonextension of employment contracts for some members of independent trade unions, the arrest of members of independent trade unions for distributing union literature, the confiscation of union materials, the denial to union members of access to work sites, excessive fines, and pressure on union members by managers and state authorities to join progovernment unions. In a report published October 8, an ILO Commission of Inquiry criticized the Government for its interference in trade union activity. The Government continued to pursue the objective of bringing all trade union activity under its effective control. ... [Read More]
U.S. Assistance to Belarus Fiscal Year 2004
Journalism and management training, legal defense, and on-site business consultations strengthen independent print and broadcast media outlets while increasing their capacity to provide objective, fact-based information. Legal training for local lawyers, activists, NGOs, and citizens is also provided, in addition to support for Legal Advice Centers. In 2003, a womens economic empowerment program was initiated in Belarus to fight against trafficking in persons. Moreover, the Eurasia Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, and U.S. Embassy administer small grants for indigenous NGOs to foster civil society, human rights, independent media, and other initiatives to promote democracy in Belarus. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: Cohen Salutes Nobel Peace Prize Nominees Nunn and Lugar
The "groundbreaking legislation" that bears the names of former Senator Sam Nunn (Democrat, Georgia) and Senator Richard Lugar (Republican, Indiana) has enabled the Department of Defense to make "huge strides towards reducing the threat to the United States posed by nuclear weapons in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus," Defense Secretary Cohen said September 11 in a written statement welcoming their nomination for the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. ... He said that through the 1991 legislation, the Defense Department's Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program has been able to enhance safety, security, control and accounting of nuclear weapons and fissile materials to prevent dangerous proliferation. ... [Read More]
Belarus (10/04)
The Minister of Defense is experiencing success in the area of military reform. Planned changes include combining the Air and Air Defense Forces, downsizing the force structure about 30% from 83,000 to 60,000, transitioning from a conscript to a contract force, and modernizing the command and control structure by creating a Ground Forces Command between the Ministry of Defense and the units in the field. Implementation of these reforms will take an unspecified amount of time. ... [Read More]
International Security - US Department of State
07 July 2005 - Defense Department Report, July 7: Detainee Medical Care Appropriate ... 05 July 2005 - Defense Department Briefing, July 5 ... 11 July 2005 - Defense Department Report, July 11: Afghan, Iraq Updates ... [Read More]
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