Republic Of Belarus
Belarus
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V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Cyprus is a destination country for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Traffickers who forced women into prostitution continued to fraudulently recruit victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term "artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or for illegal work on tourist or student visas. There was increasing evidence of Chinese women being trafficked for sexual exploitation in Cyprus. The Government of Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Cyprus made some progress in its anti-trafficking efforts over the past year. The new police anti-trafficking unit produced successful results and showed vigilance in combating the problem. Government recognition of the problem improve ... [Read More]
Belarus (10/04)
Since his election in July 1994 to a 5-year term as the country's first President, Alexander Lukashenko has consolidated power steadily in the executive branch through authoritarian means. He used a non-democratic November 1996 referendum to amend the 1994 constitution in order to broaden his powers and illegally extend his term in office; and he began to count his 5-year term in 1996, thereby adding 2 years to his first term in office. The new constitution has a popularly elected president who serves a 5-year term. The bicameral parliament consists of the 64-seat Council of the Republic and the 110-seat Chamber of Representatives. The Council of the Republic is the house of territorial representation. Eight members of the Council are appointed directly by the president of the Republic of Belarus, while local regional councils elect the rest. The deputies to the House of Representatives are elected directly by the voters. The president appoints the prime minister, who is the head ... [Read More]
Belarus
U.S. Department of State [Read More]
Independent States in the World
of the CongoCGKinshasaCosta Rica *+Republic of Costa RicaCSSan JosCte d'Ivoire *+Republic of Cte d'IvoireIVYamoussoukroCroatia *+Republic of CroatiaHRZagrebCuba +Republic of CubaCUHavanaCyprus *+Republic of CyprusCYNicosiaCzech Republic *+Czech RepublicEZPragueDenmark *+Kingdom of DenmarkDACopenhagenDjibouti *+Republic of DjiboutiDJDjiboutiDominica *+Commonwealth of DominicaDORoseauDominican Republic *+Dominican RepublicDRSanto DomingoEast Timor *+Democratic Republic of Timor-LesteTT ... [Read More]
Belarus
The authorities continued to discourage employees at state-run enterprises from joining independent trade unions. The BFTU, formerly the Belarusian branch of the Soviet Union's All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, consisted of approximately 4.5 million workers (including retirees) and was the largest trade union organization. The independent Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions consisted of 4 independent unions totaling 15,000 members. According to BFTU figures, 90 percent of the workforce was unionized. Although wary in the past of challenging the Government seriously, some BFTU leaders became increasingly vocal in their criticism of the policies of the Government during the year. In retaliation, the Government threatened and harassed some BFTU officials. In March, President Lukashenko ordered Minister of Industry Anatoly Kharlap to settle issues concerning opposition voices within the Federation. The President gave Kharlap 2 months to solve this issue and ... [Read More]
U.S. Department of State FOIA Electronic Reading Room - Key Officers
Quick Jump AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAngolaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelize [Read More]
U.S. Department of State Websites of U.S. Embassies and Consulates
• Republic of the Marshall Islands: Majuro• Federated States of Micronesia: ... [Read More]
Fall/Winter 2003
The Republic of Armenia The Republic of Moldova The Republic of Azerbaijan The Philippines The Republic of Belarus The Republic of Poland The Republic of Bulgaria Romania The People's Republic of China Russia The Czech Republic Slovak Republic [Read More]
Signatories to the 1970 UNESCO Convention
1 Amended listings of the signatories to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property" are published by the United States in the Federal Register. The Cultural Property staff keeps an updated list of signers in the interim. ... Korea, Republic of ... [Read More]
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