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remains a sensitive topic, and only since 1989 has real debate about the expulsions and their consequences got under way. The episode featured today was first broadcast on September 11, |
Bacteria are considered to be harmful but also are of great importance to all the living beings including humans and the natural environment. These bacteria are the most robust unicellular organisms which continue their survival even in the severe adverse |
conditions like extreme temperatures (high or low), starvation, droughts etc. They can do this because of their ability to transform into metabolically inert yet live forms (state) namely spores. Bacteria are the boon to the environment and nature without whom |
the surroundings around us could not have been clean and tidy. They are also of vital importance for humans, plants and animals in many ways as they contribute to some extent in their body physiology, metabolism and also other ways. |
Importance of bacteria for environment: ♠ Saprophytic bacteria are natural scavengers on the earth and atmosphere. They decay any dead and waste matter on the surface of the earth and in the soil. Hence there is no accumulation of dead |
corpse of animals over so long years of emergence of life on earth. ♠ Further they degrade any chemical or biochemical fallen on the soil and there by decontaminate the valuable soil and make it fit for growth of plants |
& animal safe survival on the earth. Even the vast amount of pesticides used in farms are degraded over a period of weeks in the soil or else the soil would be toxic for further use. ♠ They are important |
source of vegetative nutrition in marine environment. They provide major & micro-nutrients required for sustenance of marine animals. I.e. they form the starting point of marine food chain. Importance of bacteria for plants: ♦ Bacteria are helpful for plants. They |
render the soil suitable for growth of plants. They breakdown any organic matter so that the plants receive essential mineral elements for growth. ♦ They are important contribution for formation of humus i.e. fertile soil which contributes to efficient growth |
of plants. ♦ Some bacteria help fix nitrogen in the roots of few plants by taking it from air. Ex: Rhizobium bacteria. Importance of bacteria for animals: • Bacteria like Entero-coli live in the gut intestines of animals in symbiotic |
fashion. They help in degradation of unused food and help in its expulsion from body. • Some bacteria like E.coli which are present in the body resist growth of harmful bacteria like typhoid. Importance of bacteria for industrial & commercial |
purposes: ♠ For beverage industry: For this industry bacteria contribute in fermentation of wine used as beverages to form alcohol. ♠ In dairy industry and homes ferments milk to produce curd. ♠ When bacteria like blue-green algae are left into |
agriculture soil, they fix natural manure in the form of nitrogen from air for better growth and yield of crops. Importance of bacteria for health and medicine industry * For antibiotic production: Antibiotics were found to be produced by bacteria |
and these antibiotics could rescue people form other harmful and pathogenic bacteria. Initially most antibiotics were produced by fermenting large cultures of bacteria. Now synthetic ones are in large supply. * For production of vaccines: Bacteria are used to produce |
vaccines by either seperating their antigens or sometimes dead form or else even live one with lack of pathogenic character. * For manufacturing products of genetic engineering: Products like insulin, vitamin-B12, etc. are supplied in large scale in continuous basis |
not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the |
United Nations or its Member States.| Belarus has a government in which nearly all power is concentrated in the hands of the President. Since his election in July 1994 to |
a 5-year term as the country's first President, Alexandr Lukashenko has consolidated power steadily in the executive branch through authoritarian means. He used a November 1996 referendum to amend the |
1994 Constitution in order to broaden his powers and extend his term in office. The President ignored the then-Constitutional Court's ruling that the Constitution could not be amended by referendum. |
As a result, the current political system is based on the 1996 Constitution, which was adopted in an unconstitutional manner. Most members of the international community criticized the flawed referendum |
and do not recognize the legitimacy of the 1996 Constitution, legislature, or Alexandr Lukashenko's continuation in office beyond the legal expiration of his term in July. Although the amended Constitution |
provides for a formal separation of powers, the President dominates all other branches of government. The current acting legislature was not elected directly, but was created out of the remnants |
of the former Parliament, which Lukashenko disbanded soon after the 1996 referendum. The Constitution limits the legislature to meeting twice per year for no more than a total of 170 |
days. Presidential decrees made when the legislature is out of session have the force of law, except – in theory – in those cases restricted by the 1996 Constitution. The |
1996 Constitution also allows the President to issue decrees having the force of law in circumstances of "specific necessity and urgency," a provision that President Lukashenko has interpreted broadly. The |
judiciary is not independent. Law enforcement and internal security responsibilities are shared by the Committee for State Security (KGB) and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), both of which answer directly |
to the President. Civilian authorities do not maintain effective control of the security forces. Under President Lukashenko's direction, the Presidential Guard – initially created to protect senior officials – continued |
to act against the President's political enemies with no judicial or legislative oversight. On May 25, the Law on the State Guard officially entered into force. The law, which already |
had been operative on a de facto basis for a number of years, gives the President the right to subordinate all security bodies to his personal command.Members of the security |
forces committed numerous human rights abuses. The country's political leadership opposes any significant economic reforms and remains committed ideologically to a planned economy. Government officials claimed that the gross domestic |
product (GDP) grew during the first 6 months of the year by 3 percent, but most independent analysts agree that any growth that has occurred was the result principally of |
continued massive credits to the debt-ridden state sector. Discriminatory foreign exchange controls have contributed to sharp declines in foreign trade and investment. Both exports and imports continued to fall given |
the country's growing isolation from world and regional trade flows. Foreign investment fell by 42 percent to $30 million during the first 6 months of the year. Per capita GDP |
remained constant at approximately $1,100, but in reality was probably much lower. Leading exports are trucks, tractors, chemical fertilizers, and fibers. The majority of workers are employed in the state |
industrial and agricultural sectors. Although the unreliability of official statistics makes it difficult to assess accurately economic conditions, living standards for many segments of society continued to decline. Annual inflation |
was over 350 percent. Following a doubling by the Government on May 1, average monthly wages stood at approximately $40 at mid-year. Residents of small towns and rural areas, where |
incomes are particularly low and wage arrears more prevalent, sustain themselves through unreported economic activity and small gardens. The Government's human rights record worsened significantly. The Government severely limits the |
right of citizens to change their government, and the President took severe measures to neutralize a large-scale public campaign initiated by opposition leaders to draw attention to the expiration of |
his legal term in office on July 20. Well-known political figures disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Security forces continued to beat political opponents and detainees. There were reports of severe hazing |
in military units during the year. Prison conditions remained poor. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens, and the number of apparently politically motivated arrests increased, although most of those |
arrested soon were released. Prolonged detention and delays in trials were common and also occurred in a number of politically sensitive cases. Although one political prisoner was released, at least |
one other individual whose conviction human rights groups believe was politically motivated remains incarcerated. The security services infringed on citizens' privacy rights and monitored closely the activities of opposition politicians |
and other segments of the population. Restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, and peaceful assembly continued, and the Government did not respect freedom of association. The Government continued to |
impose limits on freedom of religion, and restricted freedom of movement. Government security agents monitored closely human rights monitors and hindered their efforts. Domestic violence and discrimination against women remained |
significant problems. Societal anti-Semitism persists. Authorities continued to restrict workers' rights to associate freely, organize, and bargain. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. |
Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial killings. On May 7, former Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Zakharenko disappeared shortly after he told |
his family in a telephone conversation that he was on his way home. Zakharenko, a close associate of the then-detained former Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir, disappeared after voting began in |
an opposition presidential election initiative, in which Chigir was one of the principal candidates. Witnesses reported seeing Zakharenko on the evening of his disappearance being pushed by several men into |
an unmarked car. According to Zakharenko's family, government security officials did little to look for him or inquire into the details of his disappearance. On May 19, Minister of Internal |
Affairs Yury Sivakov stated publicly that there was "no information" to indicate that a crime had been committed against Zakharenko. An investigation into the disappearance apparently was begun only several |
months later after another opposition political figure disappeared in mid-September. On September 16, following a meeting earlier during that day broadcast on state television in which President Lukashenko ordered the |
chiefs of his security services to crackdown on "opposition scum," 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy Chairman Viktor Gonchar disappeared, along with local business associate Anatoliy Krasovsky. Shortly before his disappearance, Gonchar |
telephoned his wife to inform her that he was on his way home. Broken glass and blood were discovered later at the site where relatives and friends of the men |
believe the vehicle in which the two were travelling may have been stopped. A high-profile antigovernment politician, Gonchar was considered an active fund raiser for the opposition. Although government authorities |
denied any involvement, there is no public evidence of concrete progress by government investigators to resolve the cases. In mid-December, former National Bank chairwoman Tamara Vinnikova, who disappeared from an |
apartment where she had been held closely guarded under house arrest since November 1997 (see Section 1.d.), reappeared. Vinnikova apparently was able to escape from her guards and eventually make |
her way to another country (see Section 1.d.). c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The 1996 Constitution provides for the inviolability of the person and |
specifically prohibits torture, as well as cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; however, police and prison guards beat detainees and prisoners. Law enforcement and prison officials may use physical force against |
detainees and prisoners if the latter are violent, have refused to obey the instructions of the prison administration, or have violated "maliciously" the terms of their sentences. However, human rights |
monitors credibly report that investigators coerce confessions through beatings and psychological pressure. Although such behavior is against the law, the Government seldom, if ever, punishes those who commit such abuses. |
Guards use force against detainees to coerce confessions as well as during routine activities. Police also beat demonstrators (see Section 2.b.). On April 2, plainclothes security officials beat opposition activist |
Halina Kunina following an unsanctioned demonstration in Minsk, during which over 20 persons – including 9 minors – were detained. Kunina reportedly was hospitalized with a concussion for several days. |
On April 25, Omon special forces militia in the city of Grodno used truncheons and tear gas to break up a peaceful demonstration of approximately 40 youths who were staging |
a march to mark the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Subsequently, nine demonstrators were detained briefly for between 2 to 4 days, including one who required medical attention for a |
concussion she received during the incident. On June 11, following a trial closed to the public, press, and international observers, the Supreme Court sentenced Viktar Yancheuski, Anatol Haurylau, and Raman |
Radzikouski to 11, 5, and 4 years in prison, respectively (Radzikouski later received amnesty) for their alleged roles in the murder of Lukashenko adviser and Mahileu local government official Yauhen |
Mikalutski. Mikalutski was killed in October 1997 by a radio-controlled car bomb. Independent local analysts speculate the murder was probably connected with the illegal trade of alcohol to Russia. Government |
authorities claimed that Valery Tkachev, another suspect in the case, committed suicide by hanging himself in a detention facility in December 1997. Relatives of Yancheuski, Haurylau, and Radzikouski claimed that |
government investigators used physical coercion against the defendants in order to try to get them to confess to a crime that they did not commit. The officers of the Minsk |
Advisory and Monitoring Group (AMG) of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who were permitted to interview the defendants, found that their statements of beatings while in detention |
were credible, noted that it was clear that they were under heavy psychological pressure to cooperate, and that they had not been given access to legal counsel. On July 17, |
Uladimir Antonaw, a 20-year-old member of the youth branch of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, was detained by militia officers in Minsk for allegedly writing anti-presidential slogans on public buildings. |
No charges officially were brought against him, but Antonaw was detained for 5 days. Antonaw claims that militia officers beat him with truncheons and tried to coerce him to confess. |
The local human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) Spring '96 confirmed Antonaw's account of the treatment he received while in detention. Over 70 persons were detained briefly following demonstrations in Minsk |
and other cities on July 21 and July 27. Government security officials beat some of the detainees (see Section 1.c.). Following the July 21 demonstration, militia officers in Minsk beat |
Oleg Volchek, an opposition activist and chairman of a nongovernmental commission investigating the disappearance of former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Zakharenko. Volchek, who was treated and released that evening for |
the injuries he sustained, later filed an official complaint about the conduct of the militia officers with a local prosecutor's office. Charges of "malicious hooliganism" filed against Volchek for his |
participation in the demonstration later were dropped; however, government authorities also did not take any disciplinary action against the officers involved in the beating incident. Pavel Znavets, deputy of the |
13th Supreme Soviet, illegally disbanded by Lukashenko after a 1996 referendum (see Section 3) also was detained and beaten following the July 21 demonstration. Militia officers in Minsk reportedly also |
beat Alyaksey Lapitski, a member of the Frantsysk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society (BLS), whom they detained for participating in the demonstration. A subsequent medical examination confirmed Lapitski's account of physical |
abuse. The BLS filed an official complaint with local authorities. There were reports that no disciplinary action was taken against the officers involved in these cases. On July 27, 21-year-old |
Yawhen Asinski was detained for allegedly kicking a militia officer during an opposition demonstration commemorating the anniversary of the declaration of Belarusian sovereignty from the Soviet Union (see Section 1.d.). |
At a news conference held by the human rights NGO Spring '96, following his release on September 6, Asinski claimed that uniformed militia and plainclothes government security officers hit him |
in the abdomen, kidneys, and back both before and after his arrest. According to Asinski, he was subjected to food and sleep deprivation during his first three days in detention |
and placed with 18 other prisoners in a cell meant for up to 10 persons. An OSCE observer who later interviewed Asinski found his claims of physical abuse to be |
credible. Charges of "malicious hooliganism" filed against Asinski remained pending at year's end. On October 17, uniformed and plainclothes security forces beat demonstrators who were detained following a large antigovernment |
demonstration in Minsk (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). At least 20 of the demonstrators subsequently registered their accounts of physical abuse while in custody with the Minsk-based Independent Association for |
Legal Assistance to the Population. On October 19, police officers of the Sovietsky District station in Minsk beat 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy and well-known independent journalist Valery Schukin following his |
detention for participation in the demonstration. On December 13, 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy Andrei Klimov, who had been held in pretrial detention on politically motivated charges since February 1998 (see |
Section 1.d.), was beaten severely by prison guards after he refused to attend a court hearing on his case. During the beating, Klimov suffered a concussion and other injuries. Despite |
the recommendation of examining doctors, Klimov was not permitted immediate hospitalization. On December 23, the Procurator General's office announced that it would not institute criminal proceedings against the officers involved |
in the incident since they had taken "adequate measures" with regard to Klimov. The Ministry of Defense announced in 1996 that "dedovshchina," the practice of hazing new recruits, would no |
longer be tolerated. However, this practice apparently has not abated. According to official data, 48 cases of "dedovshchina" were reported during the first 8 months of the year. During 1998 |
73 cases were reported. Prison conditions are poor, and are marked by severe overcrowding, shortages of food and medicine, and the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis, and AIDS. |
Conditions at prison hospitals also are poor, according to human rights monitors. Detainees in pretrial detention facilities also reported poor conditions and denial of medical treatment, which contributed to their |
declining health while they awaited trial. AMG officers who visited a detention facility in Vitebsk during June noted that in 1 cell 16 female prisoners shared 10 beds, while in |
another, 14 prisoners between the ages of 14 and 17 shared 8 beds. During an interview with a government newspaper in February, the deputy procurator general acknowledged continued severe prison |
overcrowding. He stated that detention centers and corrective labor institutions house 150 percent of the authorized number of prisoners, and noted the problem facilitated the spread of contagious diseases. On |
November 3, Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Sivakov publicly acknowledged that the country's total prison population remained at over 60,000 persons, and that prison conditions in the country did not |
meet "basic standards." A government amnesty for lesser offenders that went into effect on January 21 was intended to decrease the total prison population by approximately 8,000 inmates, but it |
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