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Belarus: Countries
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During the rule of the current administration in Belarus there have been several cases of persecution, disappearance and mysterious deaths of prominent opposition leaders and independent journalists. Pavel Sheremet, a journalist criticizing the Lukashenko regime, was continuously persecuted for miscellaneous reasons. Dmitri Zavadsky, an opposition journalist, has disappeared. Anatoli Majsenia, chief of the anti-presidential Center for Strategic Initiatives, died in an automobile crash that looked like a staged accident. Mikhail Marinich, leader of the opposition, was jailed. Belarus is ... the only country in Europe where capital punishment is still legal and executed.
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The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the basis for the development of the country’s legislation. It is not by chance that it is called the Fundamental Law of the state. The President of the Republic of Belarus is the Head of the State, the guarantor of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, civil and human rights. The Parliament – the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus – is a representative and legislative body of the Republic of Belarus. The Government is headed by the Prime Minister appointed by the President of the Republic by approbation of the House of Representatives. more
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MODERN HISTORY - WWII TO 1993: On Aug. 25, 1991 Belarus declared its independence, although prior to independence its history was closely tied with that of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In Mar. 1953 Yosef Stalin died and was succeeded by Georgy Malenkov who was in turn forced to relinquish the party leadership to Nikita Khrushchev after a little over one week in power. In 1955 the Warsaw pact, militarily aligned the Soviet Union with other communist countries and in Nov. 1956 the Soviet Red Army invaded Hungary to quell uprisings. In 1957 three communist ministers unsuccessfully attempted to depose Khrushchev which resulted in their expulsion from the central committee. In 1962 under Khrushchev's rule the USSR was involved in the Cuban Missile crisis and in the same year relations with China were broken off as a result of ideological differences. In Oct. 1964 Khrushchev was forced to retire and was succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev.
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While many of the countries of the former Soviet Union have made steps toward democracy since gaining independence, Belarus has experienced stagnation under the dictatorship of President Aleksander Lukashenko. Elected in 1994, Lukashenko's rule has become progressively autocratic. In 1996, Belarus' constitution was revised by national referendum to give the presidency greatly expanded powers. In October 2004, Lukashenko sponsored another constitutional referendum that removed presidential term limits. In March 2006, Lukashenko was re-elected President of Belarus with a reported 87 percent of the vote cast. This election again failed to meet international standards according to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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In Belarus, about 30 types of mineral resources have been found (over 4,000 mineral fields and deposits). Of special significance among them are potassium salts: by their industrial reserves the country is among the leading countries in Europe. Prospected industrial reserves of the Mozyr, David-Gorodok and Starobin deposits exceed 22 billion tons. The Republic is rich in non-ore minerals like granite, dolomite, marl and chalk, low-melting and high-melting clay, loams, sand and gravel materials, raw material for manufacture of natural paints (boggy iron ore, ochre, glauconite, etc.) and possesses a rather powerful raw material base for manufacture of construction materials. Peat reserves are widely spread in Belarus. The total geological reserves are estimated at 4.4 billion tons.
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Belarus is governed under the constitution of 1994 as amended in 1996. It has a popularly elected president who serves a five-year term. The bicameral parliament consists of the 64-seat Council of the Republic and the 110-seat Chamber of Representatives. The president appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. Administratively, the country is divided into six districts or oblasts and one municipality.
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