On Wednesday, 20 deputies of Ukraine announced a new political faction called “Reforms for the Future.” The new union is mostly made up of former members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, supporting the reforms of President Viktor Yanukovych, as well as its own reforms, such as a state-run health care plan.
As the trials of opposition politicians in Belarus approach, Amnesty International examines human rights violations committed by the Belarusian authorities in the aftermath of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s fourth re-election last December. Hundreds of people were detained and many were beaten by riot police during the dispersal of a demonstration on election night on 19 December.