Imprisoned Belarus human rights defender Ales Byalyatski has been awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘Belarus’
Belarus Ales Byalyatski wins Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize of Council of Europe
September 30, 2013Vasil Parfiankou sent for forced treatment in Belarus
September 24, 2013
Former political prisoner Vasil Parfiankou has been placed in medical and labor dispensary No. 1 in the town of Svetlahorsk, after serving five days of arrest in Minsk. The Human Rights Center “Viasna” Read the rest of this entry »
Detention after solidarity action in Mahiliou, Belarus
August 8, 2013Social activist Dyiana Yakauleva was detained by the riot police at the police station in Krylenka Street. Human rights defenders Barys Bukhel and Aliaksei Kolchyn are trying to clear up the circumstances of the detention. From 11.30 -12.30 a.m. a solidarity action, timed to coincide with the International Day of Solidarity with the Civil Society of Belarus, was held in the city of Mahiliou, Belarus. During the action, social activists handed out postcards with a portrait of the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski. The protest went peacefully but after it ended Dyiana Yakauleva was detained anyway.
Related articles
- UN Rapporteur joins chorus to urge freedom for Bialiatski in Belarus (thoolen.wordpress.com)
UN Rapporteur joins chorus to urge freedom for Bialiatski in Belarus
August 2, 2013
Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklós Haraszti. – Photo: OSCE/Susanna Lööf
2 August 2013 the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Republic of Belarus, Miklós Haraszti, said that the detention of Bialiatski is “a symbol of the repression against human rights defenders.” Read the rest of this entry »
Side event focusing on Russia and Belarus on 5 June in Geneva
June 3, 2013
The FIDH Representative to the UN in Geneva (http://www.fidh.org) invites people to a side event entitled: RUSSIA & BELARUS: JOINT OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM, which will be held on 5 June 2013, in room VIII of the Palais des Nations, from 2pm – 4pm.
Participants:
Mr. Miklos Haraszti, Special Rapporteur on Belarus (TBC)
Olga Abramenko, Director of ADC Memorial (Russia) who was recently charged for publishing a report entitled “Roma, Migrants, Activists: Victims of Police Abuse” and submitting it to the UN Committee Against Torture.
Valentin Stefanovitch, Deputy Head of Human Rights Center VIASNA (Belarus) who will provide context on the Belarusian situation and draw comparisons with the harassment of Russian NGOs.
Dimitry Kolbasin, Head of the Information Department of AGORA (Russia) who will focus on the increasing repression of Russian human rights NGOs.
Valery Sozaev, Advocacy Manager, LGBT Network (Russia) who will specifically tackle issues facing LGBT people
“Free Bialatski!”, “Free Nabil” shouted by FIDH in the streets of Istanbul
May 27, 2013
The participants of the 38th Congress of the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH), which has started on 23 May in Istanbul, organized a procession with the demand to release their colleagues political prisoners Read the rest of this entry »
Criminal charges dropped against journalist Andrzej Poczobut in Belarus
March 29, 2013The second criminal case against journalist Andrzej Poczobut has been closed, and the charges of “libelling the President of Belarus” have been dropped, reports AI through Protection on Line. He had been targeted for his work as a journalist and for the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of expression. On 15 March, criminal charges against Andrzej Poczobut were dropped by the Investigative Committee of the Hrodna region, Belarus, due to lack of evidence. The Investigative Committee reached the conclusion that there is no evidence of a crime by Andrzej Poczobut, as the experts fail to agree that he had libelled the President in his articles. Andrzej Poczobut was arrested on 21 June 2012 and released on 30 June under bail conditions. His bail conditions have now been lifted and he can now travel within Belarus. Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent of the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a prominent activist for the Polish minority in Belarus. Andrzej Poczobut continues to serve a three-year suspended prison sentence – imposed on 5 July 2011 – on similar charges for other newspaper articles. Under this sentence he cannot leave Belarus and has to register with the police.
Observatory addresses Human Rights Council on funding restrictions on NGOs
March 16, 2013I reported earlier that on 28 February the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of their joint programme the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, organised a meeting on (legal) restrictions increasingly imposed on human rights defenders. This was followed up on 11 March with an oral intervention at the UN Human Rights Council. 
The statement referred to the recently published Annual Report 2013 of the Observatory, which states that NGOs’ access to funding, in particular foreign funding, is increasingly being hindered by governments around the world. Restrictive laws combined with unfounded criticism, smear campaigns and judicial harassment directed against human rights defenders because of the source of their funding create a hostile environment towards their activities as a way to silence them. Belarusian law now prohibits any possibility for an NGO to hold a bank account in an institution based abroad, and criminalises the use of so-called unauthorised funds. These new provisions were adopted as FIDH Vice-President and “Viasna” President Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment after he made use of foreign funds to finance human rights activities in his country. Read the rest of this entry »
Ukrainian activists support Belarusian human rights defenders – Charter97
January 10, 2013Good to see that Human Rights Defenders from Ukraine support their colleagues in Belarus.
Charter97 reports how Ukrainian human rights activists launched an Internet campaign on behalf of Belarusian colleagues arrested for posting photos with a portrait of Ales Byalyatski on the Internet.
First results appear on the website – activists from different human rights groups send their photos with a portrait of Ales Byalyatski.
Participants of the Second International Human Rights training for the Youth:
Incoming President of UN Human Rights Council pledges support for human rights defenders
December 14, 2012The incoming President of the Human Rights Council – Polish Ambassador Remigiusz Henczel – pledged to continue the efforts of his predecessors in ensuring full participation of civil society and human rights defenders in the work of the UN’s main human rights body. He added that to make human rights a reality, the work of human rights defenders must be fully supported by the work of the Council. These positive remarks were made during the Council’s 7th organisational session (10 December) for the next cycle, which will start on 1 January 2013. The organisational session was the first meeting with the Council members newly elected by the General Assembly on 11 November 2012.
In her closing remarks as the outgoing President, Ambassador Dupuy Lasserre of Uruguay highlighted some of the successes and challenges of her 18-month term. She underscored the need for the Council to drive important ‘unpoliticised messages’ while involving a wide range of actors to promote and protect human rights. The President also highlighted the importance of strengthening the stance taken by the Council on reprisals to prevent intimidation against human rights defenders.
For those who are interested to know more about the Council or want to follow its proceedings more closely I recommend the International Service for Human Rights (http://www.ishr.ch/council) who also publishes the Human Rights Monitor, a non-governmental but unbiased take on the sometimes bewildering number of UN human rights bodies and procedures. The draft programme of work of the Council’s 22nd session in March 2013 is available on the OHCHR extranet and here.
The newly elected members of the HRC are (by region):
- Africa: Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Sierra Leone
- Asia: Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates
- Eastern Europe: Estonia, Montenegro
- Latin America and Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela
- Western Europe and Others: USA, Germany, Ireland
The members leaving at the end of 2012 are (by region):
- Africa: Cameroun, Djibouti, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal
- Asia: Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia
- Eastern Europe: Hungary, Russian Federation
- Latin America and Caribbean: Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay
- Western Europe and Others: Belgium, Norway, USA
Also interesting to note that Belarus did not observe the diplomatic tradition of making complimentary statements but expressed concern about the election of a Polish diplomat as the next President of the Council and the ‘overrepresentation’ of EU members in important mandates. This discontent was clearly influenced by Poland’s leading role in the creation of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus earlier this year.
