The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

11.11.2015 UN Secretary-General: "I Will Never Stop Calling for an End to the Death Penalty"

Calling the punishment "simply wrong," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has vowed to "never stop calling for an end to the death penalty." Speaking at the launch of a new book by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, "Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives," the Secretary-General highlighted the worldwide decline of capital punishment, noting that "more and more countries and States are abolishing the death penalty."

10.11.2015 Ukrainian journalists accused of taking ‘extremist’ books in Belarus

The unfortunate incident happened at the Ukraine-Belarus border. Oleksandr Doniy and his colleagues working for the programme ‘Last Barricade’ aired by Ukrainian Central TV channel were going to Vilnius through Belarus. They were detained and kept within 5 hours, Doniy said on Facebook.

10.11.2015 Lidziya Yarmoshyna: Observers should enjoy exercisable right to observe vote count

Tamara Shchapiotkina, an observer from Biaroza, received yesterday a letter from the Central Election Commission sent in response to her complaint. The CEC chair Lidziya Yarmoshyna says that the observer knows “the position of the Central Election Commission on the matters raised in the complaint.” “It ensures the need of the observer to enjoy an exercisable right to observe the counting of votes.”

10.11.2015 1,000 copies of Vital Silitski's book destroyed

Book of political scientist Vital Silitski "The Long Road from Tyranny: Post-. Communist Authoritarianism and Struggle for Democracy in Serbia and Belarus" was released by the ARCHE journal publishing house in October 2015.

09.11.2015 Activist appeals unlawful detention and beating

Andrei Kavalchuk, an opposition activist in Brest, has written to the Investigative Committee to complain about an incident of November 6, when he was detained by police officers and taken to the police station.

09.11.2015 FIDH calls on French President to fight for release of Leyla Yunus

Karim Lahidji, FIDH President, Sidiki Kaba and Michel Blum, both FIDH Honorary Presidents have been promoted in the National Order of the Legion of Honour today, Friday 6 November 2015, by President François Hollande at the Elysee Palace.

07.11.2015 Prosecutor asks to execute defendant in murder trial in Hrodna

On November 5, the Hrodna Regional Court heard the case of Ivan Kulesh, a resident of Lida district accused of triple murder, theft and robbery. As a result of the hearing, the prosecutor asked to punish the defendant with the capital punishment.

05.11.2015 Liabedzka To Stand Another Trial

The new trial over the events in front of the KGB headquarters is scheduled for November 12.

05.11.2015 Activist in Akciabrski fined over protest against election fraud

The District Court of Akciabrski, a town in Homieĺ region, has fined Alena Lutskovich, leader of the United Civil Party’s Young Democrats youth wing and an observer in this year’s presidential election, 2.7 mln rubles for staging a protest on October 30, when the activist displayed a poster saying “I have proofs that the election was rigged!”

04.11.2015 CoE Commissioner for Human Rights: “Belarus has a lot of challenges ahead in order to become a fully democratic country”

Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, has told about his perception of the human rights situation in Belarus and the prospects of cooperation between Belarus and the Council of Europe in an interview with Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe Belarus service.

04.11.2015 Minsk City Court quashes fine for peaceful protests

Viachaslau Siuchyk, the leader of the Razam opposition movement, has won an appeal to the Minsk City Court against the Centraĺny District Court, which fined the politician 10.8 mln rubles on charges of being involved in two illegal protests staged in Minsk on September 23 and October 4.

04.11.2015 Ex-political prisoner Eduard Lobau wanted by police

Former political prisoner Eduard Lobau may face new criminal charges, according to the website of the Belarusian Documentation Center.

03.11.2015 Mother still seeking details in jail death case

Zhanna Ptsichkina, the mother of Ihar Ptsichkin who died in Minsk’s jail in Valadarski Street in August 2013, has been allowed to see the results of a new examination of her dead son’s body carried out in a re-opened criminal case. The investigation continues, but the woman still faces a ban on disclosing any details.

02.11.2015 Court cancels preventive supervision of Pavel Vinahradau

The Berazino District Court ruled today to terminate the preventive supervision imposed on opposition activist Pavel Vinahradau.

02.11.2015 Baranavičy: Law enforcement authorities refuse to consider electoral fraud report

The Baranavičy interdistrict department of the Investigative Committee and the city Department of Internal Affairs refused to consider a request by former member of the city territorial election commission Viktar Syrytsa, who complained about alleged electoral fraud during the tabulation of voting results at polling station No. 36.