27.11.2015 Court of Appeals in Baku confirms 7.5-year prison term for critical journalist Khadija Ismayilova
On November 25, the Baku Court of Appeals upheld the 7.5-year sentence for investigative journalist and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributor Khadija Ismayilova, RFE/RL Azerbaijani service said.
26.11.2015 Russia: NGOs officially portrayed as “foreign agents”, “anti-constitutional” and “anti-Russian”, what next?
The “war” against the human rights movement in Russia is reaching a new stage. While more than a hundred NGOs have been officially labelled as “foreign agents” since June 2013, they are now being targeted for so-called “anti-constitutional” and “anti-Russian” activities - accusations reminiscent of the Soviet era repressive rhetoric.
26.11.2015 UN Human Rights Committee registers complaint by Hrodna human rights activist
Human rights defender Uladzimir Khilmanovich has received a written notification from the United Nations Human Rights Committee saying that his complaint has been registered and taken into consideration. The case concerns an incident of 2013, when the activist was fined for a photo with a portrait of Ales Bialiatski.
26.11.2015 Amnesty International asks to commute death sentence handed down to Ivan Kulesh
Amnesty International has urged President Lukashenka to "halt any planned executions and immediately commute the death sentence handed down to Ivan Kulesh and all others sentenced to death in Belarus", according to a statement released on November 24.
26.11.2015 Report on the results of monitoring of a mass event on November 24 in Minsk dedicated to the anniversary of the referendum of 1996
The mass event on November 24, 2015 was monitored fully and in person by six observers who had been trained and marked accordingly.
25.11.2015 PACE rapporteurs express dismay at death sentence in Belarus
Two rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have expressed their dismay at a death sentence handed down in Belarus last week, and urged the authorities not to carry it out.
25.11.2015 12 charged over protest staged to mark 1996 referendum anniversary
Twelve persons, including three journalists and two observers, have been charged with illegal picketing as a result of a demonstration held yesterday in central Minsk to mark the 19th anniversary of the 1996 referendum, a poll criticized both in Belarus and abroad as it dramatically increased President Lukashenka’s power.
25.11.2015 Closed medical institutions: Treatment or violence?
Every year, Belarusian courts consider about 700 lawsuits asking for forced treatment of citizens, 90% of which are met. Meanwhile, the patients of closed institutions keep writing to human rights defenders with complaints of ill-treatment. Pavel Sapelka, who specializes in analyzing the country’s penal system, concludes that the current legal regulation in this area is insufficient. His findings are based on a detailed analysis of legislation and practice with respect to special hospitals.
25.11.2015 Ales Bialiatski: American politicians and activist interested in Belarus
Head of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Ales Bialiatski has returned from a working visit to Washington, where he met with members of Congress, senators, officials of the State Department and non-governmental organizations based in the U.S.
24.11.2015 EU reiterates calls to abolish death penalty as new sentence handed down in Belarus
The European Union External Action Service has issued a statement on the death sentence handed down on November 20 to Ivan Kulesh by the Hrodna Regional Court.
24.11.2015 Football fans beaten by police in Sluck
Some 50 football fans were detained and beaten by riot police after a match between FC Sluck and FC Homieĺ at the Sluck City Stadium on November 21, belultras.by said.
23.11.2015 Authorities to investigate police-related violence in ‘graffiti case’
Viachaslau Kasinerau, an activist accused in the so-called ‘graffiti case’, has been told that a criminal case was opened to investigate the injuries he suffered when brutally detained by employees of a special detachment of the Interior Ministry on August 11 this year.
23.11.2015 Human rights books seized by customs officers
A number of books covering human rights issues were taken from Aliaksandr Hanevich, while crossing the state border of Belarus last Thursday, November 19.
20.11.2015 Another death sentence handed down in Hrodna
The Hrodna Regional Court chaired by Judge Anatol Zayats has sentenced to death a resident of Lida District Ivan Kulesh.
20.11.2015 Minsk court fines opposition leaders Anatol Liabedzka and Viachaslau Siuchyk
The Court of Minsk’s Centraĺny district heard today the administrative charges brought against Anatol Liabedzka, leader of the United Civil Party, and opposition politician Viachaslau Siuchyk.
