20.08.2014 Death convict’s mother receives son’s belongings
On August 20, Tamara Sialiun, mother of death convict Pavel Sialiun, who was executed in April for a double murder, picked up her dead son’s things at the Hrodna Regional Court. There, she was given a few dozen tapes, CDs, LPs, mobile phones and other items that belonged to Pavel.
20.08.2014 Prison not over for Mikalai Autukhovich
Vaukavysk District Prosecutor says there are no violations in the police-steered travel ban for former political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich, who asked to leave his home town to be treated in Minsk. In this regard, Autukhovich prepared a complaint to the Prosecutor of the Hrodna region.
20.08.2014 Journalists’ safety remains biggest media freedom challenge in Ukraine, says OSCE representative
VIENNA, 20 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today denounced recent attacks on members of the media in different regions of Ukraine.
20.08.2014 Congratulate Mikalai Dziadok on his birthday!
On Saturday, August 23, political prisoner Mikalai Dziadok, who is serving a prison sentence in Mahiliou prison No. 4, will turn 26 years old, of which almost four years he has spent behind bars. You can send Mikalai a birthday card or a telegram with words of support and warm wishes to the address: 212011, Mahiliou, Krupskoi 99a, prison No. 4.
20.08.2014 European ruling: Russia court cages violate rights
A European court on Thursday ordered Russia to pay damages for putting defendants in metal cages in court, a practice it condemned as "degrading treatment." The enclosures have held opposition figures, Greenpeace activists and untold numbers of less-prominent suspects across the country.
20.08.2014 Mikhail Kukabaka: History rewritten under dictation of another vozhd Putin
Mikhail Kukabaka, former inmate of Soviet labor camps, shared with Viasna his opinion about the destruction of the only museum to the victims of repression “Perm-36”.
20.08.2014 Mikhail Miakhedka: “No fear of looneybin, but would not want to get there again, I am nobody and nothing there”
A resident of Minsk Mikhail Miakhedka, who for nearly six years has been trying to restore justice, going through numerous judicial and legislative authorities, suddenly found himself in the Republican Center for Mental Health located in Minsk’s Navinki district. It happened on August 6 after he tried to pass his petition to the Presidential Administration.
20.08.2014 Andrzej Poczobut: A battle is carried out against mass media working from abroad
The Belarusian authorities do not stop their struggle against independent mass media.
19.08.2014 Niasvizh resident fined for solidarity with Ukraine
Natallia Bordak must pay the fine that was earlier cancelled.
19.08.2014 Journalists in Mahiliou face administrative charges
Local freelance journalists, Ales Burakou and Mikhail Arshynski, are accused of collaborating with foreign media that do not have accreditation in Belarus.
19.08.2014 Homel activist supplements complaint to UN Human Rights Committee with new facts
Coordinator of the youth network of the independent trade union of radio-electronic industry Andrei Stryzhak complained to the UN Human Rights Committee against a ban imposed by officials in Rechytsa on a peaceful assembly that was scheduled for September 8, 2013 and was expected to protest against the decision of the Belarusian government to abolish sick leave payments for parents raising children.
19.08.2014 Berlin students: Young Belarusians have to fight for their rights and not to lose hope (photos)
Three students of the Free University of Berlin, one of Germany’s largest universities, came to Vilnius to meet with the participants of the Summer Human Rights School, as well as with students from the Vilnius-based European Humanities University. Elena Gettsel, Satik Agekyan and Elena Pulich chose Belarus as the subject of their research at the Institute for East European Studies, which, according to them, is a rare option. Meanwhile, this choice was suggested by a circumstance that impressed them so much – until today the Belarusian state punishes its people with death, disregarding the right to life. During their meeting with the Belarusian youth, the issue of the death penalty was in the center of the discussion of the problems of human rights in Belarus.
19.08.2014 Ukraine: The Forgotten Victims
The human rights situation in Ukraine is alarming. Civilians are caught in the conflict between the Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian armed groups mainly in the East of the country. They are also abducted or arbitrarily detained, tortured, threatened and subjected to discrimination, especially in Crimea.
19.08.2014 OSCE media freedom representative concerned about ban on journalist from entering Crimea
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about the deteriorating media freedom situation in Crimea following the decision of the de-facto Crimean authorities to ban journalist Ismet Yuksel from entering the peninsula.
19.08.2014 OSCE/ODIHR Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders: Time for a genuine implementation across all the OSCE area and beyond
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH (the International Federation for Human Rights) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), welcomes the launch of the Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on June 10, 2014 under the Swiss Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Bern, and calls for a genuine implementation by all OSCE Participating States.
