A picket in support of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski and other political prisoners in Belarus was held near the Belarusian Embassy in Stockholm on 31 January. It was organized by the Swedish human rights initiative Östgruppen in cooperation with Civil Rights Defenders, the Swedish branch of Amnesty International and the Swedish Union of Writers.
Paris-Geneva, January 24, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns the confirmation of the sentencing to prison of Mr. Ales Bialiatski, President of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Viasna” and FIDH Vice-President.
Well-known Russian human rights activist Andrey Yurov, head of the International Observation Mission of the Committee on International Control over the Situation with Human Rights in Belarus, wrote a brief article in which he summarized the main results of 2011 and noted the important trends for the future of the human rights movement in the CIS countries.
During all the recent years Belarus is invariably among the countries of the world where human rights are broken to the greatest extent: breaches of human rights in economic sphere and first of all in social-political sphere are the main object of criticism of international organizations.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), condemns the sentencing of Mr. Valiantsin Stefanovich, Vice-Chairman of the Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, by to a fine of 53 million rubles (about 4,840 euros).
On 19 December last year we witnessed thousands of peaceful citizens gathering in central Minsk, protesting the oppression and the stolen presidential elections. That night all hope of progress was shattered as we saw police forces batter the protesters and arresting them by the hundreds. Presidential candidates, opposition leaders, civil society leaders and unorganized citizens were all herded into vans and brought to prison. Thousands fled, running away from soldiers and police beating indiscriminately. Belarusian citizens keep running still a year later.
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