News on the topic: human rights defenders
11.12.2018 Campaigners against the death penalty win national human rights prize
Belarusian human rights defenders marked the International Human Rights Day by awarding the 10th annual National Human Rights Prize. The ceremony was hosted by the newly opened education space “Territory of Rights.”
07.12.2018 Picks of the Week
Human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka awarded French Human Rights Prize; Former political prisoner Dzmitry Paliyenka will stand two more administrative trials; police in Hrodna use an array of illegal means to extort confession
26.11.2018 Three days in Chechnya: mission of solidarity with Oyub Titiev
Last week, Chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Ales Bialiatski and human rights activist Siarhei Sys visited Chechnya to witness the trial of Oyub Titiev, head of Memorial’s Grozny branch, which has been underway for four months in the town of Shali. The human rights activist is accused of illegal possession of drugs and may be imprisoned to 10 years.
16.11.2018 Observatory condemns harassment of Viasna activist Ales Burakou
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
12.11.2018 Viasna protests harassment of its activist in Mahilioŭ
Statement by the Human Rights Center “Viasna”
19.10.2018 Picks of the Week
Human rights lawyer arrested in Brest; opposition activist convicted over anti-military protest; journalists routinely harassed across Belarus
19.10.2018 Observatory: End judicial harassment against Roman Kislyak
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
15.10.2018 Observatory calls to quash convictions of Masliukova and Zmitrovich
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
10.10.2018 Viasna activist fined in Svietlahorsk
Alena Masliukova, activist of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in Svietlahorsk, has been fined 612.5 rubles (USD 285) on charges of organizing an illegal assembly.
02.10.2018 HRDs present alternative report on human rights situation in Belarus
On October 1, representatives of the national human rights coalition presented their alternative report on the human rights situation in Belarus. The preparation of the report involved 12 human rights organizations.
01.10.2018 Observatory: Drop charges against Svietlahorsk activists
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicial harassment of Ms. Alena Masliukova, member of Human Rights Centre “Viasna” in Svetlogorsk and Mr. Anatoly Zmitrovich, an environmental activist.
21.09.2018 Picks of the Week
On September 20, human rights defender Alena Masliukova was charged with illegal protesting, after she attended a picket in Svietlahorsk, in which environmental activists demanded to close a local pulp mill. Masliukova denies the charge saying that she came to the city’s central square to monitor the protest.
05.09.2018 Case Belarus v. Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik. Trial observation report
“Conviction of leaders of independent trade union REP Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik on tax evasion charges is politically motivated and trial proceedings were marred by procedural irregularities”, concludes the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership) in a report published on August 30. “The convictions should be overturned on appeal”.
29.08.2018 Viasna joins 127 rights groups to call for immediate release of Nabeel Rajab
Paris-Geneva-Manama – For the second time since 2013, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has issued an Opinion regarding the legality of the detention of Mr. Nabeel Rajab under international human rights law. In its second opinion, the WGAD held that the detention was not only arbitrary but also discriminatory. The 127 signatory human rights groups welcome this landmark opinion, made public on 13 August 2018, recognising the role played by human rights defenders in society and the need to protect them. We call upon the Bahraini Government to immediately release Nabeel Rajab in accordance with this latest request.
24.08.2018 Statement by Belarusian human rights organizations on sentence in REP trial
On August 24, 2018, Henadz Fiadynich, chairperson of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of Radio Electronic Industry Workers (REP), and Ihar Komlik, the Union’s accountant, were found guilty of committing a crime under Part 2, Art. 243 of the Criminal Code (large-scale tax evasion).
