The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

Valiantsin Stefanovich, Deputy Head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, does not share the optimism of the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on Belarus Justas Paleckis, who argues that the human rights situation in the country has improved recently, said he in an interview to the Interfax-West news agency.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders addresses the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs with a request to implement Decision of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the case of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.

In April, the human rights situation in Belarus remained consistently poor with a clear tendency to deteriorate. 11 political prisoners (Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Autukhovich, Ales Bialiatski, Dzmitry Dashkevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Eduard Lobau, Artsiom Prakapenka, Pavel Seviaryents, Mikalai Statkevich and Yauhen Vaskovich) were still kept in jail; 2 persons continued to serve their terms of personal restraint (Sviataslau Baranovich and Dzmitry Miadzvedz); 8 more still had suspended or conditional prison terms (Andrei Dzmitryieu, Aliaksandr Fiaduta, Iryna Khalip, Siarhei Martsaleu, Uladzimir Niakliayeu, Andrei Pachobut, Vital Rymasheuski, Siarhei Vazniak) yatoslav Baranovitch).

The Human Rights Center "Viasna" urges the Belarusian authorities to stop the practice of intimidation and pressurization of civic activists and immediately decriminalize the activity of unregistered organizations.

FIDH and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” demand that charges against six people, including two journalists, one human rights defender and one activist, be dropped in relation to their engagement in this years annual commemoration of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

If challenging times are coming to Russia now, it is the time to pay attention to it, to support civil society groups and activists of Russia, to come together and to prove that the international civil society is alive and common values are more important for it than the borders between our countries.

Several publications posted on the website of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” were distorted, after hackers gained unauthorized access to the website last evening. The hacker attack affected all the three language versions.

Famous Belarusian and Russian screenwriter and actor Andrei Kureichyk signed a petition against the death penalty in Belarus.

Time moves on, but the situation of human rights and civil society in Belarus remains dramatic. Ales Bialiatski, Vice-president of FIDH and President of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, is still in jail along with numerous other political prisoners; all continue to be subjected to further harassment even behind bars. To shed light on this intolerable situation, FIDH has launched a new version of the http://freeales.fidh.net website. This site will inform and mobilise the international community loudly speaking out for the Belarusian civil society, which continues its courageous work despite the on-going pressure.

The report, What is not permitted is prohibited: Silencing civil society in Belarus, shows how the authorities in Belarus regularly deny the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, preventing people from speaking out in public, holding demonstrations or setting up civil organizations. Peaceful demonstrators frequently face fines or even prison sentences.