01.02.2017 Aleh Hulak: There will be some changes in the Electoral Code, but grounds for criticism will obviously remain
The interdepartmental working group considered yesterday the recommendations on improving the electoral process in Belarus that were made by the OSCE ODIHR following last year’s parliamentary elections. Priority recommendations submitted by the campaign Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections were also presented at the meeting.
23.01.2017 Human Rights Situation in Belarus in 2016. Analytical Review
Changes in the geopolitical situation in the neighboring countries continued to have a significant impact on both external and internal political situation in the country during 2016, which in turn affected the human rights situation in Belarus.
17.01.2017 Priority recommendations on reforming electoral legislation
The civil campaign Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections presents a policy paper on its recommendations aimed at reforming the electoral legislation of Belarus. According to the campaign’s experts, these recommendations are crucial for the conduct of free, fair and democratic elections.
13.01.2017 Human Rights Watch World Report: Belarus’ human rights friendly rhetoric not supported by genuine improvements
"Belarus’ human rights friendly rhetoric was not supported by genuine human rights improvements in 2016," Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2017 published on January 12.
12.01.2017 Imprisoned human rights defender Andrei Bandarenka faces two more years in prison
Human rights defender Andrei Bandarenka, who is serving a sentence in prison in Mahilioŭ, has been formally charged under Part 2 of article 411 of the Criminal Code, ‘malicious disobedience to the correctional institution administration’. If convicted, he may be sentenced an additional term of up to two years.
09.01.2017 Human Rights Situation in Belarus: December 2016
During the month, Viasna documented a few instances of the use of forced labor in some districts of the Minsk region, which together with the earlier recorded reports, is evidence of a systemic and systematic use of forced labor in the country.
06.01.2017 Front Line Defenders: 281 human rights defenders murdered in 2016
More than 1000 human rights defenders were killed, harassed, detained, or subjected to smear campaigns and other violations in 2016, Front Line Defenders reported today at the launch of its annual report in Dublin. The Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk in 2016 documents hundreds of physical, legal, and social attacks on activists around the world in 2016.
31.12.2016 May the New Year be a 'good one, without any fear'!
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
28.12.2016 Man in Mazyr sentenced to death
Another death sentence has been handed down in Belarus. Kiryl Kazachok, 39, has been found guilty of murdering his two minor children and sentenced to capital punishment, BelaPAN said.
27.12.2016 Minsk City Court confirms sentence for Dzmitry Paliyenka
The Minsk City Court has rejected an appeal filed against a two-year suspended sentence earlier imposed on Dzmitry Paliyenka for his involvement in the Critical Mass cycling protest in April 2016. The sentence has entered into force.
26.12.2016 Uladzimir Kondrus sentenced to 1.5 years of personal restraint and forced treatment
The Court of Maskoŭski district of Minsk sentenced today Uladzimir Kondrus, the last defendant in the December 2010 riot trial, to 1.5 years of personal restraint and forced outpatient treatment, finding the defendant to be partially insane, which was taken into account as a mitigating circumstance. The sentence also absorbed the period of pre-trial detention.
21.12.2016 Overwhelming majority of states support universal moratorium on the death penalty. Belarus abstains
FIDH applauds the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to establish a global moratorium on the death penalty, endorsed by an overwhelming majority on 19 December 2016. A record number of 117 States voted in favor of the text; 40 voted against it, and 31 abstained.
16.12.2016 MP proposes to consider moratorium on the death penalty
Alena Anisim, member of the House of Representatives, has proposed to consider the question of declaring a moratorium on the death penalty at the second session of the parliament’s lower chamber of the sixth convocation, which will open in early April 2017, naviny.by said.
13.12.2016 Council of Europe holds conference on the death penalty amid executions in Minsk
A conference on the abolition of the death penalty and public opinion opened today in Minsk’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event was organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
12.12.2016 Situation in Belarus still frozen, human rights defenders say
Certain positive changes have taken place in the sphere of human rights over the past year, but the problem of their protection is still relevant, Belarusian human rights activists told belapan.by on the occasion of Human Rights Day celebrated on December 10.
