11.09.2016 Parliamentary elections: Final report on early voting
Early voting remains one of the systemic problems of the country’s electoral process and creates opportunities for the use of administrative resources and other manipulations.
10.09.2016 Parliamentary elections: Analytical report on fourth day of early voting
364 short-term observers of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" are involved in daily observation of the early voting at 182 polling stations across the country.
09.09.2016 Parliamentary elections: Analytical report on third day of early voting
In accordance with the Electoral Code, early voting opened on September 6.
08.09.2016 Parliamentary elections: Analytical report on second day of early voting
In accordance with the Electoral Code, early voting opened on September 6.
07.09.2016 Parliamentary elections: Analytical report on first day of early voting
In accordance with the Electoral Code, early voting opened on September 6.
05.09.2016 Weekly Analytical Report. August 29 - September 4
A significant level of campaigning activity is demonstrated by the pro-government candidates, who still use the administrative resource, including state-controlled electronic and print media.
02.09.2016 Human Rights Situation in Belarus: August 2016
On July 14, the law enforcement officers detained Uladzimir Kondrus, a resident of the town of Rudziensk, Minsk region. Kondrus was taken into custody and charged under Part 2, Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (rioting). On August 10, the country’s leading human rights organizations issued a statement to recognize Uladzimir Kondrus a political prisoner and to demand his release.
31.08.2016 Counting of Votes Revisited
On September 11, the parliamentary elections will culminate in Election Day, which, in turn, will end with vote counting, a procedure of extreme secrecy, according to election officials. Meanwhile, it is the vote count that has traditionally triggered fierce criticism of both domestic and international observers, not to speak of opposition candidates running for Parliament. The observers’ recommendations are that the vote counting procedure needs more transparency.
29.08.2016 Greek academic and activist Dimitris Christopoulos elected FIDH President
Dimitris Christopoulos has been elected President of FIDH. He succeeds Iranian lawyer Karim Lahidji who headed the international human rights NGO for the last three years. The vote was held during the 39th FIDH Congress in Johannesburg where its 178 member organisations from 120 countries were gathered to elect the new International Board and determine the main orientations for the next three years.
26.08.2016 Court finds extremism in 1863x.com case
Nine articles published on the 1863x.com website contain elements of extremism, according to a decision by the Court of Minsk’s Centraĺny district of August 25.
24.08.2016 Ales Bialiatski: Russia rapidly returning to Soviet Union, which inevitably affects its neighbors
Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, spoke yesterday at FIDH Congress in Johannesburg as part of a session entitled “Invoking morals, religious or traditional values to build a new world order: States opposing human rights principles”.
23.08.2016 ENEMO observers still unwelcome in Belarus
The Belarusian Central Election Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not yet replied to a request asking for the invitation of an ENEMO mission to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 11, according to ENEMO Secretariat.
22.08.2016 Viasna activists attend FIDH Congress in Johannesburg
FIDH, together with its member organisations, Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights in Botswana and Zimrights in Zimbabwe, is holding, under the high patronage of Desmond Tutu, its 39th Congress in Johannesburg from 23 to 27 August 2016.
17.08.2016 Mikhail Zhamchuzhny appeals sentence to Supreme Court
On August 1, political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny sent to the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court a supervisory appeal against the 6.5-year sentences he is serving in prison outside Barysaŭ, according to a letter received by the Human Rights Center "Viasna".
15.08.2016 Analytical Report on the Registration of Candidates
There were cases of abusing administrative resources in favor of pro-government candidates, as well as pressure on members of opposition candidates’ nomination groups.
