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.
“They should have shot me instead”: The stories of death row inmates’ family members (photo)
In Belarus, you cannot sentence a woman to death — this is the law. But it is women who suffer most from death sentences. Over the 27 years of Belarus’s independence, more than 400 men have been shot in Belarus. Behind each of them, there is the ruined life of at least one woman. We collected the stories of five of them.
Picks of the Week
Authorities still punish people for white-red-white flag; journalists face travel restrictions; Viasna leader opposes Belarus's plans to chair OSCE
Ales Bialiatski: Belarus will continue systemic repression of social and political activists
On September 13, the Belarusian House in Warsaw organized a round table “Belarus - Repression Behind the “Liberalization” Façade” as part of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM 2018).
HDIM 2018: What representatives of Belarusian NGOs told in Warsaw?
On September 12, Warsaw hosted a side event on the current situation of civil and political rights in Belarus. The event entitled “The current situation of civil and political rights in Belarus: first-hand information from inside" was held in the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM 2018).
First-hand Information From Inside Belarus: Invitation to a Side-event on 12 September, Warsaw
On 12 September 2018, FIDH shall take part in a side-event that it organises together with Belarusian civil society organisations in the framework of the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM). Speakers will raise issues of the latest attacks on independent media and independent trade unions, developments around the application of death penalty and legislation placing lawyers under the control of the executive.
Picks of the Week
Statistics of administrative persecution in August; REP leaders appeal verdict; journalist in Braslaŭ convicted for eighth time since 2011
Viasna alerts UN Special Rapporteurs over persecution for solidarity with REP leaders
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" has written to Mr. David Kaye, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, United Nations Special Rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, to highlight the sentencing of 11 opposition activists, who staged a protest outside the House of Justice in Minsk on August 24 to demonstrate solidarity with the convicted leaders of the independent trade union REP Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik.
Case Belarus v. Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik. Trial observation report (document)
“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”.
Human Rights Situation in Belarus: August 2018
The month was marked by a significant deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus.
Amnesty International condemns low point for freedom of expression in Belarus
The right to freedom of expression in Belarus has been dealt a series of severe blows in recent weeks, as the authorities’ crusade against journalists and independent media outlets continues. The latest moves by the Belarusian authorities demonstrate their resolve to eliminate all critical voices in the country and deprive people in Belarus of the opportunity to freely access, share and disseminate information and ideas.
Picks of the Week (video)
Courts convict activists over support for REP leaders; new suspect named in BelTA case; blogger in Brest live streams own arrest; political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny faces new penalties in prison
Elections-2018
- Reporters Without Borders: Journalists, bloggers barred from vote count in Belarus
- Local elections. Final report
- EU Urges Belarus To Undertake 'Serious' Electoral Reform
- Electoral system of Belarus requires urgent reanimation
- Report on monitoring the phase of election campaigning
- HRDs to present results of monitoring local elections
- Report on the registration of candidates for deputies of local councils
- Denying registration to opposition candidates aims at securing desired turnout
- Report on monitoring the formation of precinct election commissions
- Report on the results of monitoring the registration of nomination groups
- Monitoring report on the formation of district election commissions
- Monitoring report on the formation of territorial election commissions
- Human rights activists launch campaign of monitoring local elections
- Fact sheet on the press conference by the campaign “Human Rights Defenders For Free Elections”
- Local elections on the background of shelved electoral changes — press conference by human rights defenders
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