The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for November 2012

08.11.2012 Brest authorities keep ignoring the requests to improve the transport schedule

Citizens of the Hrayeuka and Biarozauka suburbs still cannot get the bus depot #1 of Brest to correct the schedule of the busses which go from the railway station to these suburbs.

08.11.2012 “Young Front” activist Uladzimir Yaromenak sentenced to 15 days of arrest

The activist was detained by the guards of the House of the Parliament in the evening of 6 November.

08.11.2012 Parychy: how to return children to stepmother?

600 signatures have been collected by the international civil association “Good Will” in support of the return of the six adoptive children to their stepmother.

08.11.2012 Sweden: Östgruppen prepares another bear landing party to Belarus

On Saturday, 10 November, the Swedish human rights organization Östgruppen will hold the action “Plush landing force-2”. Teddy bears with demands of respect to human rights will depart to Belarus again: this time – in parcels, which will be sent to the Belarusian officials and politicians who are banned entry to the EU because of their involvement in human rights abuses in Belarus.

08.11.2012 Homel activist of Belarusian Christian Democracy gets sacked again

Andrei Papou, a Homel activist of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy, has lost the job of plumber at the “Metalpolimer” enterprise, after the expiry of the probation period.

08.11.2012 Complaint of Brest customs officers registered at UN Human Rights Committee

22 former inspectors of the “Western Buh” customs office and 7 former mechanics of the terminal of the “Westauto” enterprise filed individual communications to this international structure back in March 2011. They pointed at violation of their right to fair trial.

08.11.2012 BAJ urges authorities to unfreeze “Arche” accounts

Belarusian Association of Journalists sent an official letter to the head of the Department for Financial Investigations of the State Control Committee Ryhor Vieramko asking to unfreeze the assets of the “Arche” magazine.

08.11.2012 7 November – Communism Victims Commemoration Day

The organizing committee of the party Belarusian Christian Democracy (BChD) calls for 7 November to be recognized as the Day of Commemoration of the Communism victims.

08.11.2012 “AI” representative Heather McGill not let in Belarus

The Belarusian authorities denied a visa to Amnesty International’s researcher on Belarus, Heather McGill.

07.11.2012 "Young Front" activist Uladzimir Yaromenak gets detained

As it became known at about 6 p.m. on 6 November, the "Young Front" activist Uladzimir Yaromenak was detained on Nezalezhnasts Square in Minsk and guarded to the Maskouski District Police Department in Minsk.

06.11.2012 Vasil Paliakou appeals groundless detention

On 5 November the head of the Homel regional branch of the Unitec Civil Party and the party's deputy head Vasil Paliakou applied to the Savetski District Prosecutor's Office of Homel in connection with a groundless detention by police.

06.11.2012 Official propaganda stirs up hostility to independent trade unions

The administration of the Babruisk Tractor Parts Plant (BTPP) accused the leader of the enterprise’s Free trade union of a desire to deprive people of their right to work.

06.11.2012 Syrian opposition calls on UK to sanction Lukashenka's regime for supporting Assad

Today, a London-based human rights organization 'Syrians in the UK' sent a letter to members of the British Parliament requesting to take action against Belarus and a possibility of 'Europe's last dictatorship' to grant asylum to Bashar al-Assad. 'Syrians in the UK' asked MPs to consider increasing sanctions against Belarus and warning UK and European companies against doing business with state-owned Belarus companies.

05.11.2012 Vitsebsk members of CCP-BPF are prohibited to hold their 7 November action

“The Vitsebsk City Executive Committee sent an answer to our application. According to it, the application was not granted as we were asking to authorize a meeting and procession in the places where such actions are not allowed and we would violate the law by holding it. In fact, it is not us who violates the law in this case,” says a member of the Conservative-Christian Party “Belarusian Popular Front” Yan Dziarzhautsau.

05.11.2012 Human rights defenders join the “Stand up for Journalism!” action

“Stand up for journalism!” action is held all over the world for the fifth time this days. The action is held by the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists for the fifth time already.