The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for March 2015

18.03.2015 Man sentenced to death in Rechytsa

On March 18, the Rechytsa District Court sentenced Siarhei Ivanou, 21, to death on charges of murdering and raping a 19-year-old girl on 29 August 2013.

18.03.2015 Ongoing harassment of freelance journalists in Hrodna

Ales Dzianisau and Ales Kirkevich, members of the Belarusian Association of Journalists in Hrodna, were summoned to the police station to provide explanations regarding a story aired on the Belsat TV channel. The story told about the opening of an exhibition at the Museum of History of Religion.

18.03.2015 Baranavichy businessman questioned to prevent meeting with President

On March 17, Mikalai Charnavus, the leader of Baranavichy entrepreneurs, was expected to go to Minsk to join a meeting of President Aliaksandr Lukashenka with entrepreneurs. But instead of meeting with the head of state, the civil society activist was forced to appear at the local police department, where police Captain Siarhei Paulenau interviewed him urging the activist to respect the law.

17.03.2015 Court in Mahiliou dismisses suit to close human rights NGO

The Mahiliou Regional Court resumed today the consideration of a lawsuit filed by the Main Department of Justice of the Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee to close down the public association “Mahiliou Human Rights Center” (MHRC). As a result, the court ruled to dismiss the suit by mutual agreement of the parties.

17.03.2015 Investigation in case of human rights defender Mikhail Zhamchyzhny extended until April 19

Mikhail Zhamchyzhny, a co-founder of the human rights organization “Platform Innovation” has been held in the Vitsebsk pre-trial prison. He faces a number of charges. The activist has written several letters to Tatsiana Seviarynets, coordinator of the BCD’s organizing committee. According to her, the investigation has been extended until April 19.

17.03.2015 Salihorsk: Human rights defenders seek abolition of rally restrictions

Salihorsk representatives of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee are preparing a petition to the local Council of Deputies in order to demand the abolition of the mysterious decision by the district executive committee, which banned peaceful assemblies in all the squares and streets of the city.

17.03.2015 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in 2014 (PDF-version)

The situation of human rights during 2014 remained consistently poor with a tendency to deterioration at the end of the year. Human rights violations were of both systemic and systematic nature: basic civil and political rights were extremely restricted, there were no systemic changes in the field of human rights.

17.03.2015 BELARUS: The only registered regional human rights organisation under the threat of dissolution

Joint statement by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee on a lawsuit to close down the Mahiliou Human Rights Center, which will be heard in the Mahiliou Regional Court on March 17.

17.03.2015 What is the new purpose of the museum "Perm-36"?

The scandal with reprofiling the unique Memorial Museum of the history of political repression "Perm-36", opened on the former site of the camp for those convicted of anti-Soviet propaganda and activities, gradually acquires universal resonance. The international community asks the question: what kind of "technology" and "heroism" will the guides of the now “museum of GULag workers” speak about?

17.03.2015 Salihorsk: densification and felling trees will continue

Activists of the campaign "Protect the Forest" declare the need to adjust the master plan of the development of Salihorsk.

16.03.2015 Tamara Sialiun appeals to Constitutional Court

Tamara Sialiun, mother of an executed death row convict Pavel Sialiun, has filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court. In it, she draws attention to the fact that the present practice of executing the death penalty and implementation of Article 175 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus brings the suffering to the families and friends of those executed.

16.03.2015 Ashmiany customs officers seize Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations

March 13 at the border crossing "Kamenny Loh" Belarusian customs officersseized 47 copies of "Situation of Human Rights in Belarus in 2014" in English and Belarusian, prepared by the Human Rights Centre "Viasna" on the basis of monthly reviews of human rights violations.

16.03.2015 Baranavichy police fail to identify wreath burners

Civil society activist Viktar Syrytsa has received a reply from the Baranavichy City Police Department, signed by the head of the public security division, lieutenant-colonel Aliaksei Trafimau.

16.03.2015 Freelance journalist files individual communication with UN Human Rights Committee

A journalist from Homel, Mikalai Biamko, has filed an individual communication with the UN Human Rights Committee, seeking protection of his right to receive an impart information.

16.03.2015 Vitsebsk: public hearing is over, the questions remain

March 13, a public hearing concerningthe felling of four trees and two lilac bushes near the Vitsebsk regional library named after Lenin was held in Vitsebsk. The hearing was held outdoors and was attended by about 30 people.