The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for October 2018

31.10.2018 European Commissioner discusses EU-Belarus cooperation with human rights defenders

On Wednesday, 31 October, representatives of the Belarusian non-governmental and human rights organizations met with Mr. Johannes Hahn, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy. The meeting was also attended by the EU’s official representative in Belarus, Ms. Andrea Wiktorin.

31.10.2018 Monitoring report of peaceful assembly on October 29 in Minsk

On October 29, 2018, an action dedicated to the memory of the night of October 29, 1937 when figures of culture and science were executed took place in Minsk.

29.10.2018 Monitoring report of peaceful assembly "Dziady" on October 28 in Minsk

On October 28, 2018, a traditional procession and rally dedicated to the Dziady Ancestral Memorial Day were held in Minsk.

26.10.2018 Picks of the week

More activists convicted over environmental protest in Brest; government employees "assist" farmers to harvest crops; Amnesty International welcomes the release of Dzmitry Paliyenka

26.10.2018 ‘Deteriorating’ human rights in Belarus amounts to ‘wholescale oppression’: UN expert

A crackdown on free speech is the latest worrying development amid the deteriorating, “wholescale oppression” of human rights in Belarus, an independent expert told the UN General Assembly, on Thursday.

25.10.2018 Belarus civil society stagnating, research says

“After three years of gradual improvement, the sustainability of Belarusian CSOs stagnated in 2017, with deterioration in two dimensions—legal environment and financial viability—and improvement in three dimensions—advocacy, service provision, and public image,” says the 2017 Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index by the United States Agency for International Development, the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance and the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance.

24.10.2018 Prisoner of conscience Dzmitry Paliyenka walks free

Political prisoner Dzmitry Paliyenka has been released this morning after serving nearly two years in a penal colony in Babrujsk.

19.10.2018 Picks of the week

Human rights lawyer arrested in Brest; opposition activist convicted over anti-military protest; journalists routinely harassed across Belarus

19.10.2018 Observatory: End judicial harassment against Roman Kislyak

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.

15.10.2018 Observatory calls to quash convictions of Masliukova and Zmitrovich

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.

12.10.2018 Week against the Death Penalty: We do not celebrate, we express solidarity

The fifth annual Week against the Death Penalty concluded on October 12, World Day against the Death Penalty, with an artistic event at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk, which told about the pain suffered by the families of death convicts.

11.10.2018 Viasna again calls to halt executions at PACE event on World Day against the Death Penalty

On October 10, the issue of ongoing executions in Belarus was discussed at a meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly pf the Council of Europe. The event was scheduled to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty. The discussion involved Valery Varanetski, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and deputy chairperson of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich.

10.10.2018 Treatment of death row prisoners in Belarus

While on death row, convicts face a number of violations of their rights. During their one monthly visit with a family member (a right accorded under Article 174 of the Criminal Law Enforcement Code), they are forbidden from referring to detention conditions.

10.10.2018 Viasna activist fined in Svietlahorsk

Alena Masliukova, activist of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in Svietlahorsk, has been fined 612.5 rubles (USD 285) on charges of organizing an illegal assembly.

09.10.2018 Belarus defies UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva report

The government of Belarus continues to refrain from cooperating with the UN Human Rights Committee, the Committee’s president Yuval Shany said during the presentation of the country’s first report in 20 years.