News for September 2020
15.09.2020 HRW: OSCE, UN Human Rights Council Inquiries Needed in Belarus Torture Reports
Belarusian security forces arbitrarily detained thousands of people and systematically subjected hundreds to torture and other ill- treatment in the days following the August 9, 2020 presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today.
15.09.2020 Three more German MPs take over godparenthood for Belarusian political prisoners
As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights, three more MPs have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus. Aydan Özoguz (German Bundestag, SPD) Sergey Lagodinsky (European Parliament, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) und Claudia Müller (German Bundestag, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) call for their immediate and unconditional release.
14.09.2020 “We will shoot you and you will never be found.” Survivor stories
18-year-old Uladzimir Pahartsau was detained at about 6 pm on August 10 when he was returning home and got off a trolleybus near the Frunzienskaja metro station in Minsk. Two riot policemen approached him and said they wanted to check his ID. Uladzimir says that he was not beaten so hard compared to other detainees, because he was chosen to give an interview to a state TV channel about the “coordinators of the protests.”
14.09.2020 UN Rights Council To Host Urgent Debate On Belarus Violence
The UN Human Rights Council agreed Monday to host an urgent debate about the deteriorating rights situation in Belarus since protests erupted over Alexander Lukashenko's disputed re-election as president last month.
14.09.2020 Over 500 detained in Sunday protests across Belarus
Over five hundred protesters were detained yesterday in various cities of Belarus, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Viasna knows the names of 436 persons who attended another event in a series of weekly demonstrations.
12.09.2020 EU seeks urgent debate on Belarus at UN rights body
“The ongoing deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus in relation to the 2020 presidential election needs the urgent attention of the Human Rights Council,” Germany’s Ambassador to the United Nations Michael von Ungern-Sternberg wrote to the Geneva-based council.
12.09.2020 UN chief deeply concerned over use of force against peaceful protesters in Belarus
Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday expressed deep concern over the continued use of force against peaceful protestors in Belarus and detention of those exercising their legitimate democratic rights.
12.09.2020 Human rights organisations call for immediate release of detained lawyers
Open statement in connection with the detention of Belarusian lawyers Ilya Salei and Maksim Znak
11.09.2020 Four facing criminal charges over September 6 protest
The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into alleged “breach of peace” during a major protest held in Minsk on September 6.
11.09.2020 “They are stealing the best of us”. Arbitrary arrests and forced expulsion of leading opposition activists
Belarusian authorities have stepped up their campaign against the leaders of peaceful protest in Belarus which has been ongoing after the contested result of the presidential election in August. The authorities promptly responded to popular dissent by mass arrests of peaceful street protesters, and subsequent torture or other ill-treatment while they were in custody.
11.09.2020 “People were screaming every night.” Survivor stories
A Minsk resident was detained on August 9 and left the Center for the Confinement of Offenders on the morning of August 12. All this time he, like the other detainees, was deprived of food. Forty people were held in a six-men cell, and riot police insulted and beat people at night.
11.09.2020 MPs from Lithuania, Netherlands and Switzerland take over prisoners’ godparenthood for Viktar Babaryka, Aliaksandr Aranovich and Aliaksandr Frantskevich
As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights, three more MPs have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus. Petras Austriavičius (European Parliament, Lithuania) Tineke Strik (European Parliament, Netherlands) and Fabian Molina (National Council, Switzerland) call for their immediate and unconditional release.
10.09.2020 PACE to set up international body to investigate human rights crimes in Belarus
In order to send a clear signal to all members of the security forces that there will be no impunity for serious human rights violations, the Council of Europe, in cooperation with other international bodies, shall urgently set up an international investigative body to collect information and secure evidence on human rights crimes in Belarus.
10.09.2020 ILO calls on Belarus President to respect workers’ rights and freedoms amid protests
International Labour Organization Director-General, Guy Ryder, expresses deep concern about the detention and arrest of trade unionists in Belarus.
10.09.2020 Kalesnikava, Znak and Salei are new political prisoners
Joint statement of Belarusian human rights organizations
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