The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for September 2020

03.09.2020 Estonia holds a discussion on human rights in Belarus at the UN Security Council

On Friday 4 September, on the initiative of Estonia and backed by other UN member states, an Arria-formula meeting is held at the UN Security Council to discuss human rights.

03.09.2020 PACE rapporteur is outraged that Dmitry Pavlichenko is back on the street

André Gattolin (France, ALDE), the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s (PACE) rapporteur on “Ending enforced disappearances on the territory of the Council of Europe” has today expressed outrage that Dmitry Pavlichenko is still out in the streets of Minsk threatening demonstrators instead of facing justice for his role in the enforced disappearance of Yuri Zakharenko, a former interior minister, Victor Gonchar, a former vice-president of the parliament, Anatoly Krasovski, a businessman who disappeared alongside Mr Gonchar, and Dmitri Zavadski, a Russian TV cameraman.

03.09.2020 "Officers abused me all the time because I’m black." Survivor stories

Hleb was detained on August 11 near the shopping center “Skala”. He says that the riot policemen detained him when he simply walked down the street with headphones on his head.

03.09.2020 Students convicted of protesting on Knowledge Day

Forty-four trials were held yesterday in Minsk courts to hear the administrative charges of “illegal protesting” involving students of several major universities who demonstrated on September 1. Thirty-two students were sentenced to short terms in prison, as a result. Twelve more were fined.

03.09.2020 Members of the German Bundestag take over prisoners’ godparenthood for Eduard Babaryka, Siarhei Piatrukhin and Aliaksandr Kabanau

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights, three other members of the German Bundestag have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus. Karl-Heinz Brunner (SPD), Omid Nouripour (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and Frank Schwabe (SPD) demand their immediate and unconditional release.

02.09.2020 EaP CSF report: Presidential elections in Belarus not free or fair

The Monitoring Mission to Belarus of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum has released a report on political and societal developments in Belarus during the presidential election 2020.

02.09.2020 Human Rights Situation in Belarus: August 2020

Viasna deplores the existence of a deep human rights crisis in the country, which affects almost every aspect of civil and political rights. The crisis has led to gross violations of the rights of thousands of citizens and requires immediate settlement, including with the intervention of international organizations.

02.09.2020 UN human rights experts: Belarus must stop torturing protesters and prevent enforced disappearances

UN human rights experts* called on Belarus to stop torturing detainees and bring to justice police officers who reportedly have been humiliating and beating protesters in their custody with impunity.

02.09.2020 Political prisoner Alena Karahachava released on bail

Alena Karahachava, personal assistant to the former presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, has been released from the KGB pre-trial prison, according to Babaryka’s press-service. The charges, however, remain in place.

01.09.2020 KGB tortures political prisoners held on rioting charges

Aliaksandr Frantskevich, an anarchist facing “rioting” charges, was tortured after his arrest by the KGB on August 13, according to his former cellmate.

01.09.2020 Political prisoner Pavel Seviarynets faces formal charges

Pavel Seviarynets, co-founder of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party who has been in detention since June 7, has been officially charged under Part 2, Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (mass riots), according to his wife Volha. The period of his pre-trial detention has been extended by two more months.