News on the topic: Council of Europe
12.10.2022 CoE: Member states should provide more support to Russian and Belarusian human rights defenders
Commissioner for Human Rights' statement identifies four minimum measures on which member states should focus their efforts.
04.11.2021 Reprisals against Belarusian civil society must stop - CoE Commissioner for Human Rights
The verdicts further aggravate a situation that had already reached alarming levels, with the recent liquidation of the remaining registered human rights NGOs.
29.10.2021 PACE President condemns recent reprisals against civil society and human rights defenders in Belarus
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rik Daems, has strongly condemned recent reprisals against civil society and human rights defenders in Belarus.
21.04.2021 PACE urges Belarus to carry out comprehensive reform of its electoral system
PACE has urged Belarus to comprehensively reform its electoral system to bring it into line with international standards for democratic elections.
21.01.2021 PACE General Rapporteur condemns new death sentence in Belarus
Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has condemned the handing down in Belarus of a death sentence on Viktar Skrundzik for the murder of two elderly people and an attempt to murder an elderly woman in January 2019.
14.10.2020 Council of Europe leaders make joint statement on Belarus
The Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, the President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Rik Daems, and the Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, have made the following statement concerning Belarus.
10.10.2020 On World Day against the Death Penalty, EU and CoE call on Belarus to end executions
Today on the World and European Day Against the Death Penalty, the European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their opposition to the use of capital punishment in all circumstances and call for the universal abolition of the death penalty. We welcome the continued decline in the use of the death penalty, confirming the overall trend towards universal abolition.
21.09.2020 Council of Europe: Human rights violations in Belarus must stop immediately
More than a month after the beginning of mass protests following the presidential elections in Belarus, the human rights situation in the country remains extremely worrying. Thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested, and several individuals have been reported missing. Yet, non-violent demonstrations have continued across the country. Belarusian women have emerged as key voices of dissent in Belarus and an inspiration for many around the world.
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.
08.09.2020 Council of Europe Secretary General gravely concerned by human rights violations in Belarus
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has made the following statement concerning Belarus
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.
21.07.2020 PACE will not observe presidential election in Belarus
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will not send observers to the upcoming August 9 presidential elections in Belarus, despite an invitation from the Belarusian side.
13.01.2020 EU, CoE “reaffirm strong opposition” to death penalty after new sentences delivered in Belarus
The European Union reaffirms its strong opposition against the application of capital punishment in any circumstance, the EU External Action Service said in a statement following the two death sentences handed down in Belarus on January 10.
23.12.2019 EU, CoE, PACE call for moratorium in response to new execution in Belarus
The spokespersons of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly have once again called on the Belarusian authorities to introduce a moratorium on executions in Belarus. The statements were released after the news came of another execution in the continent’s last retentionist country.
06.11.2019 PACE rapporteur denounces fresh death sentence in Belarus
Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has denounced a judgment of the Brest Regional Court (Belarus) of 25 October sentencing to death Viktar Serhil in a trial concerning the murder of an eight-month-old girl.
