News on the topic: video
05.10.2017 Viasna to join World Coalition against the Death Penalty
Joining forces with supporters of the global abolitionist movement is another step of the Belarusian human rights defenders towards ending the death penalty in the country. At the same time, Belarus is marked on the world map as a place where death sentences are often imposed on representatives of the most vulnerable groups.
19.09.2017 Belarus in focus at OSCE event on the death penalty
Amnesty International and FIDH continue to raise the issue of the death penalty at international fora, as another thematic event has been held within the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. The side event involved human rights activists from Belarus, one of the two OSCE countries that still execute death convicts.
22.06.2016 Miklós Haraszti again calls on Belarus to engage with UN Special Rapporteur mandate (video)
The oppressive government has not changed since the establishment of the mandate after the brutal crackdown on the post-election protest in December 2010, UN Special Rapporteur Miklós Haraszti said yesterday during the presentation of his forth Report on the situation of human rights in Belarus.
23.03.2016 Kitchen TV: The issue of the death penalty in the US
The issue of the death penalty in the United States is of particular interest for the Belarusian human rights defenders, since the US is often cited as an argument for the retention of the death penalty in Belarus.
10.02.2016 A Heart That Never Dies available online (video)
A film about human rights defender Ales Bialiatski from the documentary series A Heart That Never Dies by filmmakers Erling Borgen of Norway and Tom Heinemann of Denmark is available online.
23.10.2015 Kitchen TV. New wave of migration: A challenge for Europe (video)
Do people living in Central and Western Europe equally perceive the situation with an increase in the number of refugees? What is the difference between the approaches to the refugee problem? The questions are answered in the new issue of the human rights video project Kitchen TV by vice-head of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Valiantsin Stefanovich and a Dutch journalist Franka Hummels.
26.05.2015 Minsk court convicts two opposition activists (video)
The Court of Minsk’s Centraĺny district heard today the administrative cases of opposition activists Volha Nikalaichyk and Katsiaryna Sadouskaya.
26.05.2015 Torture of death convict’s relatives: Fifth argument against the death penalty (video)
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has repeatedly said that the procedure of executing death verdicts in Belarus has signs of torture and inhuman treatment, both in relation to the executed person and his relatives.
07.05.2015 Valiantsin Stefanovich: It is worth reminding the Ministry of Justice about the position of the UNHRC regarding the non-registration of "Viasna"
In her speech in Geneva at the UPR procedure for Belarus, the representative of the Ministry of Justice Hanna Shpak stated that some groups are capitalizing on their status of unregistered public associations for political reasons. Deputy Head of Human Rights Center "Viasna" Valiantsin Stefanovich, who was present at that meeting, decided that it was worth reminding the officials of the Ministry of Justice about the history of the organization's non-registration.
05.05.2015 Kitchen TV: Experience of Great Britain on the way to the full abolition of the death penalty
Belarusian state continues retaining and performing death penalty, remaining the only country on the post-Soviet space and in Europe where the death penalty is still used. At the same time, 50 years has passed since the last death execution in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
16.04.2015 Ales Bialiatski: No reasons to lift sanctions against Belarus, while there are political prisoners (video)
Ales Bialiatski, head of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and FIDH Vice President, participated today, along with the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklos Haraszti, in a meeting of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. The human rights defender urged the EU to continue putting pressure on the Belarusian authorities.
25.02.2015 Ales Bialiatski: Voice of human rights defenders working for peace must be heard (video)
Ales Bialiatski, leader of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, spoke yesterday at the presentation of Amnesty International’s annual report in Rome. The event was organized by Amnesty’s national office.
19.11.2014 Ales Bialiatski: “Back in June, Intigam Aliyev was wearing a T-shirt with my portrait, now it’s me who’s wearing a T-shirt with his portrait” (video)
A group of civil society representatives and lawyers in Azerbaijan have petitioned the country’s President Ilham Aliyev with a call to assist in the release of prominent human rights activist Intigam Aliyev, head of the Legal Education Society.
18.06.2014 The Last Dawn: Belarusian musicians against the death penalty (video)
The Minsk-based Graffiti club hosted yesterday the presentation of the project of Belarusian musicians called Aposhni Zolak (“The Last Dawn”). In this way, a number of famous musicians, among them Hanna Khitryk, Aliaksandr Pamidorau, Zmitser Vaitsiushkevich, Anastasia Shpakouskaya, Viktar Rudenka, Liavon Volski, spoke against the death penalty. Last year they had a big concert in Bialystok, and Belarusian fans were able to watch it online.
16.06.2014 Former Parliament Speaker Mechyslau Hryb: 13 people were convicted and one executed for crimes committed by maniac Mikhasevich (video)
During the filming of “Cause of Death – “, activists of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty” met with public and political figure, Honored Lawyer of Belarus Mechyslau Hryb.
