News on the topic: human rights defenders
19.06.2009 Valiantsin Stefanovich: ‘Ivan Kruk’s case should reach UN HR Committee’
The case of Ivan Kruk, member of the civil initiative ‘Astravets Nuclear Power Plant is a Crime’, has finally reached the court. The activist is charged with distributing printed materials with no proper output data. According to Viasna’s representative Valiantsin Stefanovich, Belarusian human rights activists are ready to help Mr.Kruk in protecting his rights. ‘We consider the situation as a violation of Mr.kruk’s rights and an outrage against Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, since the Treaty guarantees the right to freely disseminate and receive any kind of information.
12.06.2009 Observatory for Protection of Human Rights Defenders urges Belarusian authorities to re-register 'Viasna' and stop harassment of human rights defeners
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture
11.06.2009 Trial of Leanid Svetsik: victims demand the case be dropped
The judge of Vitsebsk oblast court Halina Urbanovich announced a break after the petition of the defendant Leanid Svetsik for cessation of legal persecution and dropping the criminal case against him. The human rights defender said that he could not understand what he was accused in and considered himself innocent.
11.06.2009 Valiantsin Stefanovich: ‘This trial is an attempt to discredit human rights movement’
The first day of the trial of Leanid Svetsik started with the ejection of the independent journalists who had covered the appearance of anonymous threat letters on behalf of ‘Vitsebsk branch of the Russian National Unity’ in which Svetsik is accused.
10.06.2009 Trial of human rights defender Leanid Svetsik: new surprises
On 10 June Vitsebsk oblast court considered the criminal case against Leanid Svetsik. The trial started at 10 a.m. with an unexpected incident. An unknown youngster unfurled the protest ‘KGB – fascists’ and explained that in such a way he wanted to express his protest against the fabrication of the criminal case against Mr. Svetsik by the local KGB department. After showing the poster he left the court hall.
08.06.2009 ‘Death’ was walking on Niamiha in the company of policemen in mufti
On 5 June several volunteers of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee tried held a theatric performance for abolishment of the death penalty in Belarus.
05.06.2009 Human rights organization ‘Brest Viasna’ is denied registration as well
Brest oblast executive committee again refused to register the human rights organization Brest Viasna.
04.06.2009 Östgruppen joins the campaign for abolishment of Article 193.1
Members of the Swedish human rights initiative Östgruppen stated their support to the campaign for abolishment of Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus that provides criminal punishment for participation in unregistered organization. The campaign has been launched by the Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs.
04.06.2009 Human rights defenders cannot be prohibited to implement their duties
On 3June in Minsk there was held the joint press-conference of the founders of the CHRA Nasha Viasna and the Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs dedicated to non-registration of both associations by the Ministry of Justice.
03.06.2009 Systematic registration denials to ‘Nasha Viasna’ witness about the non-readiness of the Belarusian authorities to democratic transformations in the country
On 25 May 2009 the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus ruled to deny the state registration to the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna.
02.06.2009 Aleh Vouchak appeals against the verdict on his lawsuit to ‘SB-Belarus Segodnia’
On 1 June the human rights defender Aleh Vouchak filed a cassation complaint to the college board on civil cases of Savetski district court of Minsk to appeal against the verdict, issued on 15 May on his lawsuit against the newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya on protection of honor, dignity and business reputation and compensation of the moral harm.
02.06.2009 Letters from activity therapy centers: how alcoholism is ‘cured’ in Belarus
In May 2009 the Belarusian government was charged to make proposals on extension of the net of activity therapy centers in Belarus, though five such centers already exist and in 2008 the number of the people who were kept there was about 4 000. But what really happens in these institutions? You can find it from the letters of those who ‘receive treatment’ there.
02.06.2009 Andrei Mikalayeu is pressurized at work
The representative of Navapolatsk club of historical reconstruction Iron Wolf Andrei Mikalayeu has been summoned to the local education department. The authorities demanded that he immediately vacated the premises at the local center of extracurricular education where he worked with problem teenagers. The authorities also stated that his labor contract would hardly be prolonged, but did not explain the reasons.
01.06.2009 Ministry of Justice denied registration to ‘Nasha Viasna’ for incomprehensible reasons
On 28 May the co-founders of the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna received the decision of the Ministry of Justice On denial of the state registration to the civil association. The human rights defenders consider the reasons for the registration denial as unlawful.
29.05.2009 Official Minsk ignores recommendations by international HR experts
Belarusian human rights activists appreciate the impartiality of the international human rights organizations’ annual reports, but at the same time they stress that such reports do not directly affect the situation in the field of human rights in the country. The main problem is that the Belarusian authorities do not react on them. The impartiality of the Report. According to the human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich, it is fair that it was the violations of the people’s rights to the freedom of speech and assembly that the Amnesty International considered the most brutal HR violations in Belarus in 2008, for the year was marked by a number of politically motivated criminal trials over Andrei Kim and Siarhei Parsiukevich, as well the ‘Process of 14’, when 14 persons were convicted for participating in a peaceful demonstration.
