The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

23.06.2020 “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” call to stop pressure on independent observers

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” call to refrain from any form of pressure on independent observers.

23.06.2020 Viasna activist sentenced to short prison term in Babrujsk

Siarzhuk Latsinski, Viasna’s activist in Babrujsk, has been sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention on charges of involvement in a protest staged on June 19.

15.05.2020 Harassment of Viasna activists continues

Ales Burakou, member of Viasna’s office in Mahilioŭ, has been detained today over his alleged involvement in protests held on May 5 and 6.

15.05.2020 Belarus: Arbitrary arrest of several environmental rights defenders in Brest

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention of two environmental rights defenders, as well as the arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment of several other environmental rights defenders in the context of the repression of an environmental protest movement against the construction of a battery plant LLC “IPower” in Brest.

14.05.2020 Belarusian authorities must cease attacks on human rights defenders and journalists

Statement of the Human Rights House Foundation. 13 May 2020

13.05.2020 Viasna insists on immediate release of its arrested members

Statement of the Board of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Minsk - May 12, 2020

13.05.2020 Crackdown on Peaceful Protesters Mars Beginning of Presidential Campaign Season

The campaign season for Belarus’ presidential elections, scheduled for August 9, saw sweeping repression against civil society by authorities. Over the past week, authorities arbitrarily detained over 100 peaceful protesters across Belarus, charging them with administrative fines and arrests.

13.05.2020 Observatory strongly condemns harassment of Alena Masliukova

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicial harassment of Ms. Alena Masliukova, an environmental rights defender and member of Human Rights Centre “Viasna” (HRC Viasna) in Svetlogorsk, as well as the search of her apartment and the illegal seizure of her equipment, in the context of the repression of an environmental protest movement against the construction of a bleached-pulp factory in Svetlogorsk.

12.05.2020 Human rights defenders, protesters convicted across Belarus

Several human rights defenders and opposition activists have been sentenced to short terms of detention or fined following trials held today in various parts of Belarus. These include Viasna’s activists Aliaksandr Burakou in Mahilioŭ and Uladzimir Vialichkin in Brest.

12.05.2020 Kyrgyzstan: Supreme Court to Hear Case of Human Rights Defender Azimjan Askarov on May 13

Paris - Geneva - Bishkek, May 12, 2020 - After 10 years of unjust detention, journalist and human rights defender Azimjan Askarov faces the final hearing before the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on May 13.

08.04.2020 COVID-19: Jailed Human Rights Defenders Must Be Released Immediately

In light of the serious threat posed to prisoners by the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FIDH and its undersigned member organisations recall governments’ obligation to ensure the safety and health of detained individuals that are under their responsibility, and launch a campaign, #ForFreedom, to call for the release of all jailed human rights defenders (HRDs).

23.03.2020 About the Local and What All Hold in Common

Belarusian Human Rights Activist Ales Bialiatski in Conversation with Olga V. Solovieva

12.03.2020 Viasna wins OSCE Democracy Defender Award

The Human Rights Center “Viasna” has been awarded the OSCE’s annual Democracy Defender Award.

11.12.2019 Ales Bialiatski wins Franco-German prize for human rights and rule of law

Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, has been awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2019, the embassies of France and Germany in Belarus said.