News on the topic: human rights defenders
21.10.2017 Resolution of the 4th Belarusian Human Rights Forum
Participants in the 4th Belarusian Human Rights Forum have unanimously voted in favor of the resolution "On Situation of Human Rights in Belarus".
17.10.2017 Vilnius to host 4th Belarusian Human Rights Forum
On October 19-21, Vilnius will host the IV Belarusian Human Rights Forum, which is expected to be attended by 140 representatives of 29 Belarusian human rights organizations, NGOs with a human rights component I their work, as well as individual human rights defenders and experts. The Forum will bring together representatives of the Belarusian civil society organizations, as well as partners from foreign and international human rights organizations.
20.09.2017 Persecution of civil society and pressure on lawyers on the agenda of HDIM 2017
A number of side events within the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw deal with acute problems related to the work of human rights defenders in the post-Soviet region. The international community has been urged to address the issue of pressure on lawyers and the politically motivated persecution of civil society groups in Belarus.
18.09.2017 Threats and attacks against human rights defenders on the rise, says OSCE/ODIHR report
Threats and attacks against human rights defenders in the OSCE area have continued to increase in severity and frequency over the last three years, according to a report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released on 15 September 2017.
12.09.2017 Ales Bialiatski: West tends to downplay repression in Belarus
The Belarusian House Foundation in Warsaw hosted yesterday, September 11, a side event as part of the OSCE ODIHR Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2017. The event entitled “Human Rights in Belarus – From the Case of Patriots to the Case of Labor Unions” involved several Belarusian human rights defenders and focused on this year’s wave of repression in Belarus, including the ‘White Legion case’ and the criminal charges against trade union leaders.
08.09.2017 Viasna urges international lawyers’ community to support Belarusian counsels
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" is calling for solidarity with Belarusian lawyers, who are again targeted by the repressive government.
07.09.2017 Stefanovich: “The emergence of principles for human rights defenders will boost proficiency in the community”
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" has joined the Principles of Human Rights Work in Belarus. According to the organization’s chairman Ales Bialiatski, the decision was taken at a meeting of Viasna’s Council on September 4.
07.09.2017 Principles of Human Rights Work in Belarus
This document presents a set of professional and ethical principles determining the requirements for human rights defenders and their professional activities. It is based on the ethical criteria and traditions of human rights work in Belarus, as well as on the international standards and rules for human rights activities.
30.08.2017 Human rights activists alarmed over new wave of harassment against lawyers
The Ministry of Justice has reportedly ordered an extraordinary certification of a number of lawyers, which may void the licenses of some of them, including those involved in politically motivated cases.
29.08.2017 Director of news agency detained in Azerbaijan
Mehman Aliyev, the director of Azerbaijani independent news agency Turan has been given 3 months pretrial detention and is facing charges for illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and abuse of power. HRHF calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
23.08.2017 Civil Rights Defenders: Belarus Must Drop Charges Against Ihar Komlik and Henadz Fiadynich
Civil Rights Defenders calls upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ihar Komlik and to drop all charges against Ihar Komlik and Henadz Fiadynich.
10.08.2017 Observatory condemns judicial harassment against trade union leaders in Belarus
The Observatory fears that REP and BITU leaders are being targeted in reprisal for their human rights activities and calls for the immediate release of Mr. Komlik, as well as ending all judicial harassment against REP and BITU leaders, in particular Messrs Komlik and Fiadynich, in so far as it appears to only aim at sanctioning their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.
04.08.2017 Let’s celebrate International Day of Solidarity with the civil society of Belarus
It’s 2017, and we would like to be happy that the world has changed, becoming more humane and kinder. But unfortunately, this minute the trade unions are being searched, and people are arrested after expressing solidarity with their colleagues, the death penalty is still in place.
18.07.2017 Tell Turkey: free Amnesty’s İdil Eser, Taner Kılıç, and other rights defenders
Every day, these women and men risk their own safety to defend others. They speak out for people’s freedom, they challenge injustices and they fight for everyone in Turkey to be treated fairly.
17.07.2017 Anar Mammadli: “While Belarusian government still wants to imitate democracy, in Azerbaijan it has already finished imitation”
Comparing the situation in Belarus and Azerbaijan, it can be noted that the authorities of both countries exchange experience of harassment of civil society activists. In particular, we periodically have to watch the waves of persecution of human rights defenders in the two ex-Soviet countries.
