News on the topic: human rights defenders
16.03.2017 Libereco: Release all detained protesters in Belarus!
Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights, the Zürich-Cologne based human rights group, has launched an email campaign to urge the Belarusian authorities to "stop the persecution, harassment and intimidation of dissidents".
14.03.2017 International human rights groups: Belarus protests in focus
The arrest of dozens of protesters and journalists over the weekend is the “biggest crackdown in years”, Amnesty International said in response to the alarming reports coming from Belarus.
24.01.2017 Kyrgyz Court Reinstates Life Sentence Against Rights Activist
A Kyrgyz court has reinstated a sentence of life imprisonment for ethnic Uzbek rights defender Azimjan Askarov, sparking fresh international criticism of a case the jailed activist says is politically motivated.
06.01.2017 Front Line Defenders: 281 human rights defenders murdered in 2016
More than 1000 human rights defenders were killed, harassed, detained, or subjected to smear campaigns and other violations in 2016, Front Line Defenders reported today at the launch of its annual report in Dublin. The Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk in 2016 documents hundreds of physical, legal, and social attacks on activists around the world in 2016.
30.11.2016 FIDH: Andrei Bandarenka faces extention of his prison term under new criminal charges
FIDH denounces opening of a new case against imprisoned human rights defender Andrei Bandarenka, previously expert on monitored detention facilities. Even if his sentence in 2014 was not related to his human rights activities, FIDH considers the repeated criminal prosecution as a form of politically motivated pressure for his previous human rights activities and calls for dropping of charges.
28.11.2016 Government’s attitude to Ombudsman as indicator of respect for human rights
Human rights activists and lawyers from Belarus met last week with representatives of the Office of the Polish Commissioner for Civil Rights. The meeting was held at the initiative of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and dealt with the role and mandate of the Polish Ombudsman and the government’s attitude to the activities of his office in the light of the recent political changes in the country. It also touched upon the place of human rights in the official cooperation between Warsaw and Minsk.
25.11.2016 Imprisoned human rights activist Andrei Bandarenka faces fresh criminal charges
On November 14, the Mahilioŭ interdistrict department of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (“willful disobedience to the correctional institution administration”) against human rights activist Andrei Bandarenka, who is currently serving a 3-year sentence in prison No. 4.
04.11.2016 Joint position of human rights defenders on adoption of plan to implement UN recommendations
Joint Position of Belarusian Human Rights Organizations on Adoption of Interagency Plan of Implementation of Recommendations for Belarus from UN mechanisms
27.10.2016 Women's rights in Belarus on UN agenda
The UN office in Geneva has hosted several meetings of representatives of the Belarusian civil society with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an event that is expected to be followed by the Committee's consideration of the official report of Belarus, scheduled for October 28.
25.10.2016 Interior Ministry confirms entry ban on rights defender Alena Tankachova
Human rights defender Alena Tankachova will not be able to return to Belarus until February 2018, naviny.by said today. The Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to reduce the deportation period without explanation. The human rights activist insists that the case is politically motivated.
12.10.2016 Russian rights defender Maria Rymar fined USD 1,100
The Court of Minsk’s Kastryčnicki district has sentenced Russian human rights defender Maria Rymar to a fine of 2,100 rubles on charges of “knowingly false reporting about danger” (Part 1 of Article 340
27.09.2016 Kyrgyzstan: Prominent women human rights defenders at risk following their participation in OSCE meeting
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT partnership) strongly condemns the verbal attacks and acts of harassment by the Kyrgyz authorities against Tolekan Ismailova and Aziza Abdirasulova in reprisal to their participation in the 2016 OSCE HDIM, and calls upon diplomatic missions and the OSCE to provide them with all necessary protection.
26.09.2016 Viasna leader: Authorities oppose human rights defenders fighting for truth and justice
Courts and prosecutors are often used by the authorities to fight their political opponents and human rights defenders, Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, said at a side-event entitled “The post-Soviet Judiciary: a tool for administration of justice or a tool of oppression? Lack of independence of the judiciary and prosecution of HRDs in the Eastern part of the OSCE area” held on September 23 in the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw.
29.08.2016 Greek academic and activist Dimitris Christopoulos elected FIDH President
Dimitris Christopoulos has been elected President of FIDH. He succeeds Iranian lawyer Karim Lahidji who headed the international human rights NGO for the last three years. The vote was held during the 39th FIDH Congress in Johannesburg where its 178 member organisations from 120 countries were gathered to elect the new International Board and determine the main orientations for the next three years.
24.08.2016 Ales Bialiatski: Russia rapidly returning to Soviet Union, which inevitably affects its neighbors
Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, spoke yesterday at FIDH Congress in Johannesburg as part of a session entitled “Invoking morals, religious or traditional values to build a new world order: States opposing human rights principles”.
