News on the topic: human rights defenders
22.08.2016 Viasna activists attend FIDH Congress in Johannesburg
FIDH, together with its member organisations, Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights in Botswana and Zimrights in Zimbabwe, is holding, under the high patronage of Desmond Tutu, its 39th Congress in Johannesburg from 23 to 27 August 2016.
17.08.2016 US Amnesty International’s Eurasia Cogroup Chair: Together we will win
Viachaslau Bortnik, Belarus-born American human rights defender and head of the Eurasia Cogroup at Amnesty International USA in Washington D.C., has visited the Minsk office of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”.
14.07.2016 Azimjan Askarov Case: decision of Supreme Court nowhere near implementation of UN Views
Paris-Geneva, July 13, 2016 - Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan ordered a fresh appeal hearing before the Chuy Regional Court in Bishkek in the case of human rights defender Azimjan Askarov, and left his life sentence conviction unchanged, FIDH said. Azimjan Askarov remains behind bars in blatant violation of the Views of the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR), which concluded on April 21 that “Kyrgyzstan must take appropriate steps to immediately release him”.
11.07.2016 26 NGOs Call for Release of Bahraini Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab
Tomorrow, 12 July 2016, the trial of the prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab begins. Facing charges related to comments on the social media website Twitter, Rajab may be sentenced to more than ten years in prison.
07.07.2016 Amnesty International: Belarus uses telecoms firms to stifle dissent
Viasna’s website was illegally blocked and the Skype chats of the organization’s leader, Ales Bialiatski, were intercepted with the aim of compromising the human rights defender, Amnesty Internaitonal said in a report entitled It’s enough for people to feel it exists: Civil society, secrecy and surveillance in Belarus.
15.06.2016 Kyrgyzstan at a Crossroads: The authorities must widen the scene for human rights defenders
(Geneva, Paris) As a trial is due to resume today against the President of Kyrgyzstan for his slanderous statements against two leading Kyrgyz human rights activists, the Observatory (joint FIDH-OMCT partnership) publishes today the main concerns of an international mission conducted last week in partnership and solidarity with FIDH member organisations, Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan and Kylym Shamy.
26.05.2016 FIDH calls on international community to support extension of UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus’ mandate
On 30 June, the U.N. Human Rights Council will vote on whether or not to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus. It is essential for the future of the citizens of this country to keep the Special Rapporteur in place.
20.05.2016 FIDH President congratulates Viasna on 20th anniversary
FIDH President Karim Lahidji has congratulated Viasna on its 20th anniversary.
13.05.2016 GOLOS founder detained at Belarusian border
Liliya Shibanova, founder of the Russian Association of non-profit organizations “In Defense of Voters’ Rights GOLOS”, was detained last night by Belarusian border guards while crossing the Lithuanian border on a train to Moscow.
04.05.2016 Sport for Rights warns pop stars against performing at Formula One Grand Prix in Baku
Sport for Rights Campaign, of which FIDH is a member, sent letters to singers Pharrell Williams, Enrique Iglesias and Chris Brown ahead of their performance during the Formula One European Grand Prix in Baku.
03.05.2016 US Department of State congratulates Viasna on 20th anniversary
The United States Department of State has congratulated the Human Rights Center "Viasna" on the 20th anniversary of its founding.
29.04.2016 Valiantsin Stefanovich: Most OSCE recommendations ignored by CEC
On April 27, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the Central Election Commission, met with President Lukashenka to agree on the date of this year’s parliamentary elections. As a result, the vote was set for September 11. Furthermore, Lidziya Yarmoshyna told about the proposals the CEC had reportedly introduced in the electoral process, as demanded by the OSCE recommendations.
26.04.2016 Homieĺ human rights defender complains to UN
Human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka has sent a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee in a case against Ašmiany customs officers who confiscated his laptop during a search at the Lithuanian border on 24 May 2015. The activist has exhausted all domestic remedies, including the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General.
26.04.2016 Viasna. The Beginning
On 26 April 1996, several Belarusian activists founded a human rights initiative called "Viasna-96", which later became what we know today as the Human Rights Center "Viasna". On this day, the activists started searching for the protesters detained during the Čarnobyĺski šliach demonstration.
04.04.2016 Swedish MFA’s State Secretary meets with Belarusian human rights activists
Representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations met on Thursday with Ms. Annika Söder, State Secretary for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, who headed a delegation on an official visit to Belarus.
