News on the topic: human rights defenders
03.03.2015 Leanid Markhotka's appeal against picket ban to be considered March 12
The cassation appeal of the Salihorsk human rights activist Leanid Markhotka against the prohibition of a picket dedicated to the Universal Human Rights Day will be considered by the panel of judges on civil cases of the Minsk Regional Court at 10 a.m. on March 12.
03.03.2015 The Human Rights Council should continue to take responsibility regarding the Human Rights situation in Belarus
The human rights situation in Belarus continues to be characterized by serious, widespread and systematic violations. In the words of the UN Special Rapporteur, Miklós Haraszti, violations in the country have a “systemic and systematic” character.
02.03.2015 Mikhail Kukabaka: Who and what will investigate in the country of lawlessness?
Mikhail Kukabaka, the famous Belarusian dissident living in Moscow, shared with the human rights defenders of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” his views on the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
02.03.2015 Ales Bialiatski asks Italian activists to continue fight for political prisoners in Belarus
Ales Bialiatski, Mayor of Syracuse Giancarlo Garrozzo, Heather McGill of Amnesty International’s International Secretariat, Giuseppe Provenza, Amnesty International’s National Coordinator, and Amnesty activists
27.02.2015 Östgruppen encourages Swedish Foreign Ministry to criticize verdict for Dziadok
Swedish human rights initiative Östgruppen calls yesterday’s verdict by the Mahiliou court pronounced in the case of political prisoner Mikalai Dziadok, on the one hand, extremely "original" and the other - "politically motivated", according to svaboda.org. The human rights activists are urging the government of Sweden to sharply and clearly criticize the Lukashenko regime for the persecution of dissidents.
27.02.2015 Ales Bialiatski becomes honorary citizen of Syracuse
On February 26, the municipal authorities of Syracuse (Italian region of Sicily) awarded Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski the title of honorary citizenship of Syracuse, the “city of peace and human rights”.
25.02.2015 Human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka writes to police about threats to his children
Leanid Sudalenka, chairman of the Homel city branch of the public association “Legal Initiative”, has lodged a complaint with the police department of the Homel Regional Executive Committee. He asks the police to identify the individual or legal person (IP-address), which administers the website gomelbest.com and which committed, in his opinion, a criminal offense under Article 186 of the Criminal Code (threat of homicide).
25.02.2015 Efficiency of the Use of International Human Rights Mechanisms in Respect of Belarus
A number of Belarusian NGOs have published a report prepared by graduates and experts of the Human Rights House Network’s program “International Law in Advocacy” as a result of a study entitled “Efficiency of the Use of International Human Rights Mechanisms in Respect of Belarus”.
24.02.2015 Azerbaijan Extends Rights Activist's Pretrial Detention By Five Months
BAKU -- A court in Azerbaijan has reportedly ordered that human rights activist Arif Yunus be held in pretrial detention for at least five more months.
24.02.2015 Ales Bialiatski visits Italy at invitation of Amnesty International
From 23 to 27 February, Ales Bialiatski is going to visit Rome, Palermo, Syracuse and Milan, where activists of Amnesty International’s local groups have arranged meetings of different levels with the participation of the Belarusian human rights defender.
20.02.2015 Court dismisses Tonkacheva's appeal against deportation from Belarus
The human rights defender must leave Belarus on February 21.
19.02.2015 Azerbaijan: Extension of pre-trial detention of Ms. Leyla Yunus until July 28, 2015
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing judicial harassment of Ms. Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and a member of OMCT General Assembly.
19.02.2015 Ales Bialiatski: Prison system totally rotten, no political will to reform it
The leader of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and former political prisoner Ales Bialiatski is critical of the conclusions voiced by his colleagues from the organization Platforma Innovation following a series of inspections carried out in the country’s prisons and detention facilities, Radio Liberty’s Belarus service reports.
17.02.2015 New Charges Brought Against Azerbaijani Journalist Ismayilova
New charges have been brought against independent journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova. Ismayilova's lawyer, Fariz Namazly, said the new charges include embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and abuse of power.
16.02.2015 Viasna activists meet with representatives of Norwegian PEN Center (video)
On 16 February, William Nygaard, President of the Norwegian PEN Center, and writer Erling Kitelsen visited the office of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, where they discussed the human rights situation in Belarus with Viasna leaders.
