News on the topic: human rights defenders
26.05.2014 Viasna welcomes release of colleague Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain!
Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Deputy Secretary General of FIDH got out of jail on May 24 after being detained for more than 600 days.
20.05.2014 Civil Rights Defenders leader detained at Čyžouka Arena
Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Sweden’s Civil Rights Defenders human rights group, arrived yesterday in Minsk to meet with the head of the Swedish Hockey Federation Christer Englund at Čyžouka Arena, where Sweden played Italy as part of the World Championship.
19.05.2014 Civil Rights Defenders on their way to Minsk in support of Ales Bialiatski
Almost four years has elapsed since Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders was last in Belarus. In 2010 to monitor the Belarusian election together with Ales Bialiatski – 2014 to highlight the fact that Ales has been behind bars since 4 August 2011 on trumped up charges.
14.05.2014 Ales Bialiatski wins the Ales Adamovich literary award
On 13 May, laureates of Ales Adamovich and Francishak Bagushevich literary awards were honoured in Minsk. Political prisoner Ales Bialiatski won the Ales Adamovich Award for the book “Enlightened by Belarus”. Zmicer Matveichyk won the Bagushevich Award with the book “Uprising of 1863-1864: an Essay of the Hostilities.”
13.05.2014 Swiss human rights defenders support civil society of Belarus
Amnesty International’s Swiss branch calls Belarusian authorities for “fair play in the field of human rights” within an advocacy campaign coinciding with the World Ice Hockey Championship in Minsk
12.05.2014 International human rights defenders: Ice Hockey World Championships 2014 in Minsk overshadowed by detentions
Human rights organisations appeal to International Ice Hockey Federation and Belarusian President Lukashenka
07.05.2014 Östgruppen’s Chair Martin Uggla is not allowed to enter Belarus on the eve of 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship
Chair of Swedish human rights organisation Östgruppen Martin Uggla who was going to visit Belarus has been detained in the transit zone of the National Airport “Minsk-2”. As it became known to human rights defenders, the border guards advised Uggla to buy a return ticket for today or to wait in a transit zone until Sunday as he already has a return ticket for that date.
27.04.2014 Biaroza human rights defenders summoned to police
Human rights defenders Siarhei Rusetski and Tamara Shchapiotkina received on April 25 a summons to the police. Police Major Dzmitry Mastyka served a summons, which had no name or address. The activists were not told about the nature of the case where they are expected to appear as witnesses.
17.04.2014 Court blocks Valiantsin Stefanovich’s complaint against ban on Viasna website
Having appealed against the decision of the Tsentralny District Court, who dismissed a complaint against the actions of the Prosecutor General’s Office, human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich has not yet received any reaction, either a notification of the date of consideration or its receipt by the court.
14.04.2014 Pavel Sapelka: “The prosecutor struggled for the driver-killer like for his own brother”
The driver of the Crysler car, who killed two people by knocking them down while driving, was released from criminal responsibility by the decision of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office.
10.04.2014 Viktar Adzinochanka: Lukashenka's statement influenced the verdict on Hrunou's case
Homel resident Aliaksandr Hrunou was repeatedly sentenced to death. The representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Homel, candidate of phylosophical sciences Viktar Adzinochanka commented on the verdict, issued by the Supreme Court of Belarus on April 8.
09.04.2014 Constitutional Court finds no violations in law on non-profit organizations acting as foreign agents
April 8 in the morning, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation voiced its verdict on the the complaint of the Commissioner for Human Rights V.P. Lukin about violation of the constitutional rights of the non-profit organizations who are accused of "performing functions of a foreign agent".
09.04.2014 Tatsiana Reviaka's Top-4 of human rights violations in 2013
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" issued another Review-Chronicle “Situation of Human Rights in Belarus in 2013”.
08.04.2014 Belarus: Confirmation in appeal of the ban of a book written by Mr. Ales Bialiatski
Statement of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders concerning the confirmation of the ban of "Enlightened by Belarusianness", authored by the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Ales Bialiatski.
04.04.2014 International human rights defenders: Journalists must testify about what is happening in Belarus
Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders, Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, have addressed journalists during the Defenders' Days conference, which is currently underway in Sweden: "Every journalist who find themselves in an authoritarian country such as Belarus must have an obligation to stand up for free speech and report on human rights violations in such a country."
