The Belarusian authorities clamp down on all manifestations of critical thinking. Human rights defenders and political opponents are the main targets. We monitor and report on the situation, to influence policy makers in Europe to work actively for democracy and respect for human rights in Belarus.
Read about the current human rights situation in our country report Human rights in Belarus
29 May: Welcome to a panel discussion on the state of civil society in Russia and Belarus. Two human rights defenders from Russia and two from Belarus to discuss the recent strengthening of the legal framework for human rights work and give their analysis of future scenarios.
The jailed Belarusian human rights defender is now denied the possibility to receive food parcels from outside. “We urge the authorities to ensure a correct treatment of Ales Bialiatski and not to abuse prison regulations to his disadvantage”, says Marie Månson, Civil Rights Defenders.
The Belarusian authorities have initiated what seems to be a campaign against the LGBT community in the country. Over 30 members of the human rights organisation Gay Belarus have been interrogated by police after the organisation attempted for the second time to register at the Ministry of Justice.
On 26 November, Belarusian authorities confiscated the office of Human Rights Centre Viasna. The seizure is connected to the case of Viasna’s chairman Ales Bialiatski, who in 2011 was sentenced to 4,5 years in prison and confiscation of property. “Viasna will continue its activities as usual”, says Valiantsin Stefanovich, deputy Chairman.
Sweden and the EU must, in all their contacts with the Belarusian regime, demand the immediate release of Ales and the other political prisoners as a prerequisite for all forms of exchange and cooperation beyond political dialogue. The silenced need all the voices they can get, Robert Hårdh, Executive Director at Civil Rights Defenders, writes in an article in Sydsvenskan.
For the Belarusian organisations fighting for a democratic development in Europe’s last dictatorship, Human rights house in Vilnius provides some breathing space. Civil Rights Defenders supports the Human rights house because it is essential that the democracy movement can meet and talk freely, without fearing repercussions. Listen to Swedish Radio’s report from Vilnius (only in Swedish).
Civil Rights Defenders expresses support for Minsk Gay Pride that will be held 5-11 October. “Minsk Gay Pride is a positive signal in a time of negative developments for the LGBT-movements in Eastern Europe”, says Joanna Kurosz, Programme Director.
The information that the Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski was placed in solitary confinement turned out to be false. It is difficult to verify information from closed countries such as Belarus, since human rights defenders take a risk already by contacting somebody abroad. Civil Rights Defenders always try to double-check information like this, but sometimes that is not enough.
On Sunday 23 September Parliamentary elections are taking place in Belarus. In this Op-Ed, published in Swedish svd.se, Civil Rights Defenders urges the EU to adhere to its principles and insist on greater respect for human rights in order to stay on track.
In recent months, several journalists have been arrested and harassed because of their work in Belarus. Lukashenka’s purpose is clear – to silence critical voices before the parliamentary elections on 23 September. View the seminar with Julia Slutskaya, Head of the Solidarity with Belarus Information Office in Warsaw, through our Bambuser channel.
Only weeks before the Parliamentary election on 23 September, the Belarusian Police conducted a countrywide crackdown on online dissent – arresting several opposition social media activists. Two young Internet activists were found guilty of hooliganism and sentenced to prison.
The diplomatic crisis that has evolved between Belarus and Sweden during the last couple of days will affect the Belarusian civil society: ”Regardless of what happens next, the Belarusian civil society will suffer”, says Robert Hårdh, Executive Director Civil Rights Defenders.
On 4 August the Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski has been in prison for one year. Civil Rights Defenders have no doubt that he was jailed for his human rights work, with the the aim also to intimidate other critics into silence. Civil Rights Defenders continues to demand the immediate release of Ales Bialiatski.
After a concert in Belarus, Eurovision Song Contest winner Loreen met Natalia Pintjuk, the wife of imprisoned Ales Bialiatski, and several of the country’s prominent human rights defenders. Loreen heard testimony about abuses and restrictions on freedom of expression.
On 4 August, Ales Bialiatski has been detained for a year. In our video report from Belarus Ales’ wife, Natalia Pinchuk, and his colleagues speak about their concern over political prisoners’ health. According to Valiantsin Stefanovich, vice president of the human rights organisation Viasna, prisoners are being subjected to torture and degrading treatment in the KGB prisons.
The pressure on alternative voices in Belarus has increased in recent time. According to the popular Belarusian broadcaster Euroradio there have been several cases where journalists have been targeted. On 22 June, Euroradio’s accredited journalist Pavel Sviardlou was detained and sentenced to 15 days of arrest for “disorderly conduct”.
Ales Bialiatski has received reprimands in prison as well as being subjected to restrictive measures. Civil Rights Defenders is deeply concerned for Ales Bialiatski’s situation and urges the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenka to immediately and unconditionally release the Belarusian human rights defender, in an open letter sent on Thursday.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is currently holding its annual congress. We urge the Federation not to let Belarus’ ice hockey loving President Alexander Lukashenka arrange the Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus in 2014, due to the unacceptable human rights situation in the country.
Ales Bialiatski, human rights defender and chairman of the organisation Viasna, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion. His colleague, Viasna’s vice chair, Valjantsin Stefanovitj, has been charged twice. On 25 april he participates in a seminar about political prisoners in Belaus.
Kavalyou and Kanavalau were recently executed, after having been denied reprieve by the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. “Death penalty is an inhumane punishment that should not be applied in any country”, says Joanna Kurosz at Civil Rights Defenders.
In the past week, several Belarusian human rights defenders were stopped at the border and denied departure from Belarus. A total of almost ten journalists and human rights activists had to turn back from the border with the words “denied exit” in their passports.
“Ales just did his job, and when human right activists in Belarus today do their job they will end up in prison” said Joanna Kurosz from Civil Rights Defenders when speaking during a manifestation in support of Ales Bialiatski, in Stockholm on January 31 2011.
A year has passed since the Presidental election in Belarus and a wave of persecutions of human rights defenders, independent media actors and political opponents, has followed in its tracks. On the January 25, Anna Gerasimova, Director of the Belarusian Human Rights House in Vilnius, will visit us to talk about the current human rights situation in Belarus.
On January 24, the Minsk city court upheld the 4.5-year verdict against Ales Bialiatski, Chair of Human Rights Centre Viasna. ”The Belarusian regime is using the process against Ales Bialiatski to silence human rights defenders in the country, said Joanna Kurosz at Civil Rights Defenders.
![[:en] Ales Bialiatski behind bars in november 2011 (Photo: Euroradio) [:sv] Ales Bialiatski i fängelse, november 2011 (Foto: Euroradio)](http://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/files/behind_bars-300x185.jpg)
“I have a feeling that this trial was necessary in order to check whether we have been doing the right thing during all these 15 years”, said human rights defenders Ales Bialiatski the day after he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on November 24, 2011. Harassment of human rights defenders is more of a rule rather than an exception in Belarus.
According to a new amendment Belarusians can be fined EUR 100 for visiting a banned website, among them the site of Viasna. -This is another step taken by Alexander Lukashenka’s regime to suppress freedom of speech on the internet, said Joanna Kurosz, at Civil Rights Defenders.
(Updated December 2011) The overall situation in Belarus seemed to remain on a stable, negative level during 2009 and 2010 with small improvements as a result of the dialogue between Belarus and the EU. However, since the elections on December 19, 2010, the human rights situation has hit an all time low with a massive, [...]
On November 29 Ales Bialiatski, Chair of Viasna, appealed the verdict of the Pershamaiski District Court in Minsk, sentencing him to four and a half years in prison and confiscation of property for tax evasion. Civil Rights Defenders believes that the decision is a pretext for the regime to silence human rights defenders.
Civil Rights Defenders and Östgruppen condemn the verdict against Ales Bialiatski, Chairperson of Human Rights Centre Viasna. A protest letter was submitted to the Belarusian Embassy in Stockholm on November 25.
Ales Bialiatski, Chariman of the human rights organisation Viasna, was sentenced for tax evasion to four and a half years in prison and confiscation of property. An unacceptable verdict according to Civil Rights Defenders.
At the first day of the trial against human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, the Belarusian authorities used extraordinary precautions to prevent people from attending the hearing at the Maskouski district court. Journalists without ID’s were not allowed entrance to the court hall. Two persons, wearing T-shirts with the inscription “Freedom to Ales Bialiatski!”, were removed [...]
Representatives from human rights organisations, including Civil Rights Defenders, have been denied visa for travel to Belarus and cannot attend the trial of Ales Bialiatski. The fact that Belarus is closing the borders for international observers reinforces our concern that Ales Bialiatski will not get a fair and just trial.
The Executive Committee of Minsk City banned the Pride parade, despite the fact that President Alexander Lukashenko had said that he is not against a parade, if it is organised in the outskirts of the city.
In a joint statement, we urge the upper chamber of the Belarusian Parliament to quash the recent legislative amendments that impose limitations on freedom of assembly and association and severely restrict the work of Belarusian civil society groups.
On October 11, the International Day of Coming Out, Pride was opening in Minsk. “A provocation for those who do not want to recognize the political rights of LGBT people”, said Siarhei Androsenka, from Minsk Gay Pride.
Uladzimir Labkovich, legal adviser at Human Rights Center Viasna, was detained in Minsk in connection to a manifestation in support of Ales Bialiatski, on September 25. The arrest is yet another example of the harassment of Viasna employees.
The case against Ales Bialiatski is directly connected to the human rights work of Viasna, the most prominent human rights organisation in Belarus. Viasna has been denied registration by the authorities on several occasions but continues to work for the rights of the people. According to Belarusian legislation it is illegal to work for an [...]
We are deeply concerned about the widespread human rights violations in the aftermath of the presidential elections, said Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organisations in a statement to the Human Rights Council today.
A month has passed since the arrest of Ales Bialiatski, president of the Human Rights Centre Viasna. Bialiatski was arrested in Minsk on August 4, and remains in detention on charges of tax evasion.
On the 12th of August Ales Bialiatski, chair of the Human Rights Center Viasna, was officially charged with “Concealment of profits on an especially large scale” (Paragraph 2, Article 243 of the Belarusian Criminal Code) and his detention has been prolonged by two months.
Civil Rights Defenders in a coalition of international human rights organisations, are deeply concerned about the arrest of Ales Bialiatski on allegations of large-scale tax evasion. We sent a petition to the Belarusian prosecutor’s office asking to release Ales pending the investigation against him.
On 4 August 2011, Ales Bialiatski, Chair of the Human Rights Center Viasna in Belarus, was detained in Minsk. We call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ales Bialiatski and to stop the criminal persecution of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and activists in Belarus.
Ales Bialiatski, chair of the human rights organisation Viasna, was arrested on August 4th by the Belarus Department of Financial Investigations, suspected of gross tax evasion. According to Belarusian law he risks up to seven years imprisonment.
Ales Bialiatski, chair of the human rights organisation Viasna, was arrested today. Very little is known at the moment about where he is held and the reasons for his arrest.
Human Rights Defenders and LGBT activists from all over the world gather in Stockholm during Pride. We have invited ten activists from six countries with the aim to support their struggle against discrimination and their quest for the rights that some of us take for granted.
Several human rights organizations including Civil Rights Defenders condemn the recent arrests of peaceful demonstrators in Belarus. We call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately release all detained protesters and respect the right to freedom of assembly to all its citizens.
Former presidential candidates Mikalai Statkevich and Dmitzry Us have been sentenced to six and five and a half years of imprisonment respectively for organising mass riots. The political opposition is being effectively dismantled by the Belarusian regime.
Civil Rights Defenders has signed a petition together with other NGOs to urge the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution on Belarus. We think it is of outmost importance that the Council unequivocally condemns the human rights violations that took place after the Belarusian Presidential election in December 2010.
According to a newly released report, the behaviour of the Belarusian authorities after the Presidential election in December, 2010, shows that the Belarusian Government does not fulfill the country’s obligations regarding freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
In an open letter to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko we urge the authorities to repeal the warning against Ales Bialiatski and to refrain from further pressure on human rights defenders.
Ales Bialiatski, President of the human rights organisation “Viasna”, was officially warned by the General Prosecutor’s Office for alleged violation of Article 193.1. The General Prosecutor’s Office also made clear that continued activities could lead to prosecution.
If the Belarusian dictator regime is going to land in democratic reforms, Sweden and the EU must keep the pressure on Lukashenka and not bargain with him with something that does not belong to him – the rights of his citizens, writes Robert Hårdh, executive director at Civil Rights Defenders, in a op-ed on Dagens Arena.
On Monday the 17th of January the Committee for State Security, KGB, searched the Human Rights Centre Viasna for the third time in just one month. Events related to the Belarusian election on the 19th of December 2010 were stated as reasons in the search warrant. Ales Bialiatski, President of Human Rights Centre Viasna, was taken by the KGB but released the same day.
We appeal to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Participating States to condemn the human rights violations in Belarus that have followed the presidential elections of December 19, 2010. Read more and sign the appeal.
Our Human Rights Lawyer Goran Miletic calls for Serbian authorities to react upon the violations of basic human rights in Belarus, in a blog published in Pescanik on 23 December 2010.
The harassment of human rights organisations, independent media and political opposition continued during the Christmas holidays. Several raids were conducted by KGB of both offices and apartments belonging to civil and political activists.
Together with a number of organisations, we strongly condemn the crackdown on demonstrators, arrests and beatings of journalists, human rights defenders and opposition candidates, which happened in the aftermath of the Presidential elections on 19 December 2010 in Belarus.
Vladimir Nyaklyaeu, Lukashenko’s biggest challenger, was severely beaten, and taken to hospital with a concussion on Sunday night. Later that night, a group of men stormed into his hospital room, wrapped him in a blanket and abducted him. We follow the developments in Belarus with great concern.
On Sunday December 19, a presidential election is held in Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship. On the surface this election is more democratic than the previous ones. But appearances are deceptive – the improvements achieved are only cosmetic. Read our op-ed article in Svenska Dagbladet on 19 December.
Even though the state-owned media became more accessible to the candidates compared to previous elections; the attention was still focused on one candidate, the incumbent, and other candidates and parties were marginalized according to the latest report of the Belarusian Association of Journalists’ (BAJ) report.
Support our petition to the President of Belarus. We urge the President to fulfil the country’s obligations i regard to the respect of human rights.
In order to strengthen Belarusian citizens access to justice Civil Rights Defenders want to raise awareness of Belarusian Lawyers and activists on human rights and International Standards. To do this, a series of seminars on various rights is conducted within the framework of the project.
On Thursday the 21st of October, EU diplomats agreed on a continuation of EU sanctions against Belarusian authorities. The sanctions were introduced in 2006, after violence and election-rigging in relation to the presidential elections, and included a travel ban to the EU for leading Belarusian officials.
The 19th of December the presidential elections will take place in Belarus. Together with our Belarusian colleagues we will monitor the situation extra carefully during the remaining two months.
Joanna Kurosz, programme director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Civil Rights Defenders, will participate as moderator in the Conference of Human Rights Defenders in Belarus and the Baltic States. Around 70 Belarusian Human Rights Defenders will attend the conference together with 80 other participants from the Baltic countries, Western Balkans, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, [...]
In September our colleagues at the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) are celebrating their 15th anniversary. The organisation is open not only for journalist but also for other people who contribute to journalistic activity and free distribution of information.
On September 3rd Aleh Byabenin was found dead in his country house. The first investigation considers suicide even though Aleh’s family and friends suggest that there was nothing in his behavior or in his life that points towards a suicide.
EU could positively influence relations with Belarus and improve the image of the Dialogue Period among Belarusian citizens by providing more feedback on what is going on, and thereby making the dialogue process more transparent, says a group of NGO:s.
In cooperation with more than 50 Belarusian and international organisations Civil Rights Defenders regularly compile reports regarding the human rights situation in Belarus. The reports are sent to EU parliamentarians and other decision makers in the wake of their discussions about the relations between EU and Belarus.
Fundamental civil and political rights remain seriously restricted. The persecution of independent journalists and human rights defenders will most likely intensify on the eve of the Presidential elections, according to our latest report.
Seven Belarusian LGBT-activists were recently fined for participating in a demonstration for the rights of sexual minorities. It is unacceptable that these people’s basic rights are not respected, says Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders.
In March, two prisoners were executed in Belarus, despite ongoing negotiations with the Council of Europe on the introduction of a moratorium. According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee Belarus is acting in breach of its international obligations, Viasna says.
Civil Rights Defenders, together with over 50 other human rights organisations, condemn the Belarus execution of Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk.
Civil Rights Defenders and three other human rights organisations urge Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenka to stop harassment of those defending human rights in Belarus.
Four leading human rights defenders in Belarus were arrested on Tuesday afternoon following a demonstration against the death penalty. The protest was a response to the unexpected execution of two men on death row last week.
A year after Belarus imposed a law regulating mass media the legal basis for free media to act in Belarus is decisively weakened. The positive changes in the media field were neither systematic nor definitive.
Civil Rights Defenders cooperates with European Radio for Belarus to support access to information for the Belarusian people. Our cooperation also aims at assisting a new generation of journalists, who will be able to work professionally in Belarus in the future.
In January 2010 the human rights organization Viasna and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee launched the campaign “Human rights defenders against death penalty.” The campaign aims to disseminate objective information and in the long term work for abolition of the death penalty.
In May 2010 Belarus will be inquired by the UN Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review, UPR. Belarus has for a long time been criticized by both the UN and other international bodies for violations of fundamental human rights. The Belarusian authorities’ reaction to the criticism has been weak. Meanwhile, the country wants [...]
The purpose of Civil Rights Defenders support to the Human Rights House in Vilnius is to provide Belarusian human rights defenders a safe place to plan and carry out activities. In the house in exile they can have seminars, meetings and other activities that cannot be conducted inside Belarus due to the difficult political situation.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) expresses concern over the media situation in Belarus before the local elections in April. It will be very difficult for the few independent media that exists in the country to provide objective information after threats to close down media from the Media Ministry.
Belarusian Ministry of Justice accuses the independent Association of Journalists, BAJ, of breaking the laws. One can only speculate if this is a consequence of BAJ’s increasingly successful lobbying, says Erik Esbjörnson at Civil Rights Defenders.
During 2009, the regime has once again imprisoned political prisoners. The authorities continue to deny state registration to political parties and non-governmental organisations and foreign journalists are refused accreditation.
Read more about the human rights situation in Belarus in the report from the human rights organisation Viasna.
-We welcome the accreditation of European Radio for Belarus. We hope this will mark a breach in the Belarusian authorities policy of clamping down on independent media and that they will take further steps towards ensuring freedom of expression in Belarus, said Robert Hårdh, executive director at Civil Rights Defenders.
One year ago the European Union temporarily lifted the travelban on Belarusian politicians and civil servants, hoping that this would lead to an improved human rights situation in the country. In November the future of the sanctions will be decided. Fifty international and Belarusian organisations recommend, in a new report, that EU keeps the travelban [...]
In the fourth report about the human rights situation in Belarus, Belarusian and international organisations urge the EU to prolong the temporary cancelation of sanctions in order to achieve permanent changes.
The Belarusian government’s policies have remained largely unchanged since the last monitoring report was released in March 2009. While isolated concessions were made to the political opposition and civil society that allowed them carry out some activities without harassment, repressive measures remained in place and continued to be enforced on a selective basis. No changes [...]
International Media and Press Freedom Organisations jointly call for reforms and the removal of restrictions on the media in the Republic of Belarus.
Belarus continues to punish the country’s human rights defenders. On July 16, the Belarusian human rights defender and lawyer Leanid Svetsik was sentenced to a huge fine. Svetsik has for several years been working with legal aid to human rights activists in the city of Vitebsk, who had received letters with threats from members of the Nazi-organization Russian National Unity.
The Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna has been working in secret since 2003. After three attempts to register the activists are fed up and are now publicly announcing their activities, which are classified as illegal in Belarus. Three representatives of Viasna; Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovitj and Uladzimir Labkovitj made the risky statement on a press [...]
The Belarusian human rights organisation Nasja Viasna was on Thursday once again denied registration by the authorities. It is the third time in slightly less than two years that the foremost human rights defenders in Belarus are denied the right to work legally. The reasons for the denial are as absurd as previously. One example [...]
Today the EU launches its Eastern partnership aiming at creating closer bonds between the EU and six countries in east, among these the dictatorship Belarus. The project is launched at the EU summit in Prague where representatives of the Belarusian president Aljaksandr Lukasjenka will participate. At the same time it is exactly ten years since [...]
The minor changes made since the EU started a dialogue with Belarus, have not altered the fundamental problems of civil society in Belarus, says the Swedish Helsinki Committee, together with a group of NGO:s, in a report on the human rights developments in the country. Read the latest report describing the human rights situation in [...]
Jekaterina Glod, analyst at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS), talks about the latest developments in Belarus and the country’s relationships with Russia and the EU. On March 17 EU decided to give the Belarusian regime a new opportunity to come closer to the European Union. EU temporarily revoked a travel ban for a [...]
The Belarusian authorities refuse to register the human rights organisation Nasja Viasna. This shows clearly that the Belarusian regime has failed an important test of their will to democratize the country, says Robert Hårdh, Secretary General of the Swedish Helsinki Committee. We believe that this is a matter of discrimination for political reasons. We are [...]
Belarusian human rights activists were arrested by the police while distributing flyers on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The police confiscated the flyers and registered the details of the activists’ passports before releasing them an hour later. All previous talk of the country’s democratisation seems hollow in the light of [...]
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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