The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for April 2013

25.04.2013 Family of executed Uladzislau Kavaliou petition authorities to unveil burial site

The mother and sister of Uladzislau Kavaliou, executed on charges of committing a terrorist act in Minsk metro in April 2011, have addressed President Lukashenka with a petition to unveil his burial site. Similar appeals were sent to the Interior Ministry and the Committee for State Security (KGB).

25.04.2013 Dunja Mijatovic: I will fight for Belarusian journalists

Conference on journalist security started on 23 April in Warsaw.

25.04.2013 Belpartizan website hacked

The Belarusian independent website was hacked on the morning April 25. The homepage demonstrated an address from anonymous hackers who claimed to be adherents of the Anonymous group.

25.04.2013 Baranavichy: Free Trade Union denied premises for free consultations

On April 24 an employee of the Baranavichy-based hotel “Haryzont-Tur” phoned local civil society activist Viktar Miaziak and reported that the administration would not provide the city office of the free trade union with premises requested by the Union earlier. The employee also said the hotel decided to terminate all relations with the trade union, without specifying any the reasons for this unexpected decision.

25.04.2013 Andrei Kureichyk: “I do not believe that the death penalty will save us from crime” (Video)

Famous Belarusian and Russian screenwriter and actor Andrei Kureichyk signed a petition against the death penalty in Belarus.

24.04.2013 BPF Vitsebsk leader charged with violation of Mass Media Code

“I am accused of the exceeding the number of copies of the party’s newsletter “Magistrate,” which we handed out on March 22. But nobody counted the copies then, and I do not know where the final figure comes from. Moreover, to date, all the copies must have been destroyed. However, they now appear in the new administrative charges I am facing,” says the chairman of the Vitsebsk regional branch of the Belarusian Popular Front Leanid Autukhou.

24.04.2013 Law enforcement authorities stubbornly ignore complaints by beaten woman

More than two years have passed since Alesia Sadouskaya, a young mother from the town of Maladechna, was reportedly beaten by policemen. Mrs. Sadouskaya went through the courts of all levels – from the district court to the Supreme Court. She submitted statements to all levels of law enforcement agencies – district, regional and national. However, the authorities stubbornly ignore her statements and arguments.

24.04.2013 Another picket banned in Vitsebsk

Yan Dziarzhautsau, member of the Conservative Christian Party BPF, has been unable to sign a contract with the city’s medical service to hold a mass rally for the third time in a row. The picket on the anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy was banned by the local authorities exactly on the basis that there was no agreement with the health care department and police administration.

24.04.2013 The death penalty: State government tool or “social justice?”

Does the state have the right to decide who should live and who not? How are justice and punishment interrelated? Can death be a legitimate punishment for a crime? These and many other questions were asked by members of the Social and Legal Movie Club at a regular meeting held on March 28 in the Crimea.

24.04.2013 Prosecutor’s Office issues warning to human rights defender Tamara Siarhei

According to Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus the human rights defender can face up to two years in prison.

24.04.2013 Uladzimir Yaromenak receives 15 days in jail in absentia

The Young Front activist Uladzimir Yaromenak received yesterday a phone call from a police inspector who offered to come to the police station, explaining that the guy had 15 days more day of jail to serve, the Young Front’s press-service reports.

24.04.2013 Charter97.org under attack

Our website has been exposed to DDoS-attack.

24.04.2013 FIDH launches new website to support Belarusian civil society

Time moves on, but the situation of human rights and civil society in Belarus remains dramatic. Ales Bialiatski, Vice-president of FIDH and President of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, is still in jail along with numerous other political prisoners; all continue to be subjected to further harassment even behind bars. To shed light on this intolerable situation, FIDH has launched a new version of the http://freeales.fidh.net website. This site will inform and mobilise the international community loudly speaking out for the Belarusian civil society, which continues its courageous work despite the on-going pressure.

23.04.2013 Fourth Refusal to Re-Register the Magazine Arche

The Ministry of Information again denied re-registration to the magazine Arche.Beginning.

23.04.2013 German president expresses hope for Council of Europe accession talks with Belarus

German Federal President Joachim Gauck expressed hope on Tuesday that the situation in Belarus would change, and that talks about its accession to the Council of Europe would finally begin.