The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for October 2015

30.10.2015 Kurapaty action participants stopped by police

An action in memory of the repressed people was held in Kurapaty Tract on October 29. Representatives of the Belarusian civil society took part it.

30.10.2015 Activists detained during memorial picket in Haradok

Leanid Autukhou, leader of the Viciebsk regional branch of the Belarusian Popular Front, staged yesterday a picket in the town of Haradok to mark the day of remembrance for the victims of Stalinist repression. However, the unauthorized protest was stopped by local police officers only twenty minutes after its beginning.

30.10.2015 Opposition activists protest outside KGB building in Minsk, organizers charged

According to various estimates, between 100 and 150 people, gathered yesterday outside the KGB building in Minsk to stage a protest called “Chain of Memory” in honor of over 100 Belarusian cultural figures executed on the day in 1937.

30.10.2015 Saudi-blogger Raif Badawi awarded 2015 Sakharov Prize

A top human rights prize goes to Saudi-blogger Raif Badawi. Previous winners include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.

29.10.2015 BAJ issues report on media coverage of presidential election

The report presents the findings of the monitoring of the 2015 presidential election coverage in the Belarusian state run and independent media.

29.10.2015 Belarus to report at UN Human Rights Committee

For the first time since 1997, Belarus will present its report on the implementation of its international obligations at a session of the UN Human Rights Committee. The list of questions prepared by the Committee includes those that have been recommended by the Belarusian human rights activists.

29.10.2015 Belarus to streamline law on granting refugee status

Amendments are being prepared in the Law “On Refugees”, which are expected to simplify the procedure for obtaining refugee status and asylum in the country, according to Aliaksei Biahun, head of the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

29.10.2015 Activist in Baranavičy fined for wearing prison clothes at work

The Baranavičy City Court completed yesterday the trial of local opposition activist Ryhor Hryk, who was charges with two administrative offenses.

28.10.2015 Court convicts opposition leaders over ‘National Flag March’

The Centraĺny District Court of Minsk heard today the administrative charges brought against opposition leaders Anatol Liabedzka and Viachaslau Siuchyk for their involvement in the National Flag March staged on October 10.

28.10.2015 Head Of Polish Book Institute Was Refused Entry To Belarus

Grzegorz Gauden hasn’t obtained a Belarusian visa, therefore he will not attend opening of the Month of Polish Literature on October 29.

28.10.2015 Freedom House: Belarus Has Most Non-Free Internet in Europe

The US non-governmental organisation Freedom House has published its annual report on Internet Freedom worldwide.

28.10.2015 UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders launches thematic website

The website tells about various types of persecution of human rights defenders and their organizations, the mandate and activities of the Special Rapporteur, UN documents and external resources for the protection of human rights defenders, as well as the latest news on the issue.

28.10.2015 Activist in Brest insists on opening criminal case over electoral fraud

Dzianis Turchaniak, an activist of the movement "For Freedom", has sent a complaint to the prosecutor of Brest against the Department of Internal Affairs of the city’s Maskoŭski district.

28.10.2015 Miklós Haraszti: “No tangible signs of improvement with regard to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression”

On October 29, Miklós Haraszti, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, is expected to present a report on freedom of expression in Belarus at a session of the UN General Assembly.

27.10.2015 Customs officials to drop charges against human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka

On October 26, human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka wrote to the Homieĺ customs department to remind about the expiration of a period for administrative prosecution in a case opened against him on charges of resisting a lawful request of an official.