The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for August 2020

31.08.2020 Chief of Belarusian Catholic church barred from entering country

Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Minsk and Mahilioŭ, has not been allowed to enter the country today despite holding a Belarus citizenship, catholic.by said.

31.08.2020 Amnesty International: Police must be held accountable for violence

Amnesty International calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately end police violence and to investigate the gross human rights violations committed during the last three weeks, as peaceful protests against police brutality and the rule of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka grow.

31.08.2020 Financial police arrest another member of opposition coordination council

Liliya Ulasava, a famous mediator and a member of the presidium of the Coordination Council, has been arrested by officers of the Department for Financial Investigations, according to a Council member Maksim Znak.

31.08.2020 “So you are for Tsikhanouskaya?” Survivor stories

The Human Rights Center “Viasna” and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) launched a campaign to document cases of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of protesters on August 9-13. Some testimonies of people who survived torture and violence will be published on our website as evidence of crimes committed by security forces.

31.08.2020 150 detained in weekend protests

125 people were detained during yesterday’s protest as tens of thousands continued to stage daily demonstrations in various cities of Belarus, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Twenty-nine were detained the day before yesterday, during a women’s protest in Minsk.

30.08.2020 Stop violence and threats!

Joint Statement by the Missions of the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Union on behalf of the EU Member States represented in Minsk on the use of violence and repression in Belarus

30.08.2020 Wall of silence in Belarus: massive withdrawal of press accreditations

After the arbitrary detention of about 50 journalists on Thursday, the Belarusian authorities are stepping up the withdrawal of press accreditations for journalists covering the country’s news for foreign media. A wall of silence is gradually isolating Belarus from the rest of the world. The EFJ condemns the inaction and wait-and-see attitude of the international community.

28.08.2020 Nine more persons facing rioting charges called political prisoners

Human rights defenders demand an immediate release of political prisoners arrested in the framework of the “mass riots” criminal case - Joint statement of human rights organizations of Belarus

28.08.2020 OSCE chairs calls for "immediate and significant improvement" in Belarus with "no ifs or buts"

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Edi Rama again offered to facilitate dialogue in Belarus

28.08.2020 Nearly 300 detained in Minsk protest

Viasna’s arrest list has once again hit third-digits, after some 240 protesters, mostly men, and 30 journalists were detained last night in central Minsk.

27.08.2020 “Now we’ll show you how to s..t your pants." Survivor stories

On August 11, Dzianis Selivankin was approached by two police officers at the intersection of Pieramožcaŭ Avenue and Mieĺnikajte Street. What they saw in Dzianis’s Telegram enraged them.

26.08.2020 NGOs call on UN Human Rights Council to convene extraordinary session on Belarus crisis

The UN Human Rights Council must urgently convene a special session to address the human rights crisis in Belarus, where authorities have launched a full-scale crackdown following disputed presidential elections, Amnesty International and 15 other international and Belarusian NGOs said today in an open letter.

26.08.2020 Protesters detained in dozens again

Over fifty protesters were detained yesterday during and after several demonstrations held in Minsk, Homieĺ, Hrodna and Babrujsk. Some of them were released, but are expected to stand trials soon.

25.08.2020 Police go back to arrests of peaceful protesters, strikers and opposition figures

Thirty-nine protesters faced administrative charges following yesterday’s protests in a number of Belarusian cities, the Interior Ministry’s spokesperson said. Three criminal cases were opened to investigate alleged violence against police officers, it said.

24.08.2020 HRDs request UN intervention in Belarus torture reports

The Human Rights Center “Viasna”, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have written to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to express their grave concern and to call upon intervention in relation to the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters in the aftermath of the presidential elections held on 9 August 2020 in Belarus.