The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for November 2020

24.11.2020 More German MPs stand with Belarusian political prisoners

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco, members of German Bundestag Tabea Rößner (Alliance90/The Greens), Ulli Nissen (SPD) and Albert Stegemann (CDU) have taken over a godparenthood for Belarusian political prisoners Aliaksei Karatkou, Volha Klaskouskaya and Siarhei Liazhenka.

24.11.2020 Immediately release arrested students and professor!

Joint statement by Belarusian human rights organizations

23.11.2020 "I had to take down my pants and stand in my underwear in the middle of the hall." Survivor stories

"Nothing was going on, no chains of solidarity or protests. Suddenly they ran up to me, lowered my head, put me on a parapet, and then loaded me into a minibus. I can hardly call it detention, it was rather kidnapping.”

23.11.2020 Members of German Bundestag take over godparenthood for Marfa Rabkova, Raman Bahnavets and Stanislau Mikhailau

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco, Agnieszka Brugger (Alliance 90/The Greens), Klaus-Dieter Gröhler (CDU) and Alexander Müller (FDP) have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus.

23.11.2020 380 detained on Day 106 of post-election protests

At least 379 protesters were detained yesterday in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, according to Viasna’s database. Only a few were released, while most are expected to stand administrative trials in the coming days.

21.11.2020 BAJ demands immediate release of TUT.BY reporter Katsiaryna Barysevich

The Belarusian Association of Journalists believes that instead of looking for the real perpetrators of the murder, the investigators persecute those who are trying to find out the truth about the circumstances of Raman Bandarenka's death.

20.11.2020 Convicted protesters lose appeal in “resisting arrest” trial

The Minsk City Court upheld today the sentences of imprisonment earlier handed down to two protesters arrested on charges of using violence when resisting arrest at an election rally. The sentences were condemned as politically motivated by the country’s human rights community.

20.11.2020 Overcrowded and violent: what awaits Belarusian protesters in prison

Thousands of people have been detained in Belarus' pro-democracy protesters - and hundreds are facing charges. The prison system that will take them is largely unreformed and has its roots in the Soviet system.

20.11.2020 UN experts call for probe into violence against protesters

UN human rights experts said they were gravely concerned by increased reports of mass detentions, intimidation and torture, and called on authorities to conduct a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the excessive use of force and unlawful retaliation at peaceful protests.

19.11.2020 Arrested anarchist suffers Chechnya-style torture, lawyer says

Mikalai Dziadok, blogger and journalist of the Novy Chas weekly, who describes himself as an anarchist, was arrested on November 12 near the city of Salihorsk, 120 km south of Minsk. A video released by the Interior Ministry the following day shows the humiliated and beaten activist confessing to “plotting to overthrow the government.”

19.11.2020 Human rights defenders call to release arrested student activists

Statement of Protest against attack on Belarusian Students' Association

18.11.2020 "Riot policeman took another baton and said: 'I wanted to be a drummer all my life.'" Survivor stories

Around 9 pm on August 10, 29-year-old Minsk resident Anton [name changed – editor's note] was seeing his friend home. The couple were in a tram when five masked riot policemen ran inside.

18.11.2020 Viasna journalist gets 15 more days in prison

Maryna Kastylianchanka, Viasna member and journalist, has been sentenced to another 15 days of administrative detention, after a mock trial held in the Baranavičy detention facility on Tuesday, November 17.

18.11.2020 FIDH urges Belarus to free detained women and children

The FIDH is convinced that the principles of humanism and presumption of innocence should compel the release women and children from detention centers for the period of preliminary investigation.

17.11.2020 New godparents for Belarusian political prisoners

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco, Wieland Schinnenburg (Bundestag, FDP), Lisa Badum (Bundestag, Alliance 90/The Greens) and Viola von Cramon (European Parliament, Alliance 90/The Greens) have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus.