Support Ales Bialiatski on 4 August!
On 4 August the international civil community is expected to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the civil society and human rights movement of Belarus.
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” is calling on its colleagues, representatives of international and Belarusian human rights organizations to arrange actions of solidarity with Ales Bialiatski, head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), who was arrested on August 4, 2011 and later sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment for his human rights activities.
Below you can find a petition to be sent to the Belarusian authorities to demand an immediate and unconditional release of Ales Bialiatski and other political prisoners still held in prisons, as well as to put an end to harassment of the country’s human rights and civil society organizations. We can sign the petition and submit it to the Belarusian embassy to your country or send it to the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Belarus.
To President of the Republic of Belarus
Aliaksandr Lukashenka
220016, 38 Karl Marx St., Minsk, Belarus
Petition
On August 4, 2011, Ales Bialiatski, prominent Belarusian human rights defender, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested and later sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment.
We believe that his sentencing is illegal, as it is only linked to his human rights activities. Ales Bialiatski’s arrest was the result of the Belarusian authorities’ persistent policy against the country’s human rights and civil society organizations: dissolutions of NGOs by court rulings, denying state registration, including by the judiciary, criminal prosecution for illegal NGO activities, ban on and criminal prosecution for receiving foreign financial aid.
We, representatives of Belarusian and international human rights communities, urge the authorities of Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Ales Bialiatski, as well as other prisoners of conscience still held in Belarusian prisons.
We urge the authorities of Belarus to put an end to harassment and persecution of representatives of the country’s civil society and human rights defenders, as well as to bring the Belarusian legislation in line with the international human rights standards.
