33 rights groups call for release of Ales Bialiatski
The
33 member organizations of the Civic Solidarity Platform have urged
the Belarusian authorities to release human rights defender Ales
Bialiatski
and allow the Human
rights Center “Viasna” to
continue its operations, BelaPAN
said.
The Civic Solidarity Platform unites human rights
organizations representing some 20 countries.
In their
statement, the organizations called on the Belarusian authorities to
“stop the ongoing repression against the staff of this organization
[Viasna]
and all other human rights NGOs.”
The statement condemned
the recent confiscation of Viasna’s
office, an apartment in a residential building in Minsk that belonged
to Mr. Bialiatski
prior to his conviction.
“This new attack on the right to
freedom of association is the last of a series of measures taken by
the Belarus authorities to stifle dissent and outlaw, harass and
prosecute human rights NGOs and their representatives. While the
right to freedom of association is protected by the Belarus
constitution, the authorities are violating the country’s supreme
law as well as international standards that Belarus has ratified
under the UN and commitments it has undertaken as a member of the
OSCE,” the statement said.
The organizations reiterated
that Mr. Bialiatski’s
trial was “marked by blatant violations of the right of defense
and the right to a fair trial.” “No international observers were
granted a visa to enter Belarus to observe the trial, among those
denied entry were staff members of International Partnership for
Human Rights (IPHR) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, both
members of the Civic Solidarity Platform,” said the statement.
“The Civic Solidarity Platform condemns the new steps taken
by the authorities aimed at putting an end to the activities of the
famous NGO that has continued to courageously carry out its work
during the incarceration of its head in spite of the harassment its
members have been increasingly subjected to over the last year.”
The human rights groups urged the international community to
support their demands and persist in calling upon the Belarusian
government to "refrain from any further attempts at stifling
civil society.”