04.07.2011 Forced dispersals of peaceful assemblies by the police are a gross violation of human rights

Statement by the Human Rights Center Viasna

At the time of the peaceful assemblies in Minsk and other Belarusian cities on 22, 29 June 29 and 3 July officers of the Ministry of Interior used physical violence and police gear against peaceful protesters. Mass detentions were conducted: occasional passers-by were detained together with protesters. As a result, hundreds of citizens were drawn to administrative responsibility (including arrest) on false charges of disorderly conduct, the use foul language in public places. The Human Rights Centre Viasna registered numerous cases of illegal use of physical force against detainees, facts of the lawless interference with professional activities of journalists on the part of law-enforcement officers and cases of detention of human rights defenders who monitored the aforementioned events.

04.07.2011 Belarus: chronicle of silent revolution (updated)

According to human rights defenders, about 310 people were detained in different parts of Belarus on 3 July, 160 of them – in Minsk alone. 5 people were detained in Baranavichy, about 30 – in Homel, about 80 – in Hrodna, 15 – in Mahiliou, 6 – in Smaliavichy, 7 – in Vitsebsk, 2 – in Zhlobin.

04.07.2011 Stanislau Shushkevich and 15 EHU students detained on Belarusian border

On 2 July evening the politician Stanislau Shushkevich and 15 students of the European Humanities University set down the train Vilnius-Minsk on the Belarusian border. The detainees were kept on the border for six hours.

04.07.2011 Hrodna: detention of journalist Ihar Bantsar

Ihar Bantsar, a journalist and activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, was detained on 3 July morning near his house. He managed to phone somebody and tell that most probably he would be tried for the unauthorized picket he had held on 28 June, during the trial of another journalist and UPB activist, Andrei Pachobut.

04.07.2011 Preventive detentions in Homel

On 1 July in Homel Andrei Tsianiuta, head of the Homel branch of the Young Front, was detained in the yard of his house and put in jail. Two more activists, Pavel Pryvalau and Ruslan Ustsimenka, were detained as well. Pryvalau is charged with disorderly conduct.

01.07.2011 Mazyr: detention of Bulgarian and US journalists

The famous Bulgarian journalist, poet and translator Dimiter Kenarov was wrongly detained by the police in Mazyr on 29 June. The popular networking site Facebook developed an open community where information is gathered about his arrest.

01.07.2011 Brest: trials of participants of 29 June silent protest action

On 30 June Vasiliuk, a judge of the Leninski District Court of Brest, considered the cases against 8 participants of the protest action of 29 June.

01.07.2011 About 130 participants of silent protest actions were given charges

The police state that participants of the silent protest action “loudly cried out obscenities addressed to the police”. According to the police the action in Minsk gathered about 350 people, whereas human rights defenders believe there were about 1,5 thousand people. 269 people were guarded to police stations all over Belarus. 130 of them were charged with disorderly conduct, insubordination to the police or participation in the unauthorized protests.

30.06.2011 250 protesters detained on 29 June

Some 250 people were detained during the so called “silent protests” across Belarus yesterday. Minsk police detained over 160 protesters, including a number of journalists. Some of the detainees were reportedly beaten.

23.06.2011 Mazyr HR defender Tseliapun detained by police

Human rights defender Uladzimir Tseliapun was detained together with some 20 persons during a protest in the central square of the town of Mazyr, Homel region.

23.06.2011 Over 460 persons detained during silent protests across Belarus on 22 June

According to preliminary data, over 460 persons were detained during silent protests across Belarus yesterday.

20.06.2011 BCD activists detained in Navapolatsk on June 19

Aleh Kraiko,Illya Bahdanau and Andrei Dubrouski have been warned about the inadmissibility of organization and appeals for participation in unauthorized actions

16.06.2011 Aftermath of Network Revolution: over 240 persons detained across Belarus

At least 240 demonstrators were detained by the police last evening, as several thousand protesters took part in a peaceful rally “Revolution through Social Network” across the country on 15 June.

15.06.2011 Brest: detention of civil activist Ivan Stasiuk

"Ivan called me at 11.30 p.m. and managed to tell that he was in the Maskouski District Police Department of Brest. His mobile is off at the moment, and the duty officer of the department says that the youngster was not delivered there," said a member of the United Civil Party, Uladzimir Vuyek.

14.06.2011 Eyewitness tells about beating of participants of protest action at the border crossing point Bruzgi

An eyewitness said that policemen threw the protesters into the paddy wagon and continued to beat them there. The interlocutor of RFE/RL saw at least 10 beaten persons. He said that there were about one hundred of participants in the protest.