News on the topic: international organizations
16.12.2010 Baranavichy: international observer stopped mysterious movements of ballot box
Electoral precinct No.28 is situated on the third store of the administrative building of the joint-stock company Truck Autopark No.4 in Hruntovaya Street, 47. However, after the end of the voting at 7 p.m. on 14 December, the ballot box for early voting was carried out of the electoral precinct and taken to Telman Street, 102 to be stored there.
16.12.2010 Amnesty International UK issues a briefing outlining key human rights concerns in Belarus
’The human rights of people in Belarus are routinely abused by the state. Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest are not respected. Human rights defenders are harassed. We have serious concerns about unfair trials and the use of torture in detention. This is all the more worrying because Belarus is the only country in Europe still to retain the death penalty,’ said Amnesty international UK Director Kate Allen.
13.12.2010 Belarusian authorities denied visa to Chairperson of Norwegian Helsinki Committee
The Belarusian Embassy in Stockholm refused to issue a visa to the Chairperson of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Björn Engesland. His passport was returned to him with a seal that bans him from entering the territory of Belarus. No explanations were offered by officers of the embassy.
13.12.2010 OSCE Election Observation Mission issued Interim Report No.2 on the presidential election in Belarus
You can find the full text of the report on this address: http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2010/12/48172_en.pdf
10.12.2010 European human rights organizations started collecting signatures under the petition to President of Belarus
On 10 December, the Human Rights Day, the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile in Vilnius in cooperation with other organization declares the beginning of the electronic collection of signatures to the incumbent and to the future President of Belarus at the website http://www.belarus-petition.org.
09.12.2010 Orsha officials try to deceive OSCE observers
The meeting of members of the electoral teams of democratic candidates with OSCE observers in Orsha left interesting impressions. According to the international observers, officials of the Orsha Town Executive Committee said that only one of them had been included in the town election commission. In fact, there are two of them: Ina Khamutouskaya, executive officer of the Orsha TEC, and Aleh Smirnouski – Chairperson of the department of youth affairs.
04.12.2010 OSCE Election Observation Mission publised its Interim Report No. 1 on Belarusian election
The report of the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, published on 2 December, covers the period of 15-24 November 2010
29.11.2010 OSCE calls for closer cooperation with civil societies worldwide
On 29-29 November Astana, Kazakhstan, hosted the OSCE Civil Society Parallel Conference, attended by over 200 NGO representatives from 26 OSCE member countries. The conference is an independent event, initiated by the OSCE members ahead of the 2010 Summit to be held in Astana on 1-2 December.
19.11.2010 BAJ suggests PACE to conduct hearings on freedom of media in Belarus
The representative of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Andrej Aliaksandrau suggested to conduct special hearings dedicated to freedom of media in Belarus, during the session of the PACE Political Affairs Committee on November 18.
05.11.2010 Human rights defenders Pay attention to use of torture in Belarus
A group of human rights
defenders from different Belarusian human rights organizations prepared an
alternative report to the UN Committee against Torture. The report concerns the
international undertakings of Belarus
according to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Kinds of Treatment and Punishment. This is the first alternative
report on torture that will be presented to the UN in December and will be
considered by the Committee against Torture as early as spring 2011.
02.11.2010 Ales Bialiatski addressed Presidential Administration and Prosecutor General
The
vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Ales
Bialiatski addressed the Prosecutor General of Belarus, Ryhor Vasilevich, and
the Presidential Administration of Belarus.
14.10.2010 British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office signed petition for abolition of death penalty in Belarus
The Foreign Office Minister for Human Rights Jeremy Browne and British Ambassador to Belarus Rosemary Thomas signed the petition against the death penalty in Belarus on 11 October, following the launch of the UK’s strategy for Global Abolition of the Death Penalty.
07.10.2010 Information about tortures in Belarus became world-known
The use of tortures in Belarus was discussed at the OSCE Conference on Human Dimension that is held on 30 September -8 October in Warsaw. A representative of the Belarusian human rights organization Legal Initiative Siarhei Ustsinau took the floor and reported about the use of torture during the investigation of crimes, persecution of the people who reported about torture; violent dispersals of peaceful protest actions and the prison conditions.
27.09.2010 Human Rights House Network calls upon Belarus to take urgent measures to meet international human rights standards
On 22-23 September Vilnius hosted the 2010 Human Rights House Network (HRHN) Annual Meeting, a forum of cooperation between established and emerging Human Rights Houses, uniting 70 NGOs in 15 countries. The Meeting was attended by human rights defenders from 17 countries.
21.09.2010 Reporters without Borders criticize Belarusian media freedom
The Reporters without Borders international organization has released a statement, expressing its deep concern over the increasing harassment of Belarusian journalists ahead of the forthcoming presidential election, the press-service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists reports.
