03.03.2010 Valiantsin Stefanovich: Human rights defenders welcome the participation of official representatives of Belarus in the 4th World Congress Against Death Penalty

The 4th World Congress against the Death Penalty took place in Geneva at the end of February. More than 1 500 lawyers, representatives of human rights organizations, well-known civil and political activists from almost 100 countries took part in the work of this forum.

11.02.2010 Valiantsin Stefanovich: We call on the Belarusian Governmental to cooperate with the UN as actively as we do

On 11 February, human rights defenders presented their report on the procedure of the Universal Periodical Review of Belarus in the UN Human Rights Committee.

09.02.2010 Belarusian observers report minor violations in Ukrainian presidential election

Belarusian ENEMO (European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations) mission observers have recorded a number of violations during the presidential election in Ukraine, the BelaPan news agency reports quoting the Network’s long-term observers coordinator Ali Aliev. However, the violations were not systematic and failed to affect the election results.

05.02.2010 PACE welcomes creation of task group on death penalty at Belarus’ Parliament

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) welcomes the creation of the task group to study death penalty at the National Assembly of Belarus. He made this statement in his speech to the members of the assembly, BelTA learnt from the PACE press service.

05.02.2010 Belarusian civil society activists should be invited to Euronest, believes Pro-dem NGO Assembly

The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly should invite representatives of both Belarusian political parties and the civil society, says the Assembly of Belarusian Pro-Democratic NGOs. The composition of the Belarusian delegation is currently under consideration. However, due to the absence of a legitimate Parliament in the country, any Belarusian delegation will be unofficial.

04.02.2010 Belarus national released on demand by Strasbourg Court

Ihar Koktysh, 29-year-old Belarusian activist and rock musician, charged with a grave crime by the Belarusian authorities, has been released from a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol, Crimea peninsula, Ukraine, after 2.5 years of imprisonment, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

03.02.2010 Amnesty International: Another political prisoner in Belarus

Believer Ivan Mikhailau, convicted on February 1, has been recognized prisoner of conscience.

The court of the Minsk district sentenced Ivan MIkhailau to three months in jail.

01.02.2010 Östgruppen condemns sentence to Ivan Mikhailau

The Swedish human rights organization Östgruppen submitted to the Parliaments of Sweden and the EU a protest note concerning the sentence to Ivan Mikhailau, 21, conscientious objector to army service in Belarus.

29.01.2010 UN confirmed violations of rights of Belarusian oppositionist

The Human Rights Committee established a fact of violation of the right of democratic activist Valery Lukyanchyk to be elected to the “house of representatives” at the “elections” on October 17, 2004.

Conclusions on the complaint published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights allow making such a statement, BelaPAN learnt from human rights activist Raman Kislyak.

29.01.2010 AEJ supports Belarus journalists' demands for media freedom as elections approach

The Association of European Journalists, representing more than 1000 journalists in more than 20 countries, deplores and condemns the Belarus government's controls, interference and threats of closure or prosecution of independent media in the country and we call urgently for an end to those abuses of democratic amd media freedoms.

20.01.2010 Human Rights Watch declares Autukhovich, Asipenka and Liavonau prisoners of conscience

In its annual report, the New-York-based Human Rights Watch international organizations declared Mikalai Autukhovich, Uladzimer Asipenka, Yury Liavonau and Artsiom Dubski prisoners of conscience. The report highlights an increasing number of attacks against human rights activists and NGOs across the world in 2009.

11.01.2010 ’Reporters Without Borders’ is worried about the government’s plans to tighten control of the Internet

Reporters Without Borders is worried about the government’s plans to tighten control of the Internet in a country where free expression is already restricted. President Alexander Lukashenko acknowledged on 30 December that his government is putting the final touches to a bill to this effect. The draft decree was leaked to the media on December 14, 2009. The discussions around it remain secret.

24.12.2009 UN Human Rights Committee registers complaint by Homel opposition activists

The UN Human Rights Committee has registered the individual complaint by Homel opposition activists Aliaksandr Protska and Andrei Tolchyn, the BelaPAN news agency reports. The complaint has also been sent to the Belarusian government for comments.

23.12.2009 OSCE PA concerned over media freedom in Belarus, Swedish MP says

The Working Group on Belarus at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is concerned over the situation regarding freedom of the media and organizations, as well as a lack of opportunities for political parties to get fully involved in the country's political life, Swedish MP Cecilia Wigstrom told reporters in Minsk on December 22.

Ms. Wigstrom, a member of the working group, is leading a delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly that arrived in Belarus on a three-day visit on Sunday.

22.12.2009 Authorities oppose UN’s consideration of communication by Zhuk’s mother

According to human rights activist Raman Kisliak, the Belarusian government appeals against the admissibility of communication filed by mother of death convict Andrei Zhuk, claiming that the facts mentioned are false, namely he allegedly failed to exhaust all domestic remedies.