News on the topic: freedom of peaceful assembly
11.09.2020 Four facing criminal charges over September 6 protest
The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into alleged “breach of peace” during a major protest held in Minsk on September 6.
09.09.2020 Over 100 detained in Minsk protest
At least 118 people were detained yesterday after around a thousand protesters, mostly women, gathered in central Minsk to protest the abduction of Coordination Council leader Maryia Kalesnikava the previous morning.
07.09.2020 Hundreds detained on Day 29 of protests
At least 200 protesters were detained yesterday, as tens of thousands marched in central Minsk to demand the resignation of President Lukashenka. Around fifty more were detained in other cities, including thirty in Brest.
05.09.2020 Coordination Council leaders remain in jail after new trial. Volha Kavalkova forced to leave country
Volha Kavalkova and Siarhei Dyleuski, members of the Presidium of the opposition Coordination Council, will not be released after serving their initial sentences.
03.09.2020 Students convicted of protesting on Knowledge Day
Forty-four trials were held yesterday in Minsk courts to hear the administrative charges of “illegal protesting” involving students of several major universities who demonstrated on September 1. Thirty-two students were sentenced to short terms in prison, as a result. Twelve more were fined.
31.08.2020 Amnesty International: Police must be held accountable for violence
Amnesty International calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately end police violence and to investigate the gross human rights violations committed during the last three weeks, as peaceful protests against police brutality and the rule of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka grow.
31.08.2020 150 detained in weekend protests
125 people were detained during yesterday’s protest as tens of thousands continued to stage daily demonstrations in various cities of Belarus, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Twenty-nine were detained the day before yesterday, during a women’s protest in Minsk.
30.08.2020 Stop violence and threats!
Joint Statement by the Missions of the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Union on behalf of the EU Member States represented in Minsk on the use of violence and repression in Belarus
28.08.2020 Nine more persons facing rioting charges called political prisoners
Human rights defenders demand an immediate release of political prisoners arrested in the framework of the “mass riots” criminal case - Joint statement of human rights organizations of Belarus
28.08.2020 Nearly 300 detained in Minsk protest
Viasna’s arrest list has once again hit third-digits, after some 240 protesters, mostly men, and 30 journalists were detained last night in central Minsk.
26.08.2020 Protesters detained in dozens again
Over fifty protesters were detained yesterday during and after several demonstrations held in Minsk, Homieĺ, Hrodna and Babrujsk. Some of them were released, but are expected to stand trials soon.
24.08.2020 HRDs request UN intervention in Belarus torture reports
The Human Rights Center “Viasna”, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have written to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to express their grave concern and to call upon intervention in relation to the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters in the aftermath of the presidential elections held on 9 August 2020 in Belarus.
21.08.2020 Over 60 protesters facing criminal charges across Belarus
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” knows the names of over sixty persons arrested in various cities of Belarus on criminal charges following the post-election protests.
19.08.2020 HRDs call to release political prisoners held on rioting charges
Joint statement of the Belarusian human rights organizations
19.08.2020 OSCE/ODIHR alarmed by increasing threats to human rights in Belarus following presidential election
Following the large-scale arrests of peaceful protestors in Belarus together with disturbing reports of violent physical abuse, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls for the immediate release of all those who have been unlawfully detained and a prompt and impartial investigation into alleged human rights abuses.
