News on the topic: FIDH
06.08.2020 FIDH and Viasna: As Protests Continue Ahead of Presidential Election, Authorities Must Refrain from Violence
Local human rights groups warn that the mobilisation of the military ahead of the August 9th elections could lead to further escalation of violence. FIDH and Viasna Human Rights Centre call on the Belarusian authorities to refrain from using violence against peaceful protesters and to ensure transparency throughout the electoral process.
06.07.2020 FIDH asks Belarus to allow Viasna attend pardon hearing in death penalty case
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has written to the Belarusian authorities urging them to allow Valiantsin Stefanovich, Viasna human rights defender and FIDH vice-president, to attend the hearing of the petition for pardon filed with the presidential commission in the case of the death row prisoners Kostseu brothers.
15.05.2020 Belarus: Arbitrary arrest of several environmental rights defenders in Brest
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention of two environmental rights defenders, as well as the arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment of several other environmental rights defenders in the context of the repression of an environmental protest movement against the construction of a battery plant LLC “IPower” in Brest.
13.05.2020 Crackdown on Peaceful Protesters Mars Beginning of Presidential Campaign Season
The campaign season for Belarus’ presidential elections, scheduled for August 9, saw sweeping repression against civil society by authorities. Over the past week, authorities arbitrarily detained over 100 peaceful protesters across Belarus, charging them with administrative fines and arrests.
12.05.2020 Kyrgyzstan: Supreme Court to Hear Case of Human Rights Defender Azimjan Askarov on May 13
Paris - Geneva - Bishkek, May 12, 2020 - After 10 years of unjust detention, journalist and human rights defender Azimjan Askarov faces the final hearing before the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on May 13.
02.05.2020 Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders stands up for jailed Brest activists
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
30.04.2020 Russia: Continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Konstantin Kotov
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.
08.04.2020 COVID-19: Jailed Human Rights Defenders Must Be Released Immediately
In light of the serious threat posed to prisoners by the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FIDH and its undersigned member organisations recall governments’ obligation to ensure the safety and health of detained individuals that are under their responsibility, and launch a campaign, #ForFreedom, to call for the release of all jailed human rights defenders (HRDs).
11.02.2020 FIDH slams Russia’s “move to devalue international human rights treaties”
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” has joined an appeal released by the International Federation for Human Rights urging the Russian parliamentarians and the Russian people to vote against the proposed amendments to the country’s Constitution, as they could “effectively legalize the selective implementation of decisions of international treaty bodies”.
10.12.2019 In Quest for More Equal Societies, Those Who Defend Human Rights Are Key Agents of Change
Address by Alice Mogwe, FIDH President, on Human Rights Day
24.10.2019 Viasna’s Valiantsin Stefanovich elected FIDH vice-president
The 40th World Congress of the International Federation for Human Rights has completed its work in Taiwan with the election of president and vice-presidents. Alice Mogwe, a human rights lawyer from Botswana, has been elected FIDH President for the next three years. She previously served as the organization’s secretary-general.
10.09.2019 FIDH: Russian Pro-Democracy Protesters Undeterred by Repression
In a series of protests this summer, around 100,000 people took to the streets in Moscow to support independent candidates for elections to the Moscow City Council, which will take place on 8 September. The disproportionate reaction—brute force and prosecution—used by the Russian National Guard and the police to suppress this outpouring of civic mobilization belies the political establishment’s fear of dissent. A new report from FIDH provides a complete account of the protests—whose high level of youth participation suggests a trend of growing political engagement among the young generation—and the accompanying violations of human rights.
22.08.2019 FIDH: Civil society - not repressive regimes - should discuss inequality at G7
FIDH and 68 of its member organisations around the world are surprised that the Elysée (the French presidency) invited states which are notorious for grave and systematic human rights violations, such as India and Egypt, and met with Russian president Vladimir Putin days before the summit.
28.06.2019 FIDH and Viasna: Mass Roundups of Roma People Must Be Investigated
FIDH and its member organization in Belarus, the Viasna Human Rights Centre, urge the Belarusian authorities to immediately put an end to all violence and persecution against the Roma community and to launch an independent and impartial investigation into the human rights abuses that took place in Mogilev, where 300 people were arbitrarily arrested, including 100 detained last month in raids which specifically targeted this minority ethnic group.
21.02.2019 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders urges Belarus to stop harassment of Brest activists
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders issued an urgent appeal to stop the persecution of environmental activists in Brest.