News on the topic: human rights defenders
04.04.2016 Swedish MFA’s State Secretary meets with Belarusian human rights activists
Representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations met on Thursday with Ms. Annika Söder, State Secretary for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, who headed a delegation on an official visit to Belarus.
28.03.2016 Intigam Aliyev To Be Released From Prison
Prominent human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, who has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since 2014, was expected to be released on March 28 after his jail term was changed to a suspended sentence.
23.03.2016 Our thoughts are in Brussels
Following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" expresses condolences to residents of the Belgian capital, as well as solidarity with our colleagues at the FIDH office in Brussels.
18.03.2016 Viasna demands immediate release of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pardoned 148 people serving jail terms. Several human rights defenders and opposition activists and politicians were among those pardoned in the amnesty decree signed by Aliyev on March 17, according to rferl.org.
18.03.2016 Valiantsin Stefanovich: Belarusian society still far from understanding tolerance
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" has joined the European Action Week Against Racism, a series of events taking place from 12 to 21 March to highlight the problems faced by vulnerable social groups.
17.03.2016 Ongoing harassment of human rights defenders in Chechnya
Igor Kalyapin, a leading Russian rights activist was attacked last evening by masked men in Grozny, pelted with eggs, paint, and a cake after he was evicted from the hotel he was staying in.
16.03.2016 Working group on OSCE ODIHR recommendations takes into account proposals by Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections, CEC head Yarmoshyna says
An interdepartmental working group on the OSCE ODIHR recommendations made following the October 2015 presidential election has developed a series of proposal on measures to improve the electoral process. This was reported by the head of the Central Election Commission, Lidziya Yarmoshyna.
15.03.2016 Russian Federation: Members of the Joint Mobile Group and journalists attacked in Ingushetia
(Geneva-Paris) Following the violent assault on members of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) and journalists in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia, near the Chechnya border, on March 9, 2016, the Observatory urges the Russian authorities to shed full light on those attacks and bring those responsible to justice.
15.03.2016 Here’s To You: Ales Bialiatski joins global campaign to sign for rights (video)
Viasna’s leader Ales Bialiatski has joined Amnesty Italia’s campaign “Here’s To You”, a global call launched by Roberto Saviano, an Italian writer and journalist, to highlight daily human rights violations across the world.
14.03.2016 Well, we'll wait
Valiantsin Stefanovich reflects on the situation around the conference on the death penalty, which was held in Minsk last week, in the context of problems with the registration of the HRC "Viasna" and the government's general policy towards the non-governmental organizations in Belarus.
10.03.2016 EU Special Representative for Human Rights meets with Belarusian human rights activists
The Minsk office of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” hosted yesterday a meeting of representatives of a number of Belarusian human rights organizations with Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, as well as Ms. Andrea Wiktorin, head of the EU Delegation in Minsk, and the EU Mission’s employee on political issues Ms. Renata Wrobel.
02.03.2016 Sport For Rights: Another human rights lawyer at risk of disbarment in Azerbaijan
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the other undersigned members of the Sport for Rights coalition express serious concern regarding the on-going disciplinary case against Yalchin Imanov, a prominent human rights lawyer in Azerbaijan.
24.02.2016 Human rights defenders expect concrete measurable results
Representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations have met with the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Benedetto Della Vedova, Chief of Staff Lorenzo Golanti and the ambassador of the Republic of Italy to Belarus Stefano Bianchi.
19.02.2016 Viasna demands immediate release of human rights defender Intiqam Aliyev in Azerbaijan
Representatives of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" have joined Amnesty International’s action, writing to the Azerbaijani ambassador in Belarus about the recent deterioration of health of Azerbaijani prisoner of conscience Intiqam Aliyev.
18.02.2016 Human rights defenders offer expert assistance to CEC
Representatives of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders For Free Election”, co-run by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, have written to the CEC head Lidziya Yarmoshyna, offering their assistance in the work of an expert group formed to review the OSCE ODIHR recommendations on improving the electoral process in Belarus.
