News on the topic: human rights defenders
16.02.2016 Police reject Alena Tankachova’s petition to mitigate entry ban
Human rights activist Alena Tankachova, who earlier wrote to the Minsk city department of internal affairs asking to reduce the period of her exile, has finally received a letter saying that her request was dismissed.
12.02.2016 Court in Homieĺ rejects human rights defender’s lawsuit against customs officers and border guards
The Homieĺ District Court rejected yesterday a lawsuit lodged by local human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka against the border and customs officers to demand 1 billion rubles in moral and material damage. Judge Aliaksandr Lisouski said that using violence to detain citizens at border was legal.
12.02.2016 Viasna protests dissolution of Agora NGO in Russia
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" expresses its protest against a court order to close down a known Russian human rights organization Agora.
10.02.2016 A Heart That Never Dies available online (video)
A film about human rights defender Ales Bialiatski from the documentary series A Heart That Never Dies by filmmakers Erling Borgen of Norway and Tom Heinemann of Denmark is available online.
05.02.2016 Belarus human rights organisations urge EU to maintain firm position towards Belarus. A Press Release by FIDH
On February 2nd and 3rd, Ales Bialiatski, President of Human Rights Centre Viasna and FIDH Vice-President and Zhanna Litvina, board member of the Belarus Association of Journalists, came to Brussels to present to the EU the concerted position reached by several Belarus human rights organisations on the development of EU-Belarus relations.
03.02.2016 Zhanna Litvina and Ales Bialiatski meet with EU representatives in Brussels
Ales Bialiatski, Chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights, together with Zhanna Litvina, ex-chair and Board member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, have met in Brussels with Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General for the European External Action Service, and Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, as well as a number of ambassadors of European countries to the European Union and other EU representatives in charge of human rights issues and European neighborhood policy.
29.01.2016 Arrest of Ales Bialiatski’s property cancelled
On January 28, Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski received a letter from the department of compulsory execution of Minsk’s Partyzanski district in response to his appeal against a decision to arrest part of his Minsk apartment where he lives with his family.
29.01.2016 Human rights activists meet with OSCE ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link
Representatives of the political opposition and the campaign “Human Rights Defenders For Free Elections” have met today with Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), to discuss the overall situation in Belarus following the October 2015 presidential election.
12.01.2016 Exiled human rights defender Alena Tankachova asks to reduce period of expulsion
Human rights defender Alena Tankachova, who was deported from Belarus in February 2015, has written to the Minsk city police department asking to reduce the period of entry ban and remove her from the blacklist.
04.01.2016 Belarus six times violated rights of human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka, says UN Human Rights Committee
Human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka has received a decision adopted at the autumn session of the UN Human Rights Committee in case No. 2016/2010 “Leanid Sudalenka vs. Belarus.” The experts found that the Belarusian authorities for the sixth time violated his civil and political rights, this time – the right to peaceful assembly and expression, as enshrined in Articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
04.01.2016 FIDH urges Belarus’ MFA to implement UN HRC decision in Ales Bialiatski case
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has written to the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Uladzimir Makei urging the government to respect the country’s international obligations within the framework of the United Nations and to take steps to implement key requirements of the Human Rights Committee in the case of Ales Bialiatski, including the registration of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and cancellation of his criminal record.
18.12.2015 Customs experts find no signs of extremism in Viasna’s book
In March 2015, the Ašmiany customs department took about 40 copies of the book “Human Rights Situation in Belarus. 2014”, which was published by the Human Rights Center "Viasna". The books were carried by human rights activist Ales Dzerhachou.
09.12.2015 Human rights defenders call on government to take urgent restorative measures
We, representatives of the human rights organizations in Belarus, guided by an interest in the development of the Belarus-EU relations and the promotion and protection of human rights in the country, call on the government to enforce in the near future the following measures of restorative nature, which do not require legislative changes.
09.12.2015 Svislač court fines human rights defender over memorial protest
The Svislač District Court has fined human rights activist Uladzimir Khilmanovich 7.2 million rubles on charges of participating in unauthorized assembly held on October 31.
08.12.2015 Tax authorities drop charges against human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka
The tax inspection in Homieĺ has closed an administrative case against local human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka. The decision refers to the “insignificance” of the offense.
