09.09.2020 Coordination Council member Maksim Znak detained. Kalesnikava arrested
Maksim Znak, lawyer and member of the Presidium of the opposition Coordination Council, has been detained this morning by law enforcement officers.
08.09.2020 HRDs call to end repression and release political prisoners
Joint statement of Belarusian human rights organizations
07.09.2020 “They kicked me in the head with their police boots.” Survivor stories
Dzmitry Mishakouski was detained in the Maskoŭski district of Minsk, near the Malinaŭka metro station at about 5 pm on August 12. "The riot police were chasing someone. I turned up by chance, they put me in a bus or in a police van, I don't remember which. They took my phone away at once, broke it, asked for the password, I do not understand on what grounds."
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 "We acknowledge a deep crisis of human rights in Belarus"
Statement by Valiantsin Stefanovic, vice-chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna", at a UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
04.09.2020 More arrested protesters called political prisoners
Joint statement of human rights organizations of Belarus
04.09.2020 47 victims complain to UN Committee against Torture
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee have appealed to the UN Committee against Torture on behalf of 47 victims of police-related violence, urging the Committee to investigate the systematic use of torture in Belarus in early August 2020.
03.09.2020 "Officers abused me all the time because I’m black." Survivor stories
Hleb was detained on August 11 near the shopping center “Skala”. He says that the riot policemen detained him when he simply walked down the street with headphones on his head.
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.
02.09.2020 Human Rights Situation in Belarus: August 2020
Viasna deplores the existence of a deep human rights crisis in the country, which affects almost every aspect of civil and political rights. The crisis has led to gross violations of the rights of thousands of citizens and requires immediate settlement, including with the intervention of international organizations.
02.09.2020 Political prisoner Alena Karahachava released on bail
Alena Karahachava, personal assistant to the former presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, has been released from the KGB pre-trial prison, according to Babaryka’s press-service. The charges, however, remain in place.
01.09.2020 Political prisoner Pavel Seviarynets faces formal charges
Pavel Seviarynets, co-founder of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party who has been in detention since June 7, has been officially charged under Part 2, Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (mass riots), according to his wife Volha. The period of his pre-trial detention has been extended by two more months.
31.08.2020 Financial police arrest another member of opposition coordination council
Liliya Ulasava, a famous mediator and a member of the presidium of the Coordination Council, has been arrested by officers of the Department for Financial Investigations, according to a Council member Maksim Znak.
31.08.2020 “So you are for Tsikhanouskaya?” Survivor stories
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) launched a campaign to document cases of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of protesters on August 9-13. Some testimonies of people who survived torture and violence will be published on our website as evidence of crimes committed by security forces.
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.
