Today in Geneva Human Rights Council will take up the report of the government of the Republic of Belarus about human rights situation in the country in the framework of Universal periodic review – a new mechanism of UNO for human rights defense. An alternative report on the situation in Belarus was prepared by several Belarusian human rights organizations. Continue reading »
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe freezes high-level contacts with Belarus due to violation of democratic standards. Continue reading »
The US Embassy calls on the Belarusian authorities to carry out an “open and unbiased” the facts of violations during the local council electoral campaign.
Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden), Belarusian Human Rights House (Lithuania), Human Rights House Foundation (Norway) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee condemn the detention of three activists of the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’. “They were supposed to have applied for permission to assembly, but since the organisation they represent has been denied official registration several times, the application would not have been granted. In practice their right to assembly is severely restricted” says AneTusvik Bonde, Regional Manager at the Human Rights House Foundation. Continue reading »
Joint statement by the Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Micheline Calmy-Rey, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Mevlüt Çavusoglu and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland. Continue reading »
Five citizens from Brest complained in the UN Human Rights Committee on the prohibition of piquet in the city against indifference of the officials to citizens’ addresses. Continue reading »
The document has already been sent to the Belarusian authorities. It lists both positive and negative aspects of the Ruling from the point of view of international experts in the field of freedom of expression. Continue reading »
The new law should not become a “limitation of freedom of speech in Internet.” This is the opinion of OSCE representative on mass media freedom, Miklosh Harashtsi. Continue reading »
The Association of European Journalists, representing more than 1000 journalists in more than 20 countries, deplores and condemns the Belarus government’s controls, interference and threats of closure or prosecution of independent media in the country and we call urgently for an end to those abuses of democratic amd media freedoms. Continue reading »
The Human Rights Committee established a fact of violation of the right of democratic activist Valery Lukyanchyk to be elected to the “house of representatives” at the “elections” on October 17, 2004.
Conclusions on the complaint published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights allow making such a statement, BelaPAN learnt from human rights activist Raman Kislyak. Continue reading »
As the new head of OSCE office in Minsk Benedikt Haller has told reporters in Minsk on 27 January, OSCE / ODIHR will give its assessment of changes in the Electoral Code of Belarus.
According to BelaPAN, the Belarusian authorities have handed over to the ODIHR the amendments to the electoral laws. Continue reading »
In its annual report, the New-York-based Human Rights Watch international organizations declared Mikalai Autukhovich, Uladzimer Asipenka, Yury Liavonau and Artsiom Dubski prisoners of conscience. Continue reading »
The UN Human Rights Committee has registered the individual complaint by Homel opposition activists Aliaksandr Protska and Andrei Tolchyn, the BelaPAN news agency reports. Continue reading »
On 4 September 2009 the Belarusian authorities sent its submission on the comment of Alena Zaleskaya (Vitebsk) to the UN Human Rights Committee. The comment was obtained during the correspondence on the concerned in Geneva individual complaint under No. 1604/2007 on the violation of Alena’s right to peaceful assembly and demonstrations fixed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Continue reading »
On February 23, 2009 Vitsebsk resident Siarhei Kavalenka appealed to the National Intellectual Property Center of the State Committee on Science and Technology, expressing his opinion and offered to withdraw the certificate number 25281 issued to the trademark “Bulbash”. Continue reading »
The Belarusian authorities have not presented draft amendments to the Electoral Code to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for review despite an appropriate agreement reached this past February, Jens Eschenbaecher, spokesman for the institution, told BelaPAN. Continue reading »
Three Brest activists Iryna Laurouskaya, Raman Kisliak and Dzianis Turchyniak have submitted their individual complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee. Continue reading »
16 November was the deadline for the Belarusian authorities to provide their comments on the complaint submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee by the family of the disappeared Anatol Krasouski. The complaint submitted by Iryna and Valerya Krasouskis was registered by the Committee on 16 November 2008, its copy being sent to the respondent, www.ciwr.org reports.
The Belarusian authorities were initially to respond to the complaint by 16 May 2009. Continue reading »
Human rights defenders applied with an open address to the minister of foreign affairs Siarhei Martynau concerning the registration of the individual communication of the death convict Vasil Yuzepchuk by the UN Human Rights Committee. Continue reading »
On 30 October 2009 the UN Human Rights Committee has registered an urgent individual request under the number 1910/2009 of mother of Andrey Zhuk, who was sentenced to death in Minsk regional court. This was reported by a lawyer, human rights activist from Brest Raman Kislyak. Continue reading »
On 9 October, on the eve of the World Day against the Death Penalty, the UN Human Rights Committee confirmed receiving the individual address of Vasil Yuzepchuk, who on 28 June 2009 was sentenced by Brest oblast court to death with property confiscation. Continue reading »
At the 14th meeting of the OSCE the representatives of the third sector reported a lack of democratization of the Belarusian society. The OSCE meeting concerns the review of the fulfillment of engagements in the human dimension by participating States, and takes place in Warsaw.
Continue reading »
A group of international organizations dealing with media and press freedom, following the visit of a joint delegation to Belarus, which took place on 20-24 September, urged the Belarusian government to bring the regulation of media into line with international standards.
Continue reading »
The human rights organization “Östgruppen” made a statement in connection with the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of opponents of Lukashenka’s regime. Continue reading »
Sweden that currently presides at the European Union, has requested Minsk to stop the violence against peaceful demonstrators. Continue reading »
Why the Belarusian-language student from Zhodzina is waiting for the new troubles? Or how does this relate to Belarusian people … and … constitutional right to free choice …!?
Continue reading »
In connection with the fact of ignoring by the court of first instance in Homel of approaches and interpretations of the Supreme Court with respect to picketing contained in the Resolution of the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Sukala, we can make the following conclusion.
Continue reading »
Special guest status in PACE will be returned to the parliament of Belarus only after the moratorium on the death penalty. This decision was taken on 23 June at the PACE session in Strasbourg. As said the representative of the HRC “Viasna, Valiantsin Stefanovich, human rights activists fully support this proposal.
Continue reading »