Belarus

Belarus is not safe for anyone critical of authorities, warns rights expert

In her final, annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Belarus, Anaïs Marin, echoed wider, longstanding concerns from the UN and the international community about a crackdown on democratic freedoms and other serious rights abuses in the country. President Lukashenko, 69, has been in power since 1994 and … Read moreBelarus is not safe for anyone critical of authorities, warns rights expert

Belarus: ‘Unprecedented level of repression’ must end, say UN rights experts

“The practice of incommunicado detention of members of the political opposition and prominent figures sentenced to lengthy prison terms for voicing dissent increased in 2023,” the 18 Special Rapporteurs and Human Rights Council-appointed Working Group rights’ experts said. In their statement released by UN rights office OHCHR, they reported that according to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, 1,511 … Read moreBelarus: ‘Unprecedented level of repression’ must end, say UN rights experts

UN rights chief urges Belarus to promptly release political detainees

The report, covering the period between May 2020 and December 2022, draws on interviews with 207 victims and witnesses and an analysis of more than 2,500 items of evidence, including photographs, videos, medical, and court records. ‘Unacceptable picture of impunity’ “Our report paints an unacceptable picture of impunity and the near-total destruction of civic space … Read moreUN rights chief urges Belarus to promptly release political detainees

Newly announced prison terms in Belarus signal ‘ongoing repression’

“The prison sentences delivered today in Belarus against four human rights defenders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, are deeply troubling and indicative of the ongoing repression in the country,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR. UN human rights chief Volker Türk has called for an end to the … Read moreNewly announced prison terms in Belarus signal ‘ongoing repression’

Belarus: Trial of Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski ‘politically motivated’

Mr. Bialiatski, a veteran rights campaigner and founder of Viasna (or “spring”) civil society group, was arrested in July 2021 on tax evasion charges, along with two other activists, and reportedly held in dreadful conditions in a prison in Minsk. Their trial began on Thursday. “We are gravely concerned by the trial of Nobel Peace … Read moreBelarus: Trial of Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski ‘politically motivated’

Belarus: Rights experts denounce withdrawal from key environmental agreement |

The Aarhus Convention, adopted in 1998, also requires that individuals exercising these rights are not persecuted, penalized or harassed for doing so.  Belarus’s President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree on 18 July effectively ending the country’s participation.  Withdrawal is scheduled to take effect on 24 October, in line with article 21 of the Convention.  Strengthening … Read moreBelarus: Rights experts denounce withdrawal from key environmental agreement |