Mobilising for Justice
in Belarus
The ongoing political crisis in Belarus started in May 2020.
On 25 May 2021, Belarusian teenager Dzmitry Stakhouski jumped to his death from a 16-story building. He was facing criminal charges for participation in peaceful protests between 9-11 August 2020. In his suicide note, the 18-year-old wrote that "the Investigative Committee [main investigating authority in Belarus] is to blame." His story is emblematic of the mental and physical suffering the current regime has inflicted on the thousands of people who dared to speak out for a free and democratic Belarus.
Over the last year, numerous participants in the democratic movement have faced widespread and systematic repression from Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s long-standing authoritarian regime. Thousands of protesters have been detained and prosecuted, with hundreds ill-treated and tortured. Many politicians and leaders of the protest movement have been put behind bars or forced to leave Belarus. Many journalists, lawyers, and human rights activists have been attacked for doing their job. At the same time, not a single criminal case has been brought against those responsible for the violent crackdown, despite numerous reports of police brutality and misconduct.
FIDH, along with its member organisation in Belarus, Viasna Human Rights Center, has been closely monitoring the human rights situation in Belarus over the last year. This page provides detailed insight into the persisting human rights violations and repressions in Belarus.
Monitoring the human rights situation
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Monitoring Events & Reactions
A timeline of events and reactions at the international level dedicated to the human rights crisis in Belarus.
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Exposing Crimes & Furthering Justice
Belarus’ legal system and law enforcement, rather than protecting citizens, have become fearsome tools to repress human rights.
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Defending Human Rights Activists
After the crackdown on the political opposition, the Belarus authorities began to persecute human rights defenders.
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Reporting on Human Rights Violation in Belarus
Reporting on Different Types of Human Rights Violation in Belarus.
Latest
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A year after the arbitrary arrest of the president and vice president of the Human Rights Center "Viasna," no justice is in sight
Tomorrow, July 14, 2022 marks one year since the arbitrary arrest of three prominent human rights defenders from the Human Rights Center Viasna. On this day last year, Belarusian authorities arrested FIDH Vice-president and Viasna’s board member Valiantsin Stefanovic, Viasna’s President Ales Bialiatski and lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich. Along with four other Viasna members, the three remain behind bars on trumped-up charges, in appalling conditions, systematically denied communication with their families and lawyers. The Observatory (FIDH-OMCT) deplores the continuing demolition of the Belarus civil society by Lukashenka’s regime, renews its calls for the immediate release of seven Viasna’s defenders, and demands justice for all those arbitrarily detained in the country.
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OMCT-FIDH: New amendment to the Criminal Code leaves no room for legal human rights activities
OMCT-FIDH: New amendment to the Criminal Code leaves no room for legal human rights activities
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Russian translation: Supplying the Means for Repression in Belarus
This briefing paper analyses crowd-control weapons and firearms employed by the Belarusian security forces to crack down on peaceful protesters, as well as their procurement and application, and briefly outlines possible state and corporate responsibility.
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Supplying the Means for Repression in Belarus
This briefing paper analyses crowd-control weapons and firearms employed by the Belarusian security forces to crack down on peaceful protesters, as well as their procurement and application, and briefly outlines possible state and corporate responsibility.
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Viasna’s Marfa Rabkova faces up to 20 years in prison on 11 charges
Marfa (Maryia) Rabkova, a political prisoner and coordinator of Viasna’s network of volunteers, has been charged with eleven criminal offenses and faces up to 20 years in prison, her family said quoting a recent letter from the prisoner.
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Arbitrary detention of woman rights defender Olga Gorbunova
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
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Joint Statement on the Sentencing of Two Members of Human Rights Group Viasna in Belarus
17 international organizations call on Belarusian authorities to immediately annul the outrageous verdict and drop all charges against Sudalenka and Lasitsa, as well as five other members of Viasna who are currently in jail on politically motivated charges.
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FIDH: Accusations against Viasna HRC are baseless
Several members of Human Rights Center Viasna, including its Chairman Ales Bialiatski, and FIDH Vice President Valiantsin Stefanovic were charged with tax evasion on a large scale. FIDH believes, however, that the real motive behind these baseless charges is to eradicate civil society in Belarus.
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A birthday letter from Alice Mogwe, FIDH President, to Valiantsin Stefanovic
On 14 October, Valiantsin Stefanovic, vice-president of FIDH and board member of Human Rights Center "Viasna", celebrates his 49th birthday. FIDH President Alice Mogwe congratulates him in a letter.
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