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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Arbitrary detention of Viasna members Leanid Sudalenka and Maria Tarasenka
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
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The 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship has no Place in Belarus
René Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), visited Minsk yesterday to discuss with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship, scheduled to take place in Belarus and Latvia in May and June.
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Judicial harassment of Leanid Sudalenka
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
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Administrative detention and judicial harassment of Ms. Maryna Kastylianchanka and arbitrary detention and subsequent release of Mr. Aliaksandr Paplauski
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.
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Belarus. August 2020: "Justice" for Protesters
This report focuses on the violations of fair trial standards in the course of considering administrative cases against participants in peaceful demonstrations against falsification of the results of the 2020 presidential elections in the light of the international obligations of the Republic of Belarus under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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Judicial harassment and intimidation against Mr. Aliaksandr Pylchanka and Ms. Yulia Levanchuk
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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Courage of Belarusian Democratic Opposition Recognised by EU’s Sakharov Prize
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) salutes the European Parliament’s granting the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Belarus’ democratic opposition to President Alexander Lukashenka, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
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42 rights groups: Belarus authorities must stop persecuting civil society and engage in dialogue
Belarus’ presidential election – marred by an unprecedented level of falsifications and leading to mass protests – has been followed by brutal, ongoing repression of human rights by the authorities.