International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belarus to be held on 4 August

Submitted by admin on Sat, 07/27/2013 - 11:21

NGOs from different countries of the world announced the International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belarus. It will be held on 4 August, on the second anniversary of the arrest of a well-known Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.
The action is created as a demonstration of solidarity with civil society of Belarus and of moral support to human rights defenders and activists, who continue their work in the country, dubbed “Europe’s last dictatorship.”
“We will observe this day every year, until the situation of civil society in Belarus changes: until  its authorities put an end to imprisoning people for human rights activities, until there is a guarantee of fundamental human rights: freedom of expression, assembly and association,” the Solidarity Day Manifesto goes.
Lastyear, actionsdedicatedtothe International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belaruswere held in 18 countries of the world. Thisyeartheorganiserscallonpeoplearoundtheglobetosend letters of support to Belarusian political prisoners and human rights defenders, to publish articles and hold events about the situation in Belarus. AdetailedlistofpossibleactionswithintheframeworkoftheSolidarityDaycanbefoundhere: http://by.soli-day.org/en/node/12
The organisers suggest telling“people from different countries about what is happening in Belarus and about those, who are doing their best to offer alternatives such as Belarus without death penalty, without unlawful arrests and militarised consciousness; Belarus that is open to the outside world with a wide open space for freedom and solidarity.”
“We are convinced that the situation in Belarus is significant not only for Europe and Central Asia, but also for many other countries, where activists are being harassed with impunity by the authorities,” say Solidarity Day organisers.
Ales Bialiatski, a Peace Nobel Prize nominee and a leader of Human Rights Centre Viasna, was arrested 4 August 2011, and currently serving a four-and-a-half year prison sentence for alleged tax evasion. The income on which he was found guilty of not paying taxes had in fact been used to support victims of human rights violations in Belarus.
According to Belarusian human rights defenders, there are currently 12 political prisoners in Belarus. The country is also criticised for failing to have free and fair elections and serious violations of fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens.
The international organising committee of the Day include Committee of International Control over the situation with human rights in Belarus; Centre for Civil Liberties (Ukraine); Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), Moscow Helsinki group (Russia); International Youth Human Rights Movement; Index on Censorship (United Kingdom) and Belarusian Human Rights House in exile (Lithuania).

To learn more visit our website (http://by.soli-day.org/en) or pages in social networks
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/368867776513480/
Vkontakte - http://vk.com/bysoliday
To get in touch with the organisers of the International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belarus email: [email protected]
 

News of Belarus

Belarus: PACE committee proposes the nomination of Ales Bialiatski for the 2013 PACE Human Rights Prize

Submitted by admin on Fri, 10/05/2012 - 20:24

Strasbourg, 04.10.2012 – In a statement adopted today in Strasbourg, the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced its unanimous decision to support the proposal by Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, to nominate Ales Bialiatski – the human rights defender sentenced on 24 November 2011 to four and a half years’ imprisonment – for the 2013 PACE Human Rights Prize.

Human rights defender Tatsiana Reviaka questioned by KGB

Submitted by admin on Tue, 08/21/2012 - 21:33

Mrs. Tatsiana Reviaka, member of the Human Rights Center Viasna’s Council, has been summoned for “conversation” to the KGB central office, after she received an official writ, saying that she should be questioned “as a person being aware of circumstances that have significance for maintaining the national security of the Republic of Belarus.”

Tatsiana Reviaka visited the KGB office, accompanied by her lawyer.

Ales Bialiatski: “I am a persistent violator!”

Submitted by admin on Sun, 08/12/2012 - 13:33

Back in the middle of June the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski wrote in his letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich: “It seems to me that the reprimands I have received are not the last ones”. The new information from Babruisk, where Ales is currently kept, confirms these words. Thus, in his letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich of 5 August he writes about more reprimands, issued to him by the administration of penal colony #2.