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Is the economic downturn in Belarus likely to change the attitudes of the government towards the human rights and democracy? How should we view the events after the presidential elections in Minsk – an attempt of the authorities to suppress “mass unrest” and reintroduce “law and stability” in their country, or as a violent crackdown of rights and freedoms? Should we turn a blind eye on rights of common Belarusians now, when Western powers and Russia are re-considering another deal with the regime of Mr Lukashenka?

These and other questions will be discussed during a press-conference at the Belarusian Human Rights House at Latako 3 in Vilnius on 31 May, at 14.00. Answers to these questions are supposed to provide guidelines for strategies to address the rapidly-changing situation in Belarus.

Is the economic downturn in Belarus likely to change the attitudes of the government towards the human rights and democracy? How should we view the events after the presidential elections in Minsk – an attempt of the authorities to suppress “mass unrest” and reintroduce “law and stability” in their country, or as a violent crackdown of rights and freedoms? Should we turn a blind eye on rights of common Belarusians now, when Western powers and Russia are re-considering another deal with the regime of Mr Lukashenka?

These and other questions will be discussed during a press-conference at the Belarusian Human Rights House at Latako 3 in Vilnius on 31 May, at 14.00. Answers to these questions are supposed to provide guidelines for strategies to address the rapidly-changing situation in Belarus.

RRCHR in cooperation with Council of Europe will hold conference ‘Respect for Human Rights in Closed Establishments of Russia’. The participants will focus on such issues as progress and difficulties in work of Public Supervising Committees, analysis of the situation in colonies for juveniles and psychiatric hospitals and best practices of civil society’s monitoring of closed establishments, national and international experience.

Two unjust epochs; two stories of the high price paid for a commitment to human rights. In The House of Exile – a story of love, loss and war, which won the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award – Evelyn Juers recounts the life of Heinrich Mann, activist and writer, forced into exile after his books were burned in Nazi Germany.

Bosnia is going through its worst political crisis since the war ended in 1995. “This is no short term negative trend, but a long development,” said UN’s High Representative for Bosnia, Valentin Inzko, in the UN Security Council 9 May. The authorities of Republika Srbska, the Serb dominated half of the country, continues to work for a dissolution of the state and is putting the state institutions under pressure.

Why did the African Union (AU) fail to obtain unified support for the UN mandated humanitarian intervention in Libya? What does this tell us about the AU position on humanitarian intervention and protection of civilians in these conflicts?

Shot clandestinely over a 2-year period by best-selling novelist and filmmaker, Robert H. Lieberman, this film provides a rare look at the second-most isolated country on the planet. It lifts the curtain to expose the everyday life in a country that has been held in the iron grip of a brutal military regime for 48 years.

On May 13, at 13:00 the Lithuanian Parliament is hosting the opening of a photo exhibition dedicated to the events of 19 December, 2010 in Belarus, that initiated unprecedented wave of repressions. The exposition contains the photos from after-election protest demonstration in Belarus. At the same time, you will have a chance to visit a press-conference on the occasion of 15th anniversary of Human Rights Centre “Viasna”.

13 траўня ў Літоўскім Сойме адбудзецца адкрыццё фотавыставы, прысвечанай падзеям 19 снежня 2010 году ў Беларусі, што распачалі беспрэцэдэнтную хвалю рэпрэсій. Выстава адкрыецца ў ходзе адкрытых слуханняў у Літоўскім Сойме. Перад адкрыццём выставы адбудзецца прэс-канферэнцыя з нагоды 15-годдзя найбуйнейшай беларускай праваабарончай арганізацыі “Вясна”.