When: Thursday, 22. September 2016 13:15 – 14:30
To: Thursday, 22. September 2016
Where: Warsaw, Warsaw (Poland), Sofitel-Victoria Hotel (Krolewska str.11) Plenary Hall
Parliamentary elections in Belarus:
Assessment from domestic observers and the impact on the development of the EU-Belarus human rights dialogue
Working languages: English, Russian
Representatives of the civil society organizations from Belarus will share information on the current civil, political and human rights situation in Belarus and the impact the 11 September parliamentary elections have on it. There has been one surprise in elections results: first time since 2000 two oppositional candidates won a seats in the parliament.
Domestic election observation group “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” will give an overview of the election observation preliminary results, including the voting and vote count, and voice recommendations on improving the electoral legislation and practice.
Since late 2015, the Belarusian authorities have been taking steps toward establishing closer relations with the West; the Belarus-EU human rights dialogue has been resumed. During the side event, representatives of human rights organizations will speak of ways in which they seek to contribute to the dialogue to ensure that it brings result and how the dialogue may be affected by the elections and other aspects of political life in Belarus.
The human rights defenders will also share information about new forms of repressions in Belarus and will share opinions of the current human rights situation and prospects for it development in the coming months.
Speakers:
Uladzimir Labkovich from the election observation campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”
Ales Bialiatski – Chairman of Human Rights Center “Viasna”
Zhanna Litvina – Belarusian Association of Journalists
Olga Smolianko – Director of Legal Transformation Center
