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To monitor the situation of HR defenders, including lawyers, and to react against increasing repression against them – that was the call of the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and partners of the Human Rights House Network (HRHN) in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe (CoE) .

BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank halt cooperation with Belarus after German Chancellor Angela Merkel tells Index on Censorship and Free Belarus Now that she would intervene to stop Deutsche Bank from selling government bonds to Europe’s last dictatorship. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) decided in August not to sale any of Belarusian government bonds.

9 international NGOs sent a joint letter to President of Belarus, house of representatives and to urge Council of the Republic, the upper chamber of the Belarusian Parliament, to quash recent legislative amendments that impose limitations on freedom of assembly and association and severely restrict the work of Belarusian civil society groups, especially those working on human rights or related issues

A unique performance evening to mark the 30th annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer, in association with ice&fire theatre company.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, together with other 10 European NGOs, has sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Council and the Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs urging them to give more powers to the Agency for Fundamental Rights.

The District Court in Warsaw ruled against X., a claimant seeking to enter into a lease signed by the claimant’s gay partner.The Court assumed that the X’s cause of action was based on article 691 of the Polish Civil Code, a provision which enables a person who has been in ‘actual cohabitation’ with the deceased lessee to enter into the lease in the latter’s stead.

The recent Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting provided an opportunity for ARTICLE 19, International Media Support (IMS) and Media Law Institute (MLI) to highlight the ongoing challenges to freedom of expression and equality in Ukraine, as well as the need for media reform in the country.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded its review of the 6th periodic report of Norway on questions relating to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

On 21 October Vilnius hosted the film festival “Inconvinient Films”. Within the framework of the festival, the organisers arranged the viewing and discussion of the film “Lukashenka’s regime does not like applause” together with invited political activists from Belarus

21 кастрычніка ў Вільні ў межах кінафестывалю “Нязручнае кіно” быў арганізаваны прагляд фільма і дыскусія “Рэжым Лукашэнкі не любіць апладысменты”, у якой прынялі удзел палітычныя актывісты з Беларусі.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression launched on 21 October a key report on internet free speech rights. Frank La Rue made clear that online expression must remain free of censorship and called on all States to ensure universal access to the internet. Article 19 hails the report as a milestone in the development of policy on freedom of expression as it relates to internet and urges all governments to fully implement its recommendations.

The Circuit Court in Warsaw has ruled on inadmissibility of surrendering the wanted U.B., a Belarus citizen, to the judicial authorities in Belarus. In the statement of reasons for the ruling the Court argued that the act allegedly committed by U.B. was not a criminal offence in Poland. The Court also noted that, if the wanted person was surrendered to the Republic of Belarus, his rights, including the right to a fair trial, might be directly infringed.