Latest

On 22 March 2023, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) delivered a statement on the human rights situation in Belarus at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council. In the statement, HRHF asked what more can be done to assist the more than 1,400 political prisoners behind bars in the country.

Human Rights House Foundation delivered the words of Human Rights Defenders from Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council at its 52nd session on 15 March 2023. In the statement, HRHF noted that the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on human rights defenders presents an opportunity to celebrate the role and impact of HRDs.

The use of Anti-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation as a pretext to attack those involved in human rights work in Belarus, Russia, as well as by Russian occupying authorities in Crimea was highlighted by Human Rights House Foundation in a statement at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council on 13 March 2023.

This side event in the margins of the 52nd Human Rights Council session will update states on the constantly deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus, particularly with respect to the most serious violations occurring in the country and the need to continue international attention through the extension and strengthening of existing HRC mandates.

Tomorrow, the Leninsky District Court in Minsk is expected to hand down its verdict in the case of Viasna leaders Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich. On the eve of the verdict, the signatory organisations reiterate their calls to release the human rights defenders and drop all charges against them.

There are 1400+ political prisoners in Belarus, as of February 2023 and that number continues to rise. The “Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners” campaign aims to ensure the unjustly detained are not forgotten and that their voices are still heard from behind bars.

Human Rights House Foundation joins international and Belarusian CSOs in urging Human Rights Council member and observer states to establish an independent investigative mechanism to complement and follow-up on the work of the existing OHCHR examination.

Alena Hnauk is a 65-year-old pensioner and activist from the village of Tkachi in the Pruzhany region of Belarus. She was first sentenced to two years of home confinement for participating in the so-called “dancing protest” on 13 September 2020 in Brest.

If Ales [Bialiatski] had not received the [Nobel] Peace Prize, images of a Belarusian human rights defender locked in a cage in court would never have made international headlines.