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On 13 July 2021, the UN Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, following calls by Belarusian and international human rights organisations. Human Rights House Foundation welcomes this action, which provides for on-going scrutiny of Belarus’s human rights situation and an accessible and safe channel for Belarusian civil society to deliver diverse and up-to-date information from within the country.

Human Rights House Foundation joins 13 other human rights, freedom of expression, media freedom, and journalists’ organisations in unreservedly condemn the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of human rights defender and journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau, who is now facing up to 15 years in prison on baseless charges of “treason to the state”.

On 5 July 2021, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement to the UN Human Rights Council raising several issues including the importance of the mandate for the Special Rapporteur on Belarus, recent changes to the Criminal Code in Belarus, the situation for journalist Andrei Aleksandrov as well as Ukrainian defender Volodymyr Yavorsky.

Watch the full recording of the webinar “Media Under Attack in Belarus”, hosted on the sidelines of the 47th session of the Human Rights Council. Webinar organised by Human Rights House Foundation, Pen America, and the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the UN in Geneva.

Human Rights House Foundation joins over 50 non-governmental organisations from 18 countries in calling for Nestlé to immediately stop advertising in all state-controlled Belarusian media.

In a joint statement, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and more than 30 Belarusian and international human rights organisations call on UN Human Rights Council member States to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus during the Council’s upcoming 47th session.

The human rights crisis in Belarus has intensified. At the start of the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, with both Belarus and freedom of opinion and expression on the Council’s agenda, this online event will update states on the recent deterioration and identify further concrete action to protect human rights in Belarus.

Human Rights House Foundation and several organisations working with freedom of expression and free media have prepared an overview of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Belarus for independent media.

150+ young activists from across Eastern Europe and the Caucasus participated in over 100 hours of online training in a new school for young human rights defenders launched by six Human Rights Houses in 2020.