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In the framework of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, representatives of the official Minsk oppose cooperation with the Special Rapporteur Miklós Haraszti, question the lawfulness of the actions of the Belarusian human rights defenders.

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, (right) has prepared a report that will be presented on 28 October during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.One of the recommendations presented to the authorities of Belarus is the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.

The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, is to present his first report to the General Assembly on 23 October 2014. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklós Harastzi, is to present a thematic report on human rights defenders in Belarus to the General Assembly.
This joint side-event aims at highlighting the role of human rights defenders in two neighbouring countries, Belarus and Ukraine.

October 10 – World Day Against the Death Penalty. The office of the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” in Minsk hosted final press conference of “Human rights defenders against the death penalty in Belarus” campaign.

Several days ago in Vilnius (Lithuania), the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House held graduation ceremony of students of the educational project “Bring International Standards Home. De facto implementation of international obligations of the Republic of Belarus in the field of civil rights and freedoms” of the “International Law in Advocacy” program. The program is implemented by several member organizations of the Human Rights House Network and aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of human rights defenders and their support.

Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe was, from its beginning, a problem: the country was not showing enough efforts to improve its human rights record and true willingness to implement recommendations made by Council of Europe mechanisms. Since it acceded to the chairmanship in May 2014, the record became even worse, with an unprecedented repression of civil society on-going in Azerbaijan.

On 26 September the photo exhibition “Revolution of dignity – in the heart of the events” was opened at the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House. Photojournalist Marianna Hardy (right) who presented pictures of Kiev protests of the late 2013- early 2014, told those, who were present, about her experience and what she saw there, answered the question and even showed rubber bullets, that were shot at protesters and the press.

We firmly denounces systemic patterns of violations of the right to freedom of association, which serves the sole purpose of harassing, prosecuting and imprisoning critical voices, including human rights defenders in various countries of the OSCE-region, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.

Report, presented to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights provides an overview of situation with the human rights in Belarus. Human rights defenders have expressed anxiety about the lack of real progress on key problem spheres of human rights in the country,
noting concrete steps of the implementation of the recommendations made and accepted by Belarus in the first cycle of the UPR.