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November 1, 2022

Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners: Artsiom Mitsuk

Artsiom Mitsuk was part of a Telegram group chat which included a number of pseudonymous members. On 29 September, some of the members agreed to meet in person. Artsiom arrived late and saw a number of representatives of law enforcement agencies but as he was sure he had not broken any laws, he checked in with the group chat to find out what was happening. However, on the group chat, Artsiom noticed a representative of state authorities was sending messages to the other users. Soon after that Artsiom was arrested.

October 31, 2022

Reconnecting in times of crises: House Treff 2022

For three days in September, representatives of the network of Human Rights Houses met in Vilnius, Lithuania for House Treff 2022. This event marked the first time that the Houses were able to reconnect in-person following several years of unprecedented world events. Together, they discussed how the network can address the impact of these world events and meet common challenges together.

September 29, 2022

Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners: Dzianis Boltuts

Dzianis Boltuts, an anti-fascist and fan of the MTZ-RIPO football club, was detained on 25 September 2020 as a suspect in a rioting case – public gatherings against the Lukashenka regime are oftentimes described as a “riot”. He was later charged under Art. 342 of the Criminal Code, “group actions that grossly violate public order”. At the start of 2021, Boltuts was also charged under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (participation in riots) and under Art. 364 of the Criminal Code (violence or threat of violence against a police officer). A day after his birthday, Dzianis was sentenced to six years in a medium-security penal colony.

September 24, 2022

Belarus: Tatsiana Lasitsa released

On 24 September, Viasna volunteer Tatsiana Lasitsa was released in Belarus after serving one year and eight months of a two-and-a-half-year sentence. While we welcome this news, we highlight that Lasitsa not have been in prison in the first place – the case against her was a reprisal for her legitimate human rights work. We repeat our call for the release of her Viasna colleagues and for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.

September 19, 2022

HRHF Annual Report 2021

In 2021, Human Rights House Foundation and the network of Human Rights Houses worked in partnership to meet human rights challenges across Europe from the Thames to the Caspian. Find out how we did this and continued our work together to advance human rights at home and abroad.

September 5, 2022

Belarus: Upcoming verdict in the case against Viasna members Maria Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk

On September 6, Minsk City Court will pronounce the verdict in the politically motivated and harrowing case of human rights defenders Maria (Marfa) Rabkova and Andrey Chapiuk, in a climate of sweeping repression of civil society in Belarus. The signatory organisations call for their immediate and unconditional release, as well as for the release of all other human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in the country.

August 29, 2022

Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners: Ivan Datsyshyn

Ivan Datsyshyn, known to his family and friends as Vanya, is a 21-year-old student of radiophysics and computer technology at the Belarusian State University. On the night of 11 August 2020, two days after the highly disputed presidential election, Ivan witnessed the detentions of protesters on Dzerzhinsky Avenue in Minsk. In an effort to force the authorities to leave and not detain people, he allegedly threw a stone at the police bus.

August 29, 2022

Belarusian authorities must not withdraw Belarus from First Optional Protocol of the ICCPR

We, the undersigned Belarusian and international human rights organisations, condemn recent steps taken by the Belarusian authorities to withdraw from the First Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and remove an important avenue for redress for victims of human rights violations committed by Belarusian authorities. The move would also set a dangerous precedent for states seeking to negate their international human rights obligations to avoid unwanted scrutiny.

July 29, 2022

Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners: Siarhei Sakavets

Siarhei Sakavets is a 29-year-old engineer from Minsk, who was detained on 21 September 2021 for having subscribed to the Telegram channel “Real Belarus”, which shares news that is critical of the regime.