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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.

At the 50th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation continued its work calling on the Human Rights Council to take action on the human rights crisis in Eastern Europe characterised, in part, by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and the increasingly dire human rights situation in Belarus.

On 28 June 2022, Human Rights House Foundation called on the Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus during the 50th session of the Council.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) highlighted the chilling effect that online surveillance and legal harassment including SLAPPs have on freedom of expression. In addition, HRHF raised its concern about the situation for independent journalists and media outlets in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Russia.

Watch it again: HRC50 digital side event “Human Rights in Crisis, Belarus 2022” organised on Tuesday, 14 June, 2022 by Human Rights House Foundation, PEN America and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Lithuania, Geneva.

The on-going and worsening attacks by the Belarusian authorities against civil society and human rights defenders must cease immediately and all political prisoners must be released. We call on the Belarusian authorities to comply with their international obligations in this regard. Furthermore, we call on the international community to renew its commitment to human rights in Belarus.

Mikola Dziadok is an anarchist and blogger from the Belarusian district of Mogilev. He was previously held as a political prisoner between 2010 to 2015, when he wrote essays about daily life and the key elements of the Belarusian prison system. His essays formed the collection, The Colours of the Parallel World, which received PEN Belarus’ Francišak Aliachnovič Award in 2017.

Human Rights House Foundation announces a call for applications to House-to-House Project Fund 2022. HRHF welcomes all Human Rights Houses, their member organisations as well as organisations and actors from outside of the network to apply for funding.

Today, the Minsk City Court will begin hearings in the trial against Viasna member Marfa Rabkova and volunteer Andrey Chapiuk. Both are being prosecuted on politically motivated charges and face up to 20 years and eight years of imprisonment respectively. The proceedings are taking place as Viasna’s 26th anniversary approaches, in an overwhelmingly repressive context in Belarus. The signatory organisations reiterate their utmost support for Viasna, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all its members as well as all arbitrarily imprisoned human rights defenders in the country.