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On 5 December the participants of parallel Conference of Civil Society of OSCE countries in Vilnius discussed the problematic issues related to human rights in Belarus.

Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Belarus supports the introduction of the definition of “torture” to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus .

The Supreme Court has decided to sentence to death Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou, accused of organizing the terrorist attack in Minsk metro. The judge explained that such a decision was adopted considering exceptional danger to society posed by Kanavalau and Kavaliou. The verdict can not be appealed.

On Thursday, 24 November 2011, a Belarus court handed down a four-and-half-year prison sentence to Ales Belyatsky, human rights activist and the head of the Human Rights Centre ‘Viasna’. Belyatsky was also ordered to pay a fine of 721 million Belarusian rubles ($83,000). The conviction was based on the information on Mr Belyatsky’s bank accounts in Poland which the Belarusian authorities had received from the Polish Prosecutor General’s Office.

In its Concluding Observations, the Committee against Torture makes a first harsh observation of the dialogue: Belarus’ delayed report prevented the experts for almost a decade from analysing the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

On November 25 rally of solidarity with Ales Bialiatski and other political prisoners in Belarus was held near the building of the Belarusian Embassy in Vilnius.

Three United Nations independent experts warned that the new legislative amendments recently adopted by the National Assembly of Belarus may severely and arbitrarily restrict the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, and breach international law, and called Ales Bialiatski to be released.

78 human rights organizations, members and partners of the Human Rights House Network, resolutely condemn the court verdict to sentence Ales Bialiatski to 4,5 years imprisonment with confiscation of his property. We call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Ales Bialiatski and stop his criminal prosecution.

On November 24 judge Siarhey Bandarenka announced sentence to the head of human rights centre “Viasna”, Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Bialiatski. Sentence: Four and a half years of maximum security colony with confiscation of property.