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Collecting signatures for presidential hopefuls has been the main political event in the country for a month already. To be registered as a candidate one has to collect 100.000 signatures of Belarusian citizens. Incumbent Lukashenka was the first to reach the threshold. To do so his campaign office used nearly criminal practices of exploiting state employees, school teachers and medical staff.

The pre-election hysteria of the Belarusian authorities is becoming more apparent. Independent weekly Vitebskij Courier again became a victim of this process. As critical to the regime publications are facing fines and possible forceful closures, state-owned mass media are increasing circulation numbers by administrative pressure. ‘Double standards’ over again?

On 10 October, the World Day against the Death Penalty, numerous events, happenings and pickets were staged across Republic of Belarus. In solidarity with Republic of Belarus similar events were organised in neighbouring countries. HR defenders from Republic of Belarus, the last country in Europe where the death penalty is still a grim reality, demonstrated that the struggle against this punishment could be multifaceted.

Ambitions for more professionalism and solidarity brought the Belarusian human rights community together for the second ever joint forum yesterday. Convened in a comfortable Lithuanian hotel, many recalled the first forum, in January 2004, which took place in a forest outside Minsk in unheated premises.

The situation with civic initiatives in the Republic of Belarus unfortunately remains unchanged. Anyone willing to become a member of any organisation also risks to be criminally prosecuted according to Article 193.1. Having extinguished all legal means to protest, fairytale characters moved in to support the freedom of association.

The participants of the 2010 Human Rights House Network (HRHN) Annual Meeting call upon the Member States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to strengthen freedom of association and peaceful assembly by establishing a Special Procedure´s mandate.

Following the two-days’ annual meeting, the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile in Vilnius hosted a conference today on various aspects of the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus and the Baltic states. With more than 20 speakers on the programme, the well attended conference provided insights far beyond the general overviews.

On the second day of HRHN’s annual meeting, hosted at the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile in Vilnius, delegates from all of HRHN’s European regions made their priorities clear: -We want more cooperation and support during election campaigns and elections’ they said.

A world premiere on a new documentary by renowned Norwegian film maker Erling Borgen and an exhibition of pictures by the independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva’s photographer Julia Darashkevich topped the programme on the first day of HRHN’s annual meeting.