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Human Rights House Foundation is outraged by the liquidation of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and stands in solidarity with BAJ and the rest of Belarusian civil society currently under siege. We call on the international community to use all available tools to support Belarusian civil society and human rights defenders, including individual sanctions against all those responsible for human rights violations in the country.

Human Rights House Foundation announces a call for applications to House-to-House Project Fund 2021. HRHF welcomes all Human Rights Houses, their member organisations as well as organisations and actors from outside of the network to apply for funding.

In September 2020, the prominent Belarusian opposition figure Maryia Kalesnikava was abducted from Minsk and taken to the border where security forces tried to expel her from the country; she ripped up her passport in defiance. In the days that followed she was charged with incitement to undermine national security and placed in pre-trial detention. The letter that follows was written by Maryia Kalesnikava to her father on 16 July 2021, the day the Supreme Court rejected her complaint regarding the extension of her detention until 1 August.

Today, Human Rights House Foundation marks the anniversary of the latest illegitimate presidential election in Belarus. The 2020 Presidential election, however, represents a turning point in the country’s recent history as Belarusian citizens united like never before in protesting the violation of their electoral rights. The protests led to an unprecedented brutal response from the authorities which continues unabated. 

Human Rights House Foundation joins 160+ human rights organisations in demanding an end to the repression against the Human Rights Center Viasna and all other human rights defenders in Belarus.

We, the undersigned organisations, members of the Civic Solidarity Platform, with increasing pain and anger have witnessed the assault over the past year by the de facto Belarusian authorities on democratically-minded persons, independent media, civil society organisations and professionals that defend human rights, such as lawyers.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) strongly condemns today’s actions by the Belarusian authorities against independent civil society and human rights defenders.

Human Rights House Foundation joins 16 other organisations to share reflections on the key outcomes of the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the missed opportunities to address key issues and situations.

On 13 July 2021, the UN Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, following calls by Belarusian and international human rights organisations. Human Rights House Foundation welcomes this action, which provides for on-going scrutiny of Belarus’s human rights situation and an accessible and safe channel for Belarusian civil society to deliver diverse and up-to-date information from within the country.