Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Belarus: Sentencing Of Human Rights Defenders A ‘Blatant Retaliation’ For Their Work
“This sham trial on politically motivated charges is a blatant retaliation for Viasna’s human rights work. Their sentencing represents a further blow to the already severely repressed civil society and the concerning state of human rights in Belarus. It’s a vindictive act of injustice that requires the immediate attention of the international community."
March 3, 2023
Press Release
Free Student in Belarus Jailed for 6.5 Years for Reposting Criticism of Ukraine War and Lukashenka
Reacting to the news that a court in Belarus sentenced Danuta Pyarednya, a 20-year-old student from Mahiliou, to 6.5 years in jail for reposting a message criticizing the war in Ukraine and the role of Belarus’ ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka in it, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
July 6, 2022
Press Release
New Evidence of Abuses in Poland & Belarus Highlights ‘Hypocrisy’ of Unequal Treatment of Asylum-Seekers
The Polish authorities have arbitrarily detained nearly two thousand asylum-seekers who crossed into the country from Belarus in 2021, and subjected many of them to abuse, including strip searches in unsanitary, overcrowded facilities, and in some cases even to forcible sedation and tasering, Amnesty International said today.
April 10, 2022
Press Release
New evidence of brutal violence from Belarusian forces against asylum-seekers and migrants facing pushbacks from the EU
Asylum-seekers and migrants trying to enter the EU from Belarus and facing pushbacks and other human rights violations on the Polish border, are subjected to horrific torture or other ill-treatment, inhumane conditions, extortion and other abuse at the hands of Belarusian forces, new evidence gathered by Amnesty International reveals.
December 20, 2021
Press Release
“Exceptional Measures” Normalize Dehumanization of Asylum Seekers in Europe
In response to today’s proposals from the European Commission which would allow Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to derogate from EU rules, including by holding asylum-seekers and migrants at the border for 16 weeks with minimal safeguards, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Office said: “The arrival of people at the EU’s borders with Belarus is entirely manageable with the rules as they stand. Today’s proposals will further punish people for political gain, weaken asylum protections, and undermine the EU’s standing at home and abroad. If the EU can allow a minority of member states to throw out the rule…
December 1, 2021
Press Release
Abuse of Protesters and Prisoners Highlights Urgent Need to Regulate Torture Tools
The world must act urgently to prohibit the global trade in equipment designed to inflict excruciating pain and injury, Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation said today, ahead of a high-level UN meeting on the ‘torture trade’. In a new report, Ending the Torture Trade: The Path to Global Controls on the ‘Tools of Torture’, the organizations also called for controls on standard policing equipment to ensure it does not end up in the hands of abusers.
December 10, 2020
Press Release
More than 1,000 people arrested in Belarus in a single day of peaceful protests
Responding to the arrest of more than 1,000 people in a single day of peaceful protest in Minsk and other Belarusian cities, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Over the weekend, the security forces under the command of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka escalated reprisals against peaceful dissent and took the human rights crisis in Belarus to a new level, with gruesome footage of riot police beating unarmed demonstrators and officers shoving elderly people into police vans. “These acts add weight to the already heavy dossier of government violations of human rights, including unlawful use of…
November 9, 2020
Press Release
Attacks on journalists in Belarus mount amid protest crackdown
The Belarusian authorities must immediately end their assault on journalists, Amnesty International said today, amid reports of journalists being arrested, beaten, and targeted with rubber bullets while covering the vicious police crackdown on protests. Media workers have also had their cameras smashed and their footage deleted. “Journalists in Belarus are doing heroic work to ensure the world knows about the authorities’ brutal repression of protests. It is horrifying to see the lengths to which the government will go to suppress this information – attacking reporters with batons and rubber bullets, destroying their equipment, and throwing dozens in jail, said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s…
August 12, 2020
Press Release
Police in Belarus unleash appalling violence on peaceful protesters
Amnesty International’s delegates in the Belarusian capital Minsk witnessed appalling violence unleashed by riot police on peaceful protesters who took to the streets last night after official announcements on election results, which protesters view as rigged. The “official exit poll results” announced by the government pointed to a sweeping win by the incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka, contradicting unofficial polls and public sentiment. “Post-electoral violence by police has become a regular feature of politics in Belarus, where all forms of peaceful dissent are brutally suppressed. Last night Amnesty International delegates witnessed first-hand the viciousness of the police response, which included indiscriminate use…
August 10, 2020
Press Release
Write For Rights: Amnesty International Launches Global Campaign Championing Youth Activists
Amnesty International has today launched Write for Rights, the world’s biggest human rights campaign, which this year champions children’s rights and youth activists.
November 17, 2019
Press Release
Belarus uses telecoms firms to stifle dissent
Belarus authorities are using phone networks run by some of the world’s biggest telecoms companies to stifle free speech and dissent, said Amnesty International in a report published today.
July 6, 2016
Report
It’s Enough for People to Feel it Exists: Civil Society, Secrecy and Surveillance in Belarus
Belarus authorities are using phone networks run by some of the world’s biggest telecoms companies to stifle free speech and dissent, said Amnesty International in a report published today.
July 6, 2016