Belarus

Human rights defenders in Belarus have been subjected to harassment, restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture, violent attacks, forced disappearances and killings.

According to several sources the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) is the only officially registered human rights organisation in Belarus and it has been subjected to repeated acts of harassment. Independent journalists and international election observers have been persecuted by the authorities for carrying out their legitimate work. The UN SRSG on the situation of human rights defenders in her report on the situation of defenders in Belarus comments on the impact which restrictions on the right to freedom of expression is having on human rights defenders, “Controversial legislation to restrict the possibilities for NGOs, political parties, trade unions, journalists and individuals to express their peaceful opinion is, reportedly, widely used by the Government” (E/CN.4/2006/95/Add.5 page 42). LGBTI activists have encountered discrimination and have been arbitrarily detained and interrogated due to their work organising events related to LGBTI rights and have been prevented attending international events and conferences. There are severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and a number of peaceful demonstrations have been violently suppressed in recent years. The office of the UNDP in Belarus has widely distributed the UN Declaration on human rights defenders.