19 Feb 21 | Belarus, Opinion, Ruth's blog
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116024″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Our daily team meetings at Index are an opportunity to touch base, to make sure that everyone is coping in the current lockdown and to discuss the latest aggressions by too many authoritarian leaders. Unfortunately the last of these is never short and sweet.
Where is today’s misery? What has Lukashenko done now? What’s the latest in Hong Kong? What the hell happened in Catalonia? Has anything changed in Kashmir? Where are we with Myanmar?
And it goes on, every day a new atrocity: a new attack on media freedom, another arrest of an artist or an activist, another family devastated, another person hurt.
It would be too easy for Index to become a grievance sheet – just listing country after country and each infringement on freedoms. But behind each repressive action there is a person, a family, a story and we owe it to them to make sure the world knows their names, understands what they are trying to do and of course know how outrageous the treatment is that they are being subjected too.
But sometimes our job is much harder. Sometimes it is one of our correspondents who has been arrested, someone that we know well. And sometimes it is a member of the Index family that is suffering for their commitment to our collective human rights. Every person we cover is special but when it’s someone you’ve been to the pub with it’s just that little bit harder.
Last month I wrote about Andrei Aliaksandrau, a former member of our team. Today marks 39 days since his arrest and incarceration in Belarus. Andrei is one of 255 political prisoners imprisoned by Lukashekno’s regime (as of today) since the crackdown on civil society began 193 days ago. The world has condemned his arrest but he remains in a Belarusian jail.
This simply isn’t good enough. We need action. We need Andrei home. We need the other 254 human rights activists released. We need media freedoms reinstated in Belarus and we need a guarantee that the right to peacefully protest will be protected.
We need action.
This week has seen Lukashenko’s regime double down on their critics. We’ve seen human rights organisations raided across Belarus. The offices of the Belarusian Association of Journalists has been raided. Human rights activists and journalists have had their homes searched by police. This is happening in Europe, in 2021 and the world is simply too distracted to act.
We need to stand in solidarity with the people of Belarus.
You can sign up to support the campaign for Andrei’s release here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
16 Feb 21 | Belarus, News and features, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116263″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship strongly condemns the politically motivated police raids and detentions that have been carried out against dozens of human rights defenders and journalists across Belarus this morning. The offices of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” were among those raided by the authorities.
“We are once again appalled at the actions of the Belarusian authorities,” said Jessica Ní Mhainín, senior policy research and advocacy officer at Index on Censorship. “We express our solidarity with our colleagues in Belarus, who should be celebrated for their courageous and relentless work – not facing such repression.”
Since fraudulent elections last August, which triggered mass opposition protests and crackdowns by the regime, the work of journalists and human rights defenders in Belarus has been more important than ever. They have worked tirelessly to document and publish the blatant human rights violations being carried out by the Belarusian authorities, and have kept up-to-date lists of unjustly imprisoned journalists and political prisoners. As of 16 February, there are 256 political prisoners in Belarus.
“The regime is trying to kill the opposition movement by intimidating human rights defenders and journalists into silence. We cannot allow this to happen. We urge the international community to immediately and unreservedly condemn the actions of authorities and to ensure that civil society in Belarus are supported to continue to carry out their vital work,” Ní Mhainín said.
Index calls for the immediate release of all human rights defenders and journalists who remain in detention in Belarus, including our former colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau, who has now been in detention for 36 days.
Please sign the petition calling on the Belarusian authorities to free Andrei Aliaksandrau and his girlfriend Irina Zlobina.
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05 Feb 21 | Belarus, News and features, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116175″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus on 7 February, the undersigned organisations working in the field of freedom of expression and media freedom call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and media workers who continue to be arbitrarily detained.
Nearly six months since President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in what has been widely acknowledged and condemned as a fraudulent election, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya remains in exile and thousands of protesters continue to take to the streets of Minsk calling for his resignation.
The regime has made every effort to prevent its citizens from accessing independent information. News outlets have had their publishing licences revoked. Some have their equipment seized. Independent newspapers are banned from printing and barred from sales through the national state monopolist retailer.
As part of this effort, the authorities have also used violence, threats, and arbitrary detention to intimidate journalists and prevent them from doing their jobs. Reporters and photographers wearing press vests have been deliberately targeted by law enforcement. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), journalists were detained 480 times in 2020. They have spent over 1,200 days behind bars, often without being told what, if any, charges they face.
At least ten journalists and media workers remain in detention, among them are several of our friends and colleagues. They are: Katsiaryna Barysevich, Daria Chultsova, Yulia Slutskaya, Alla Sharko, Siarhei Alsheuski, Petr Slutski, Ksenia Lutskina, Andrei Aliaksandrau, and Aliaksandr Mikrukou.
As the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus approaches, we are calling for each and every journalist and media worker to be immediately and unconditionally released. We condemn the blatant violations to their human rights and once again remind the Belarusian authorities of their obligations under international law.
Signed:
Jessica Ní Mhainín, Senior Policy Research and Advocacy Officer, Index on Censorship
Dave Elseroad, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Maria Ordzhonikidze, Director, Justice for Journalists Foundation
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19
Laurens Hueting, Advocacy Officer, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk, Secretary General, International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC)
Marcin Lewicki, President, Press Club Polska
Daniela Kraus, General Secretary, Presseclub Concordia, Vienna
Andrei Bastunets, Chairperson, Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)
Peter Spiegel, Press Freedom Committee Chair, Overseas Press Club of America (OPC)
Board of Frankfurter Presseclub
Board of Press Club Brussels Europe
Pierre Ruetschi, Executive Director, Geneva Press Club
Ryszard Bankowicz, President, Polish Club of International Columnists
S Venkat Narayan, President, FCC of South Asia, New Delhi, India
Uri Dromi, Director General, Jerusalem Press Club[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Jan 21 | Belarus, Media Freedom, Opinion, Ruth's blog
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Last week one of our former colleagues and correspondents – Andrei Aliaksandrau – was detained in Belarus. Our friend, colleague and human rights defender is now being arbitrarily held for defending the right to free expression.
Our team is anxious for news and, honestly, even though we report on and cover attacks on journalists every day and campaign for people to be released from prison, we still feel impotent about what we can do to help.
Andrei and his partner, Irina Zlobina, are expected to be charged with “education or other preparation of persons for participation in group actions that grossly violate public order, as well as financing or other material support of such activities”.
Under Lukashenko’s regime these charges could result in a two-year sentence. Two years in prison for supporting people’s peaceful right to assembly. Two years’ detention for demanding free and fair elections. Two years for standing up for free speech. Their lawyer has been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so we are struggling to get information about their wellbeing and future legal sanctions.
As upset as we are, Andrei’s case wasn’t the most unsettling part of the week.
Andrei and Irina are just two of the 187 people that the Viasna human rights center identify as political prisoners – journalists, activists and citizens who have been arrested and detained by Lukashenko’s regime. Their collective ‘crimes’ are being brave enough to keep fighting against tyranny and to stand up for both what is right and their human rights.
Statistics can be shocking – 187 prisoners of conscience logged with the EU. But behind every statistic there is a person, a family, a story, a life. Andrei is a friend to many of the Index family so we know he was a Liverpool fan. We know that he likes malt whisky and when in London a visit to the Betsey Trotwood pub. We know he loves dogs. We know that because we know him.
And we know that Andrei wouldn’t want us to forget about the others that have also been arrested. He wouldn’t want us to stop exposing the actions of Lukashenko. He wouldn’t want us to be silent. So, for him, for Irina and the hundreds of other people currently detained in Belarus we will keep using our voices to fight for their freedom, while they cannot.
Index was established to be a voice for the persecuted – our friend is being persecuted and we will make sure his voice is heard – together.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”You may also want to read” category_id=”41669″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
