Police use excessive force dispersing protests and government crackdown on independent voices continues
Azerbaijan is currently under extended quarantine regime until the 15th of June. Most of the restrictions are lifted, however, temporarily harsh quarantine regime covering the first weekend of June has been installed and more weekends to follow. From 6th to 8th June in Baku and other 4 big city and districts, it is not allowed […]
HRDs insist on immediate release of all activists charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code
Statement by the human rights community of Belarus on the criminal charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski and six other participants in the May 29 picket in Hrodna Minsk – June 9, 2020 On May 29, during a picket held in Hrodna to collect signatures in support of the presidential nomination of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, police detained the […]
Weekly report: mass arrests and detentions of opposition activists
Observation of the presidential election is carried out by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in the framework of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. SUMMARY during the period of the report, the registered nomination groups continued to collect signatures to support the nomination of candidates for President of […]
Verkhovna Rada adopts changes to the Electoral Code
Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law No. 3485 “On Introducing Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving Electoral Law,” in the first reading. It introduces changes to the Electoral Code. The decision was supported by 292 MPs. The draft law also took into account certain proposals from the Civil Network OPORA. On June, 4, during […]
ISFED uncovers further false media pages that survived the Facebook takedown
In April 2020, Facebook removed 943 pages, profiles, groups and Instagram accounts engaged in domestic political campaigns in Georgia, for coordinated inauthentic behavior. Among them was a network of false media pages identified by ISFED. The primary tactic of false media pages removed in April was sharing of posts in public and private groups through the use of Facebook […]
ODIHR releases further opinion document on new Draft Act on conduct of Presidential election
On 14 May 2020, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (hereinafter “ODIHR”) received a request from Dr. Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights of Poland, to provide a legal opinion (hereinafter “opinion”) on the Draft Act on special rules for the organisation of the general election of the President of the Republic […]
Weekly report: crackdowns against nomination groups and activists
Observation of the presidential election is carried out by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” in the framework of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”. SUMMARY as compared to the previous presidential election, this year’s campaign, despite the COVID-19 crisis, is characterized by widespread media and street activity of […]
MEPs ‘deeply worried’ by nationwide crackdown and discriminatory election processes ahead of Presidential election
In a joint statement, MEPs Robert Biedroń, chair of the delegation for relations with Belarus, and Petras Auštrevičius, EP’s standing rapporteur on Belarus, voiced their concerns over the crackdowns on peaceful protesters and civil society activists ahead of the Presidential election and over the discriminatory approach in which territorial election commissions have been composed, with […]
Situation around Presidential election unconstitutional?
Statement by the Political Accountability Foundation on amendments to the election law as of May 24, 2020 The Political Accountability Foundation (PAF) would like to express its concern regarding specific provisions included in the Act of May 12, 2020 on special rules for conducting the election of the President of the Republic of Poland ordered […]
Policy Alert # 4 – Armenia explores alternative to referendum on Constitutional Court
Image source: massispost.com Armenia was supposed to hold a referendum on April 5, 2020, on whether to replace 7 of its 9 Constitutional Court judges. The referendum was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now seen as too great a risk to public health to go ahead. An alternative approach has been […]
