Human rights activists call to end arrests, violence and use of weapons against peaceful civilians
Joint statement by human rights organizations of Belarus Minsk – August 10, 2020 We, representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations, strongly protest against the actions of law enforcement agencies against peaceful demonstrators. The right to express an opinion at peaceful assemblies is one of the most important human rights. Belarus does not have effective mechanisms […]
Worst election ever’: Domestic observers sum up their disrupted monitoring campaign
The domestic election observation campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” has presented a report on the interim results of observation of the presidential election at a press conference on August 10. The human rights activists called the 2020 vote “the worst election ever”. According to Aleh Hulak, a co-head of the observation initiative, there is little trust […]
Coordinated Covert Operation of Alt-Info on Facebook
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has been continuously monitoring social media sites and identified 34 pages on Facebook that display coordinated inauthentic behavior and are associated with the organization Alt-Info that spreads divisive narratives. Alt-Info is a self-proclaimed source of alternative information but in reality it is engaged in anti-liberal, anti-immigration, […]
Lukashenka used every trick in his outdated playbook to survive’
Image source: Facebook Franak Viacorka The presidential election in Belarus fell well short of international standards for transparent, free and fair elections, and saw a clear attempt by the authorities to manipulate the outcome, according to independent election monitoring organisations. In a post-election statement (below), the election monitors – MEMO 98, the EAST Research […]
Hundreds detained in post-election protests. Multiple injured. One reported dead
A girl hit with a rubber bullet. Photo: svaboda.org Riot police dispersed a series of post-election protests held in Minsk and other cities of Belarus. Excessive violence, tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons were used against the peaceful protesters in Minsk. Several people were injured, including one protester reportedly run over by a […]
Belarus Election Alert #5
Photo: Sergei Gapon / AFP. Belarus’ riot police officers watch opposition supporters in Minsk Early voting ended on August 8, 2020. The Central Election Commission (CEC)’s imposition of deprived of accreditation. Most of the observers admitted to the polling stations represent pro-government NGOs, as stated in the appealed to the Belarusian authorities to respect […]
Weekly report: early voting
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 the restrictions imposed by the CEC on the number of observers at polling stations during early voting made this electoral phase completely non-transparent […]
Weekly report: election campaigning
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 the phase of election campaigning differed significantly from the previous elections by the wide activity of the protest electorate both in Minsk and […]
Weekly Report – early voting
From the first days of early voting, observers from various civic initiatives faced obstacles from PEC members and police officers. Numerous observers were removed from polling stations, deprived of accreditation, and even detained. The restrictions imposed by the CEC on the number of observers at polling stations during early voting made this electoral phase completely […]
Belarus Election Alert #5
On August 9, 2020, presidential elections take place in Belarus, in which the incumbent Aleksander Lukashenka is standing for the sixth time. Early voting took place from August 4 to August 8. Election observers complain about criminal and administrative prosecution of opposition politicians and their supporters, pressure on voters to cast their votes ahead of […]