Belarusian parliament passes amendments stifling press freedom
4 minute read
Women wearing black clothing and tape over their mouths demonstrate against the conviction of
a journalist and a doctor over the disclosure of a protester’s medical records, Minsk, Belarus, 2 March 2021, -/AFP via Getty Images The legislation includes a ban on coverage of unsanctioned protests, restrictions on the establishment of media outlets, and other policies to restrict press freedom. To enter into force, it needs to be approved by the Constitutional Court and signed by President Lukashenko.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 4 May 2021.
The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a set of amendments passed by the Belarusian parliament that could severely stifle press freedom in the country.
28.04.2021, 13:45
The platform s partner organizations have called on the international community to take decisive action.
An unprecedented wave of repressions against independent journalism in Belarus is described in the annual report of partner organizations of the Council of Europe Platform for the Promotion the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, presented on April 28, naviny.online reports.
The partners of the platform are the European Federation of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the Association of European Journalists, the human rights organization Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, the International Press Institute, the International News Safety Institute, the Rory Peck Trust, the European Broadcasting Union, and PEN International.
State persecution against women journalists on the rise globally
Women journalists are increasingly being targeted by state institutions, not just in autocratic countries but around the globe, writes Kiran Nazish, founder of The Coalition For Women In Journalism, in her op-ed.
On October 9, 2020, Turkish authorities launched a raid at Kurdish news agencies Mesopotamia News and JinNews in their offices in the city of Van. The police immediately arrested and detained some of the journalists working there. Two of the staffers, Nazan Sala and Şehriban Abi, were among those who had previously reported on the torture of Kurdish villagers in a small town called Catak. I was later told by these journalists that the police had questioned and arrested them, particularly for their reportage on the torture cases in Catak. They were told with emphasis that they were in trouble for this coverage.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since he came into power in 1994, has cracked down violently on the still-ongoing protests in which police have detained more than 33,000 people.
Belarus is not a member of the Council of Europe – it still has the death penalty which is an automatic bar to its membership. This means that it is not subject to. requirements. to bring its prison system in line with the norms outlined in the European Prison Rules.. All prisoners are vulnerable to their treatment in custody being manipulated at the behest of investigators to exact confessions and witness statements from them. The lack of transparency of the Belarus prison service is almost absolute. Judith Pallot, Director of the GULAGECHOES project at the University of Helsinki, Open Democracy, November 20, 2020.
17 minute read
A woman holds a sign with an image of Belarusian President Lukashenko that reads “Next stop: The Hague” (referring to the International Criminal Court), during a solidarity protest by Belarusians living in exile, Hamburg, Germany, 15 August 2020, Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images A monthly chronology of repression and resistance in Belarus, based on the work of IFEX members and other international and domestic actors.
The rigged presidential election of August 2020 sparked a huge wave of popular protest that swept across Belarus, bringing together people from all sections of society in a call for President Lukashenko’s ouster and new elections. The authorities’ response was a crackdown of such magnitude and brutality that it grabbed headlines around the world. Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters were detained, as well as hundreds of journalists and members of civil society organisations. There were credible reports of