Polish Amnesty International Expresses Support to Belarusian Human Rights Defenders. German AI Insists on Proper Reaction of German and Other Governments to Human Rights Situation in Belarus.

31.03.2004.

Polish organization of the influential human rights organization Amnesty International launched a campaign to support human rights activists in Belarus. The organization urges citizens to write letters to the Belarusian Ministry of Justice and demand human rights activists should be guaranteed the right to freedom of association.
On 29 March Amnesty International spread a special report pointing out Belarusian human rights activists constantly fight with the obstacles, persecution and intimidation built up by the state.

“During the last several months, the government used questionable legislative acts generally recognized as restrictive, to ban an extremely big number of NGOs working in human rights sphere. In this situation, Amnesty International is concerned about the fate of the people who continue to work in the human rights field, for every one of them might be personally persecuted“, -- says the AI report.
Simultaneously, AI representatives in Germany insist Schroeder government and governments of other countries should demonstrate proper reaction on the human rights situation in Belarus. The German human rights defenders spread their statement through the local mass media.
The statement gives numerous examples of restriction of the freedom of speech and association in Belarus, persecution of opposition members, journalists, and trade union activists, and unexampled pressure on independent mass media.
German Amnesty International demands the German government and the international community should actively interfere in the human rights situation in Belarus and monitor changes in the official Minsk policies. According to the German AI chief expert on Belarus issues Heike Prestin, the statements are sent to participants of the annual session of the UN Committee on Human Rights in Geneva

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