Human rights defenders: Solidarity Day proves that we are heard

The Russian activists’ proposal to support Belarus’ civil society all over the world is actual more than ever. The international Day of Solidarity with Belarus’ civil society and human rights defending movement, which was decided to declare on August...

The Russian activists’ proposal to support Belarus’ civil society all over the world is actual more than ever. The international Day of Solidarity with Belarus’ civil society and human rights defending movement, which was decided to declare on August 4th, will help to involve new formal and informal communities of various countries.

We shall remind that on this day exactly a year ago the vice-president of the International Human Rights Federation and the leader of the Human Rights Defending Center "Viasna" (Spring) Ales Bialiatski was arrested in Minsk. Belarusan human rights defenders have told the EuroBelarus Information Service how international support is important in such situations.

Andrei Bandarenka, director of the Informational-Educational Establishment "Platform", former political prisoner:

"We not only feel this support, but we see it every day, because in Belarus human rights defenders have suddenly started to be oppressed like oppositionists. It does not mean that we have started to be engaged in politics; it testifies that we do our job and we reveal the facts of illegal actions of the state against citizens. And it is great that there is such a day now!

I am a human rights defender; I got engaged in the protection of the rights of the condemned after I was discharged and left the prison. Therefore, it is difficult for me to say if there is more support now or less. But I see that international human rights defending organizations have the most possible accurate attitude towards us and every time they try to provide their maximum support, understanding the situation we are in - when human rights are being coarsely infringed in Belarus".

Tamara Sidorenko, a lawyer of the Legal Transformation Center Lawtrend, deprived of her lawyer license by the Ministry of Justice of Belarus:

"It goes without saying that such dates are needed, and they will unite us, of course. People meet; they have meetings where they personally see each other even though, probably, they have never met before; there is an exchange of opinions. Support is always important, and especially right now when there is an attack against human rights defenders, the people who have a bit different opinion. They are not revolutionaries and not oppositionists, but they do have questions - why someone is arrested; why people are deprived of their right of association? In this sense, our conditions have worsened, and human rights defenders are compelled to keep struggling - to declare about infringements, about the accepted laws, which do not correspond to the international documents on human rights.

Here we should not be lonely; other people should know about our problems as well. Thus, August 4th will be an acknowledgement of the fact that they hear us. After all, what can be more important than communication? To have common holidays, joint actions - probably, nothing will be more effective than that".

Tatiana Gatsura, an expert on advocacy of the International Consortium "EuroBelarus":

"It seems to me that until now solidarity has been shown by the same people, and unfortunately it did not involve new figures. The measures, which are accepted by civil societies in other countries, are very important for human rights defenders in Belarus. It is important to feel that we do not remain alone with our problems. Therefore, the day of international solidarity with the Belarusan human rights defending movement is a very necessary initiative.

People’s possibilities to express their support are limited; they use the Internet. Perhaps, the initiative of the Day of Solidarity will allow inhabitants of different countries to self-organize somehow. Probably, various informal or formal groups, which did not reflect earlier and did not show their solidarity, will express it now. Therefore, maybe, on August 4th the circle of those who are solidary with the Belarusan human rights defending movement will extend.

It is necessary to be grateful to civil societies of other countries and Russia in particular as the situation with human rights and with working conditions is getting worse there too, but at this time people do not forget about the problems, which exist already for a long time in Belarus.

Basically, as similar problems appear in other countries, the initiative of the international Day of Solidarity with Belarus can be considered more widely - probably, in the future it should become a Day of Solidarity with civil societies and human rights defenders of all post-Soviet countries".