Freedom House in partnership with National Endowment for Democracy,
Human Rights House Network and the International Federation for Human Rights
and in cooperation with the U.S. Helsinki Commission
invites you to an open discussion:
Two Years after the Crackdown: Voices of Belarusian Human Rights Defenders
The December 2010 presidential elections in Belarus marked a renewal of draconian measures and repressions against dissent and critics of President Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s rule. The post-election demonstrations led to large-scale arrests, the sentencing of presidential candidates and activists, new restrictive legislation, and targeted persecution of prominent human rights organizations. Related demonstrations in 2011 led to the repression of thousands of citizens. The government still holds and mistreats more than a dozen political prisoners. Yet civil society in Belarus has been resilient in the aftermath of the post-election crackdown, and the efforts of human rights organizations and independent media outlets have been especially notable in shining light on the government’s violations. To celebrate the International Human Rights Day and commemorate the two-year anniversary of the government crackdown on peaceful post-election protests in Belarus, Freedom House will hold an open discussion with three prominent civil society activists and human rights defenders, who will showcase examples of civil society resilience in the face of ongoing violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms under Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s rule.
Featuring panelists:
- Zhanna Litvina, Chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists
- Natallia Pinchuk, wife of political prisoner and President of the Human Rights Center Viasna Ales Bialiatski
- Tatsiana Reviaka, President of Belarusian Human Rights House,Board Member of the Human Rights Center Viasna
- Moderated by: David J. Kramer, President of Freedom House
To RSVP for this event, please select the following link:
Two Years after the Crackdown: Voices of Belarusian Human Rights Defenders
Speaker Biographies:
Zhanna Litvina is an award-winning Belarusian radio journalist, chair and co-founder of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. BAJ has been hailed as the “single most important organization for keeping the world informed about what goes on in Europe’s last remaining dictatorship and for keeping Belarus’ besieged journalists a bit more sane and safe than they would otherwise be,” and was awarded the EU's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for acting “as a champion of the independent media” in 2004. Litvina has advocated for freedom of speech for decades despite pressure from a regime that consistently threatens and detains journalists. Litvina was awarded the Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism in 2004, and the Ebert Foundation Human Rights Award in 2008.
Natallia Pinchuk is the wife of political prisoner Ales Bialiatski, who is Vice-Chairman of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and President of the Human Rights Center Viasna. Since Bialiatski’s trumped up conviction in November 2011, Natallia has been the link between her husband and the rest of the world, speaking frequently about the conditions of his imprisonment.
Tatsiana Reviaka has been the President of the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile in Vilnius since 2010 and is a Board Member of the Human Rights Center Viasna. Viasna is a leading Belarusian human rights NGO, established in 1996 during mass demonstrations by the democratic opposition to help the arrested protest participants and their families. Currently, it has about 200 members across the country and was the main organization assisting those arrested during the demonstrations that followed the flawed presidential election in December 2010. In 2003, Viasna’s state registration was groundlessly cancelled due to its nonpartisans observation of the 2001 presidential election. Despite the 2004 decision of the UN Human Rights Committee declaring the liquidation of Viasna illegal, the organization remains unregistered. In 2006, Tatsiana Reviaka’s commitment to human rights was recognized by the 2006 Anna Lindh Award. Instituted by the Anna Lindh Memorial Fund Foundation, the award demonstrates that violence must never quell our belief in the ability to achieve change with peaceful measures and democratic channels.
David J. Kramer is president of Freedom House, which he joined in October 2010. Prior to joining Freedom House, Kramer was a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He was an Adjunct Professor at the Elliott School for International Affairs at The George Washington University. Before joining GMF, Kramer served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from March 2008 to January 2009. He also was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, responsible for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus affairs as well as regional non-proliferation issues. Previously, he served as a Professional Staff Member in the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning. Before that he served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. He also was Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Washington. Before joining the U.S. Government, Kramer was a Senior Fellow at the Project for the New American Century, Associate Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Assistant Director of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, all in Washington.