The 4th of August marks, for a third consecutive year, the International Day of Solidarity with Belarusian civil society. According to a Memorandum signed by several organizations worldwide, this day will be marked until the situation of civil society in Belarus changes, prison sentences for promotion and protection of human rights disappear, and basic human freedoms such as freedom of expression, assembly and association, are guaranteed. The full text of the Memorandum is available here.
This year, in addition to the traditional theme: “Solidarity is stronger than repression”, civil society organizations came up with a proposal to draw attention to youth activists from Belarus, and show solidarity with their work and with defending humanist values in culture and art.
On this day, we have the opportunity to express our support and to show them they are not alone in their fight for civil and human rights. In this context, we invite you to get involved, with various solidarity actions, see details here.
Last year, the Promo-LEX Association, a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), organized an awareness campaign on the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus civil society, which was dedicated to the release of Ales Bialiatski. FIDH Vice President and member of the Association “Viasna”, a fierce defender of human rights, Bialiatski was sentenced to 4 and a half years in a closed prison and confiscation of property on charges of tax evasion, and in fact was sentenced for his work in promoting and protecting human rights. Ales Bialiatski was released from prison in June 2014.