Human rights organizations disappointed by the decision of IIHF

The campaign for the transfer of the 2014 IIHF World Championship from Minsk will be continued.

We, eight human rights organisations in the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland are deeply disappointed that the International Ice Hockey Federation confirmed today at its general assembly in Helsinki that the Republic of Belarus will host the 2014 IIHF World Championship.

Belarus finds itself in the most alarming human rights crisis since the country became an independent state in 1991. We believe that to hold the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Belarus would support and legitimatise a regime that violates the human rights of the people of Belarus in an alarming way.

Therefore we will continue our campaign “Don’t play with the dictator” until the IIHF

revokes its decision to hold the Ice Hockey World Championship 2014 in Belarus. Our campaign is reinforced by recent support from all over the world, including from CIVICUS, Freedom House, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (South Africa) and several members of parliament in Europe. For updates on our campaign, please visit www.minsk2014.no.

Press contacts:

Petruška Šustrová, Director

Civic Belarus

Czech Republic

directorat@civicbelarus.eu

Lída Vacková, Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

People in Need

Czech Republic

lida.vackova@clovekvtisni.cz

Dr. Hans-Georg Wieck, Chairman

Human Rights in Belarus

Germany

hagewie@yahoo.de

Lars Bünger, Chairman

Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights

Switzerland/Germany

info@lphr.org

Berit Lindeman

Norwegian Helsinki Committee

Norway

lindeman@nhc.no

Carl Morten Iversen, Secretary General

Norwegian P.E.N.

Norway

PEN@norskpen.no

Martin Uggla, Chairman

Östgruppen – Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights

Sweden

uggla@ostgruppen.se

Jana Karelova

People in Peril

Slovakia