Human Rights Watch calls for release of Belarusian political prisoners

Recommendations for steps Belarus should be urged to take: release six prisoners, establish an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and amend the law on mass media.

These and other recommendations contained in a recent Human Rights Watch report on Belarus directed to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The UN Human Rights Council every four and a half years takes a periodic review of the human rights situation in all UN member states (193 countries), Radio Svaboda reports.

According to Human Rights Watch, Ihar Alinevich, Jauhen Vaskovich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artsem Prakapenka, Yury Rubtsou, and Mikalai Statkevich have the status of political prisoners.

As to improvement of the law on mass media in Belarus, Human Rights Watch notes:

"Amend the law on mass media to ensure it does not unduly restrict freedom of expression, in line with recommendations made by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. These include amending the legislation to remove the mandatory accreditation for freelance journalists cooperating with foreign media outlets, the extrajudicial procedure of blocking websites, and the obligatory registration of distributors of printed and broadcasting media".

The recommendations also include the liberalization of laws on public associations and mass measures.