Svetlana Tikhanovskaya talks democracy support with IMS and Danish CSOs

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader and human rights activist, receives a peace prize from a Danish newspaper and talked to IMS and other Danish CSOs about the ongoing violations of human rights in Belarus.

By September, the UN had received more than 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty as well as some 6,700 people detained, arbitrarily arrested and hastily sentenced – among them many journalists and media workers. Since these accounts became clear, IMS has been pushing for the international community to react, focusing on safety of journalists and access to reliable information.

During Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s visit, she met with The Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod to talk about the current situation in Belarus, which was ignited back in August by the populations’ disbelief in the results of the Presidential election. IMS’ executive director Jesper Højberg and several other Danish CSOs were invited to attend the conversation about international support for Belarus’ people and civil society.

The Belarusian opposition leader maintained that the international community’s involvement in the situation in the country is definitely called-for: “We appreciate all the support from the European Union,” she said in one interview, and in another elaborated: “Standing up for human rights investigations is not to interfere with internal affairs. It’s not politics. It’s about people’s health and life.”

Local media’s role in ensuring justice and accountability

Later, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya attended a conference at DIGNITY – Danish Insitute Against Torture, where she was invited to discuss how Danish CSOs can support the upholding of human rights in Belarus.

At the conference, Gulnara Akhundova, head of IMS Global Response, gave a presentation that emphasised the importance of local media in this regard: 

“Despite all the crackdowns and ongoing repression, the independent media in Belarus have found their ways to produce, distribute, and most importantly, sustain professional journalism. This has contributed to people being informed, hungry for freedom and change. We see that people are demanding political change – like the journalists who have been working under pressure and restrictions for more than two decades”.

Gulnara Akhundova encouraging international support and cross-cutting collaborations to support Belarus’ population, civil society and independent media at DIGNITY (Photo: Momena Hatami, DIGNITY)

The press freedom violations not only take place on the frontlines during protests. The regime is also trying to create an information vacuum through severe internet blackouts, shutdowns of independent websites and crackdowns on print media.

To counter these violations, Gulnara Akhundova provided a list of recommendations for the international community:  

  • Offer long-term rehabilitation assistance for journalists to ensure that they are capable of and willing to continue their journalistic work
  • Provide emergency funding to trusted local media
  • Equip the editorial offices whose equipment has been destroyed or lost  
  • Activate international human rights mechanisms, instruments and alliances. Belarusian and international NGOs should work together, uniting different areas of work and of expertise – for example, media rights organisations joining forces with anti-torture organisations
  • Keep spreading the word about the develpments in Belarus to international media in order to maintain a high level of interest. Support the documentation of human rights violations and make an effort to present and package it to make the information accessible, interesting and easy to publish
  • Invest in internet media platforms and apps now. They have become a very important source of independent information in Belarus for the population and civil society
  • Develop secure channels for delivery of donor’s assistance
  • Increase the efforts of international advocacy and solidarity to support the Belarusian’s fight for a democratic society