{"id":2933,"date":"2018-08-11T21:08:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-11T19:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2018-09-05T21:54:35","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T19:54:35","slug":"belarus-cracks-down-on-journalists-and-publishers-as-oppressive-new-media-laws-bite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/?p=2933","title":{"rendered":"Belarus cracks down on journalists and publishers as oppressive new media laws bite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speciale rapporteur van OHCHR (VN Mensenrechten)\u00a0Mikl\u00f3s Haraszti voor Belarus maakt zich grote zorgen over de persvrijheid in Wit-Rusland. Op de website van de OHCHR is op 10 augustus 2018 de volgende verklaring<\/a> gepubliceerd.<\/p>\n

A wave of raids and arbitrary arrests targeting independent publishers and journalists in Belarus highlights oppressive new rules against internet media in the country, says the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, Mikl\u00f3s Haraszti.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis action is aimed at obliterating the remnants of journalistic independence in Belarus, and follows oppressive new laws passed in June against independent internet media,\u201d Haraszti said.<\/em><\/p>\n

On 7 and 8 August, the authorities searched premises and blocked the operation of several independent media outlets, among them the online portal Tut.by, and the only independent news agency in Belarus, BelaPAN.<\/em><\/p>\n

At least 18 journalists were arrested, including the Tut.by Editor-in-Chief, Maryna Zolatava, and journalists Ulyiana Babayed, Hanna Kaltyhina and Halina Ulasik. Belapan reporter Tatsyana Karavyanka was also detained. Employees of the media outlets were denied access to their offices.<\/em><\/p>\n

The searches and arrests were prompted by an alleged violation of the Penal Code, which criminalises illegal access to computer information which may cause significant harm. The new rules introduce liability for not obtaining state licences for any web activities, and not identifying all users, including those on social media.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing is the sadly customary bogus criminalization of independent journalists. This may simply be a case of journalists occasionally using each other\u2019s passwords to access the news service of the State-owned BelTA news agency.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegation of \u2018significant harm\u2019 is disingenuous, given that BelTA is amply financed by taxpayers and not even a fraction of its revenues comes from subscriptions,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/em><\/p>\n

Haraszti expressed particular concern about the arrest of Ms. Karavyanka, who has regularly reported on the Special Rapporteur\u2019s own findings, and has closely followed the concerns of UN human rights mechanisms regarding the situation in Belarus.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSilencing the last resources enabling Belarusians to learn about the UN\u2019s human rights concerns is especially egregious given the Government\u2019s claim of cooperation with the UN,\u201d Haraszti said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also a blatant violation of the country\u2019s obligation not to oppress its citizens for cooperating with the UN.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the sixth year of my mandate, the human rights situation in Belarus is actually getting worse. International vigilance must now be extended to the fate of those who keep the public informed,\u201d\u00a0 Haraszti concluded.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speciale rapporteur van OHCHR (VN Mensenrechten)\u00a0Mikl\u00f3s Haraszti voor Belarus maakt zich grote zorgen over de persvrijheid in Wit-Rusland. Op de website van de OHCHR is op 10 augustus 2018 de volgende verklaring gepubliceerd. A wave of raids and arbitrary arrests targeting independent publishers and journalists in Belarus highlights oppressive new rules against internet media in … Lees verder “Belarus cracks down on journalists and publishers as oppressive new media laws bite”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nieuws-belarus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2935,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2933\/revisions\/2935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}