People in Need blows the whistle on fair-play violations in Belarus
Published: May 5, 2014 Reading time: 2 minutes
Hockey fans will receive fan hand-wavers with the inscription: I am a fan of human rights.
Prague, May 5th, 2014 – With the upcoming hockey championship, People in Need has launched a campaign on human rights violations in the host country of Belarus. The campaign will include the website belarusbench.com, a video spot, and hand wavers with the inscription: I am a fan of human rights in Belarus.
“The Belarusian regime will make every attempt to use the hockey championship to strengthen its position inside the country, just as it will try to create a false image of Belarus abroad. We dislike the fact the country is using the fans and guests of the championship for these means. The Belarusian authorities will only be showing them carefully prepared scenes, something like Potemkin villages,” says Rostislav Valvoda, head of the Eastern European People in Need program.
Through this campaign, the organization wishes to provide a broader spectrum of information not only to fans and hockey followers: “We’re not planning on trying to deter the fans from enjoying the hockey. We will be giving fans specially prepared fan hand-wavers with the campaign slogan and other useful information, which they can use as fans in Minsk’s stadiums,” continues Valvoda. People in Need will also send a hand-waver to all deputies and senators of the Czech Parliament. Fans will be sent this hand-waver by People in Need on request, and volunteers will also be giving them out at Prague airport. The organization will also provide the film entitled Belarusian Dream to those interested, which can be borrowed under the “Get Your Audience” project (more info here).
The “I am a Fan of Human Rights” campaign was created especially for People in Need by the creative group Družina, which works with creating public service campaigns.
How are human rights being violated in Belarus?
According to records of various human rights organizations, Belarus has imprisoned a total of almost two hundred political prisoners. At present, there are nine such prisoners in detention in the country. Prisoners are often beaten and tortured during interrogation. Registration of non-profit organizations is complicated and police crackdowns are carried out against already existing organizations. Any assembly larger than three people must gain official permission, which is difficult to acquire. Most media is fully controlled by the state and the remaining independent periodicals in the country are under constant pressure by authorities. Last year alone, 25 reporters were arrested as they had written about anti-regime protests taking place in the country.
People in Need in has been functioning in Belarus since 1998. It focuses especially on the support of independent civic initiatives of young people and aid to the families of political prisoners. Last year, People in Need supported ten families of political prisoners and also seven public campaigns of Belarusian initiatives that have pointed to problems concerning ecology, alternative transport in cities, independent literary criticism, prejudice against homosexuals and so on.
For more information, please contact:
Rostislav Valvoda, Center for Democracy and Human Rights for the People in Need Organization
Tel.: +420 608 527 312
mail: rostislav.valvoda@clovekvtisni.cz