During the 2013 Young Friends of the Earth Europe and Natur og Ungdom annual summer camps, 400 youth from across the globe showed their support to civil society in Belarus, as they take part in an international youth environmental camp in Lofoten, Norway. The youth made a video, saying the sentence “solidarity is stronger than repression’, in several languages.
The 400 activists from 27 different countries across the globe are using the opportunity to mark the International day of Solidarity with civil society of Belarus. Representatives from PiM (a youth environmental organization from Murmansk, Russia) have been participating in the camp to tell people about the situation in Belarus, where civil society are doing their best to offer alternatives to the repression of the current regime. They want a Belarus without death penalty, without unlawful arrests and militarised consciousness, open to the outside world, with a wide open space for freedom and solidarity.
This action is created as a demonstration of solidarity with civil society of Belarus and of moral support to human rights defenders and activists, who continue their work.
The 4th August 2013, on the second anniversary of arrest of well-known human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, The International Day of Solidarity with the Civil Society of Belarus will be held for the second time in many countries in the world.
“We will observe this day every year, until the situation of civil society in Belarus changes: until its authorities put an end to imprisoning people for human rights activities, until there is a guarantee of fundamental human rights: freedom of expression, assembly and association.” (Manifesto of the Solidarity Day)
Last year, on this day, events and actions were held in more than 18 countries, including Armenia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Germany, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Ukraine, the UK and the USA. The full list of participants, as well as the report of the action can be found on the website of the Solidarity Day.
This year the event is dedicated to humanists and dreamers of today, as well as to people and organisations that represent the Belarus of freedom and resistance.
For more information, contact:
Vitaly Servetnik +79052941063 vitservetnik@gmail.com
By.soli-day.org