(New York, NY/Geneva) — PEN America, alongside Human Rights House Foundation and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Lithuania in Geneva, will host a dynamic panel discussion on the state of press freedom and human rights in Belarus on Thursday, June 24. At the start of the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, with both Belarus and freedom of opinion and expression on the Council’s agenda, this online event will update states on the recent human rights violations and identify further concrete action to address the rapidly deteriorating situation for human rights in Belarus.
Panelists include the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Slovakia, Denmark, Estonia, and Latvia; U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland; EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore; UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus Anais Marin; Belarusian journalist Hannah Liubakova; representatives of civil society; and the mother of blogger Raman Pratasevich, who earlier this spring was detained after Belarus forced his commercial flight to land in Minsk. Additional panelists to be named at a later date.
WHAT:
Media Under Attack in Belarus
International Action Needed as Human Rights Crisis Intensifies
WHEN:
Thursday, June 24 at 1400 CEST/8:00am ET
WHERE:
Virtual (register here)
WHO:
Polina Sadovskaya, PEN America (chair)
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania
Anaïs Marin, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus
Natallia Pratasevich, mother of arrested blogger Raman Pratasevich
Hanna Liubakova, journalist and former Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellow
Taciana Niadbaj, Executive Director and Vice President, PEN Belarus
Matthew Jones, International Advocacy Officer, Human Rights House Foundation
Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, United States
Eamon Gilmore, European Union Special Representative for Human Rights
Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
Eva-Maria Liimet, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Estonia
Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia
Ingrid Brocková, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Slovakia
Zbigniew Rau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland
CONTACTS:
Dave Elseroad, Human Rights House Foundation
+41 78 344 36 18 | [email protected]
Stephen Fee, PEN America
+1 202 309 8892 | [email protected]
PEN America, Human Rights House Foundation, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Lithuania in Geneva are the event organizers. The event is co-sponsored by the U.S. Mission in Geneva, the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the UN Office at Geneva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Permanent Mission of the Slovak Republic to the UN Office in Geneva, the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the UN in Geneva, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Latvia to the UN Office in Geneva.