A year on from the presidential elections in Belarus over 30,000 people have been detained in violation of their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in detention are widespread. Hundreds of civil society activists, human rights defenders, protest participants and even bystanders have faced unfounded politically motivated prosecution and are either in prison or under house arrest. Furthermore, in July the government intensified an already ruthless attack on civil society, arbitrarily closing around 50 civil society organizations almost overnight.
