{"id":19361,"date":"2025-01-25T17:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T17:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/communique-de-presse-pour-la-journee-mondiale-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T17:22:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T17:22:39","slug":"press-statement-on-the-international-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/press-statement-on-the-international-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Press statement on the International Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>International Day for Lawyers in Danger 2025: Focus on the alarming situation of lawyers in Belarus<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>24 January 2025 (date)\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 On the International Day for Lawyers in Danger, 24 January 2025,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/\">the International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD)<\/a>\u00a0is focusing on the dramatic situation of lawyers in Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>Belarus has been the scene of intense repression against political opponents, journalists and human rights activists since 1994, under the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko. In this context, lawyers, who are key pillars in the protection of fundamental freedoms, are being systematically targeted.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>A threatened profession operating under a repressive regime<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Arbitrary arrests, forced exile, lack of independence<\/em><\/strong>: in Belarus, lawyers who defend political activists or opponents are subjected to a series of repressive measures:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At least<strong>11<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>lawyers<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>are facing criminal charges;<\/li>\n<li><strong>6 lawyers<\/strong>are currently in prison;<\/li>\n<li><strong>4 lawyers<\/strong>are reported to have been tortured while in detention;<\/li>\n<li>At least<strong>139 lawyers<\/strong>\u00a0have been deprived of their right to practise their profession;<\/li>\n<li>There are currently<strong>fewer than 1,600 lawyers practising<\/strong>\u00a0in Belarus,\u00a0<strong>compared with 2,200 in 2021<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Despite these threats, Belarusian lawyers continue to defend human rights and represent the voices silenced by the regime.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>International mobilisation to support Belarusian lawyers<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 2025 International Day for Lawyers in Danger calls on citizens, international organisations and bar associations around the world to\u00a0<strong>speak out against the abuses<\/strong>\u00a0committed against lawyers in Belarus and to\u00a0<strong>support initiatives<\/strong>\u00a0aimed at strengthening the defence of fundamental rights in this country.<\/p>\n<p>As every year on this occasion, the OIAD has launched a campaign providing you with a set of awareness-raising tools available on our website:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/2025-belarus\/\">https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/2025-belarus-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Multilingualbrochure<\/strong>\u00a0(French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Belarusian and Russian), including powerful testimonies from Lawyers in Danger;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobilisation kit<\/strong>\u00a0with a model letter and practical resources to help organisations get involved;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Posters and visuals<\/strong>\u00a0for social networks and rallies;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Banner\u00a0<\/strong>for free use<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to amplify the message.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>How can you get involved?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These tools are available to anyone who wants to join the campaign. We also encourage Bar Associations, organisations and individuals to organise events, conferences or rallies in support of our colleagues in Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>To find out more or to share your initiatives, please contact us at the following address:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:contact@protect-lawyers.org\">contact@protect-lawyers.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Together, let\u2019s take action to defend Belarusian lawyers!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The OIAD remains determined to speak out on behalf of persecuted lawyers and to mobilise the international community. On this symbolic day, let us reaffirm our solidarity and our commitment to justice and human rights.<\/p>\n<p>E-mail:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:contact@protect-lawyers.org\">contact@protect-lawyers.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Website:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/\">https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/the-observatory\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><u>The OIAD has 41 active members<\/u><\/em><em>:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>France<\/em><\/strong><em>: CNB, Bars: Aix-en-Provence, Hauts-de-Seine, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg, Tours<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Spain<\/em><\/strong><em>: Consejo General de la Abogac\u00eda Espa\u00f1ola, Ilustres Colegios de Abogados: Barcelona, Bizkaia, Madrid, Talavera, Pamplona<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Italy<\/em><\/strong><em>: Consiglio Nazionale Forense, Ordini degli Avvocati: Bologna, Brescia, Messina, Milano, Modena, Monza, Napoli, Padova, Roma, Rovereto, Torino, Verona, Vicenza<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Germany<\/em><\/strong><em>: Bars: Hamm, Cologne<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Switzerland<\/em><\/strong><em>: Bars : Geneva, Neuch\u00e2tel<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Belgium<\/em><\/strong><em>: Brussels Bar<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Turkey<\/em><\/strong><em>: Diyarbakir Bar<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Cameroon<\/em><\/strong><em>: Cameroon Bar<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)<\/em><\/strong><em>: Lualaba Bar Association<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Mexico<\/em><\/strong><em>: Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados M\u00e9xico<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>And 17 associate members<\/u><\/em><em>: Afghanistan Independent Bar Association in Exile, Avocats Europ\u00e9ens D\u00e9mocrates, ASF France, Berliner Anwaltsverein e.V, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, Conf\u00e9rence des B\u00e2tonniers, CCBE, D\u00e9fense sans Fronti\u00e8res \u2013 Avocats Solidaires, Endangered Lawyers \u2013 Avvocati Minacciati, FNUJA, IDHBP, Lawyers for Lawyers, SAF, UJA Aix-en-Provence, The Arrested Lawyers Initiative, Union des Jeunes Avocats de Marseille, Association des Juristes Progressistes de Gen\u00e8ve<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>International Day for Lawyers in Danger 2025: Focus on the alarming situation of lawyers in Belarus 24 January 2025 (date)\u00a0\u2013 On the International Day for Lawyers in Danger, 24 January 2025,\u00a0the International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD)\u00a0is focusing on the dramatic situation of lawyers in Belarus. Belarus has been the scene of intense repression [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19361"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19369,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19361\/revisions\/19369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}