Arrest / Detention

Belarus

November 15, 2013

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Belarus.

Description of the situation:

TheObservatory was informed of the arrest and sentencing of Mr. AndreiBondarenko to five days of imprisonment. Mr. Bondarenko is the Directorof the human rights organisation “Platforma”, which monitors conditions ofdetention in Belarus.

Accordingto the information received, on November 14, 2013, Mr. Bondarenko was chargedby the Minsk Moscow District Court under Part 1 of Article 23.34 of theAdministrative Code (“organising and carrying out unauthorised activities”) andsentenced to five days of detention. He was appearing as a witness before thecourt on that day, on the basis of a subpoena related to a judicial case abouta peaceful gathering which had happened two months before.

Indeed,on September 14, 2013, 18 persons, including Mr. Bondarenko, were arrestedwhile they were holding a peaceful demonstration in front of pre-trialdetention facility n°1 on Volodarsky street in Minsk. They were celebrating thememory of 21 year-old detainee Igor Ptichkin, who died in this pretrialdetention facility under suspicious circumstances on August 4, 2013. Accordingto Mr. Bondarenko, the young man was beaten and looked like a old man onlyafter a few days spent in detention.

The Observatoryexpresses its concern about the arrest and detention of Mr. Bondarenko, andconsiders it as a means to sanction his human rights activities.

Actions requested:

Pleasewrite to the Belarusian authorities, urging them to :

i. Put an end to any kindof harassment - including at the judicial and administrative levels - againstMr. Bondareko, as well as against all other human rights defenders in Belarus;

ii. Release Mr. Bondarenko immediately andunconditionally since his detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioninghis human rights activities;

iii. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially:

- its Article 1, which states that “everyone hasthe right, individually and in association with others, to promote and tostrive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamentalfreedoms at the national and international levels”,

- its Article 6 (b) and (c), which states that“Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others […] asprovided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments,freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information andknowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms and [...] to study,discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice,of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and otherappropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”.

- and its Article 12.2, which provides that “theState shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration” ;

iv. Ensure in allcircumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordancewith international human rights standards and international instrumentsratified by the Belarusian Republic.

Addresses:

· President Aliaksandr Lukashenka,vul. Karla Marksa, 38, 220016 Minsk, Belarus, Fax : + 375 172 26 06 10 or + 375172 22 38 72, Email: contact@president.gov.by

· Minister of Foreign Affairs ofBelarus, Mr. Uladzimir Uladzimiravich Makei, vul. Lenin 19, 220030 Minsk, Tel: +375 17 327 29 22

· General Prosecutor, AlexanderKonyuk, vul. Internatsyjanalnaya. 22, 220050 Minsk, Belarus, Fax: + 375 17 22642 52

· Minister of Justice of Belarus,Mr. Oleg Slizhevsky, vul. Kalektarnaya, 10, 220004 Minsk, Belarus, Email kanc@minjust.by

· President of the Supreme Court ofBelarus, Mr. Valiantsin Alehavich Sukala, vul. Lenina, 28, 220030 Minsk,Belarus, Email: scjustrb@pmrb.gov.by

· Permanent Mission of Belarus tothe United Nations in Geneva, 15 avenue de la paix, 1211 Geneva 20,Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 748 24 51. Email: mission.belarus@ties.itu.int

· Embassy of Belarus in Brussels,192 avenue Molière, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Fax : + 32 2.340.02.87, Email : embbel@skynet.be

Please also write to thediplomatic mission or embassy of Belarus in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, November 15,2013

Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41(0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29