Conviction of two members of Human Rights Center “Viasna” and the Head of the Human Rights Center “Legal Assistance to the Population”

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URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY

New information

BLR 001 / 0317 / OBS 027.1

Conviction/ Arbitrary detention

Belarus

March 24,2017

The Observatory forthe Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about theconviction of Messrs. Leanid Sudalenka[1]and Anatolii Poplavnyi, membersof the Gomel chapter of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and of the arbitrarydetention of the latter, as well as of the conviction of Mr. Oleg Volchek,Head of the Human Rights Center “Legal Assistance to the Population”[2].

According to the information received, on March 17, 2017 the CentralnyDistrict Court of Gomel city found Messrs. Leanid Sudalenka and AnatoliiPoplavnyi guilty of non-compliance with the legal requirements on theorganisation and conducting of mass events under Article 23.34 of the Code ofAdministrative Offences in connection with ademonstration against the Presidential Decree No. 3 held on February 19, 2017in Gomel (see background information). As a result, Mr. Leanid Sudalenka wasgiven a warning and Anatolii Poplavnyi was sentenced to ten days ofadministrative detention.

Furthermore, on March 23, 2017, the Sovetskii District Court of Gomelsentenced Anatolii Poplavnyi to five days of administrative detention forviolating the Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences inconnection with his participation to a demonstration against PresidentialDecree No. 3 on March 12, 2017, in Rogachev.

Other human rights defenders have faced similar harassment forparticipating in mass demonstrations that have been ongoing for more than amonth in different cities of Belarus in protest to the Presidential Decree No. 3 imposing atax on unemployment (see background information).

On March 21, 2017, the Frunzensky District Court of Minsk sentenced Mr.Oleg Volchek to thirteen days of administrative detention under Article 23.34of the Code of Administrative Offences forparticipation in the unauthorised march protesting Presidential Decree No. 3“on February 17, 2017 in Minsk where he monitored the assembly and providedlegal advice to participants[3].The judgment against Mr. Oleg Volchek has been handed down in absentia.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concerns asthe conviction of the three human rights defenders appear to be linked to theirhuman rights activities opposing Presidential Decree No. 3 “On the preventionof dependency on social aid” which in violation of international human rightslaw sanctions unemployment by imposing a penalty ranging from a fee toimprisonment on Belarusian citizens who have worked less than a certain numberof days.

Therefore, the Observatory urges Belarusianauthorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Anatolii Poplavnyi and to put an endto all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Anatolii Poplavnyi, Oleg Volchek andLeanid Sudalenka .

Background information:

In April 2015,President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenka signed the Presidential Decree No. 3“On the prevention of dependency on social aid” that obliges citizens to work morethan 183 days a year or to pay a special duty to finance governmentexpenditures. Non-payment or partial payment of such a levy entailsadministrative responsibility in the form of a fine or administrative arrest.Thus, stimulation of employment is sought through forced employment and thethreat of short-term imprisonment rather than through the implementation ofcompetitive salaries, social benefits and guarantees.

Throughout the country, protests have erupted to oppose the PresidentialDecree. On February 19, 2017, protests gathering nearly 4,000 citizens tookplace in Gomel where members of “Viasna” Leanid Sudalenka and AnatoliiPoplavnyi were monitoring the peaceful assembly and providing citizens withlegal information.

In addition, Mr. Leanid Sudalenka has drafted and submitted tocourts more than 200 complaints on behalf of citizens against the provisions ofthe Decree in response to notifications that citizens received in the beginningof the year 2017 urging them to pay the fee. Mr. Leanid Sudalenka was alsothe first lawyer bringing a successful claim against the fee, setting aprecedent for approximately half a million Belarusians who received anotification to pay a fee to the State. As a result, he was publicly named bythe authorities the “lawyer of spongers”.

The ongoing peaceful protests were massively repressed with hundreds ofprotesters detained[4].In Belarus, administrative detention in conditions amounting to ill-treatmentis used a tool of repression against any form of dissent[5].

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Belarus, urging them to:

i. Immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Anatolii Poplavnyi;

ii. Put an endto any form of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Anatolii Poplavnyi, Oleg Volchek and LeanidSudalenka as well as all human rights defenders in Belarus;

iii. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychologicalintegrity of Messrs. Anatolii Poplavnyi,Leanid Sudalenka and Oleg Volchek as well as all human rightsdefenders in Belarus;

iv. Comply with all their international obligations torespect the exercise of the citizens' right to peaceful assembly;

v. Comply with theprovisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, inparticular with its Articles 1, 2, 5 and 12.2;

vi. Ensure in allcircumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordancewith international human rights standards and international instrumentsratified by Belarus.

Addresses :

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

· General Prosecutor, Alexander Konyuk, Belarus, Fax: + 375 17 226 42 52

· Minister of Justice of Belarus, Mr. Oleg Slizhevsky, Email:kanc@minjust.by, Fax: + 375 17 200 86 87

· President of the Supreme Court of Belarus, Mr. Valiantsin AlehavichSukala, Belarus, Email: scjustrb@pmrb.gov.by

· Administration of the Central District Court of Gomel, Tel/Fax: +375 23277 68 77, Email: centr-gomel@court.by

· H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Mission of Belarus to the UnitedNations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 748 24 51. Email:mission.belarus@ties.itu.int

· H.E. Mr. Aleksandr Mikhnevich, Embassy of Belarus in Brussels, Fax: + 322.340.02.87, Email: belgium@mfa.gov.by

Please also write to the diplomaticrepresentations of Belarus in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva, March 24, 2017

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu , the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergencyline:

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

[1] Leanid Sudalenka is a human rights lawyer and the head of the human rights NGO“Justice Initiative” in Gomel.

[2] The Human Rights Center “Legal Assistance to the Population”is providing legal assistance to citizens on issues of labour, housing andother civil and human rights related disputes.

[3] The Human Rights Center “Legal Assistance to the Population” has sent its legalexpertise related to the Decree No. 3 and its non-compliance with internationallaw and the Constitution of Belarus to the International Labor Organisation,the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus MiklósHarastzi, to diplomatic missions and international human rightsorganisations. Lawyers of "Legal Assistance to the Population"have provided citizens affected by the Decree No. 3 with more than 1000 probono remote legal consultations and more than 130 people have received legalassistance during personal consultation.

[4] "Belarus crackdown: more than 200 arrested or detained in two weeks",March 17, 2017, https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/belarus/belarus-crackdown-more-than-200-arrested-or-detained-in-two-weeks

[5] On arbitrary “administrative” detention in Belarus and conditions of detention:
“Arbitrary Preventive Detention of Activists in Belarus”,
https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/belarus/16113-release-of-a-report-arbitrary-preventive-detention-of-activists-in-belarus