Judicial harassment of Mr. Sergei Kaspiarovich and Ms. Natalia Satsunkevich

Administrativeharassment

Belarus

December 3, 2015

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

Descriptionof the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicialharassment of Mr. Sergei Kaspiarovich and Ms. Natalia Satsunkevich,observer-volunteers at the joint "Viasna" human rights centre andBelarusian Helsinki Committee observation project, following a peacefuldemonstration that took place on November 24, 2015, in the centre of Minsk.

According to the information received, onNovember 24, 2015, Mr. Kaspiarovich and Ms. Satsunkevich, along with sevenparticipants and three journalists[1], were issued administrative reports based on article23.34 of the Administrative Code, which sanctions by a fine or administrativedetention the organisation and/or the participation in an unauthorised massevent as well as picketing.

On November 24, 2015, a peaceful protest was carried out in the streetsof Minsk to mark the nineteenth anniversary of the 1996 referendum, a pollhighly criticised both in Belarus and abroad for dramatically increasingPresident Lukashenka's powers by modifying several aspects of the Constitution.The protest was organised by the opposition leader and former politicalprisoner Mr. Mikalai Statkevich, and gathered around 100 people. Before theprotest, observers invited at the gathering in the framework of theabove-mentioned joint observation project were prepped according to the OSCEGuidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, wearing blue jackets marked“observer” as well as badges with a photo and their names to facilitate theirdistinction from participants by the police. Observers from Viasna and theHelsinki Committee monitoring the event did not engage in any activities duringthe protest, yet they were regarded as participants and issued administrativereports.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoingadministrative harassment of Mr. Sergei Kaspiarovich and Ms.Natalia Satsunkevich as well as other observers arrested during the protest, which only aims at sanctioning their peaceful humanrights activities.

The Observatory is more generally concerned bythese attempts by the Belarusian Government to curtail the freedom ofassociation, assembly, and expression of human rights defenders.

Actions requested :

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

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physicaland psychological integrity of Mr. Sergei Kaspiarovich et Ms. NataliaSatsunkevich as well as of the above-mentioned activists and journalists andall human rights defenders in Belarus;

ii. Put an end to all harassment, including at the administrative level,against Mr. Sergei Kaspiarovich and Ms. Natalia Satsunkevich as well as againstthe above-mentioned activists and journalists, andagainst all human rights defenders in Belarus.

iii. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with:

- Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually andin association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection andrealisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national andinternational levels”;

- its Article 12.1 which provides that “Everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to participate in peacefulactivities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms;”

- its Article 12.2 which states that “The State shall take all necessarymeasures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone,individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats,retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any otherarbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rightsreferred to in the present Declaration. “

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Belarus.

Addresses:

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

· GeneralProsecutor, Alexander Konyuk, vul. Internatsyjanalnaya. 22, 220050 Minsk,Belarus, Fax: + 375 17 226 42 52

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

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

· H.E.Mr. Mikhail Khvostov, Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nationsin Geneva, 15 avenue de la paix, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 74824 51. Email: mission.belarus@ties.itu.int

· H.E.Mr. Andreai Yeudachenka, Embassy of Belarus in Brussels, 192 avenue Molière,1050 Ixelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2.340.02.87, Email: belgium@mfa.gov.by

Please alsowrite to the diplomatic representations of Belarus in your respectivecountries.

[1] Theother individuals prosecuted are activists Mikalai Statkevich, UladzimirNiakliayeu, Maksim Viniarski, Ales Makayeu, Antos Zhylko, StanislauPaulinkovich, Andrei Davidovich, as well as journalists Dzmitry Halko (from Novy Čas), Halina Abakunchyk (from RadioSvaboda), and Katsiaryna Andreyeva (from Narodnaja Volya).