Abuse of the criminal justice system in Belarus

Recommendation 1832 (2008)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 15 April 2008 (13th Sitting) (see Doc. 11464, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Christos Pourgourides). Text adopted by the Assembly on 15 April 2008 (13th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring to its Resolution 1606 (2008) on abuse of the criminal system in Belarus, invites the Committee of Ministers to:

1.1 urge the Belarusian authorities to:

1.1.1 repeal Law No. 71-3 of 15 December 2005 (so-called “anti-revolution law”), and in particular Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code criminalising activities of non-registered associations;

1.1.2 urgently introduce a moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty;

1.2 discuss ways and means of:

1.2.1 encouraging the Belarusian authorities to make structural changes to the criminal justice system in order to bring it into line with international human rights standards and principles of the rule of law and, in particular, to guarantee the independence of the judiciary, so as to ensure that detainees are promptly brought before a competent judge, and that judicial control over detention is introduced;

1.2.2 ensuring that the Belarusian authorities refrain in future from using the criminal justice system for political purposes;

1.2.3 co-ordinating assistance to the victims of such abuses and their families;

1.3 invite all member states of the Council of Europe to bring their influence to bear on the Belarusian authorities with a view to halting such abuses.