Abuse of the criminal justice system in Belarus
- 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, recalling
its previous work regarding Belarus, in particular Resolutions 1371
(2004), 1372 (2004), 1482 (2006) and 1496 (2006), as well as Recommendations
1657 (2004) and 1734 (2006), deeply regrets the numerous politically
motivated abuses of the criminal justice system that have taken place
in recent years and are still taking place in the Republic of Belarus.
The Assembly welcomes the recent release of a large number of political
prisoners, but regrets all the more the Belarusian authorities’
persistent refusal to release Aleksandr Kozulin and the bringing
of fresh criminal proceedings against opposition activists.
2. Such abuses take different forms, including:
2.1 the enactment – in particular
through Law No. 71-3 of 15 December 2005 (the so-called “antirevolution
law”) – and the arbitrary application of specific provisions criminalising
legitimate, peaceful activities of opposition parties, non-governmental
organisations and independent media, in particular through arbitrary
legal action against members and activists of non-registered citizens’
groups, against organisers and participants of peaceful demonstrations,
and against journalists and opposition figures making critical comments
in public, including via the Internet;
2.2 arbitrary convictions of political opponents, following
unfair court proceedings, under general criminal provisions such
as embezzlement, fraud, counterfeit or tax evasion;
2.3 the failure, for political reasons, to properly investigate
and prosecute criminal acts committed by state agents against opposition
figures, including:
2.3.2 unelucidated deaths of independent journalists and foreign
diplomats;
2.3.3 acts of violence committed by security forces against
peaceful demonstrators;
2.4 the continued use of the death penalty and the particularly
cruel, secretive method of execution by gunshot, without informing
the condemned persons themselves or their families until the last
moment. Belarus is the last country on the European continent that
still implements the death penalty. The existence of the death penalty
excludes the extradition to Belarus of any person accused of a capital offence
by member states of the Council of Europe;
2.5 the restriction of the right of persons to free movement
through abuses of the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 643
of 17 December 2007 on simplifying exit procedures from the Republic
of Belarus.
3. The effects of the criminalisation of the activities of civic
groups not registered according to Article 193-1 of the Criminal
Code, brought into effect by the law of 15 December 2005, are aggravated
by restrictive administrative rules,and their arbitrary implementation,
governing the registration of associations. In this respect, the
Assembly also recalls the views adopted by the United Nations Human
Rights Committee on 24 July 2007, which found that the dissolution
of the Viasna Human Rights Centre violated the right of its members to
freedom of association and that they were entitled to an effective
remedy - including re-registration of their organisation and compensation
- and that Belarus was under an obligation to take steps to prevent
similar violations from occurring in the future.
4. The Assembly is outraged, in particular, at the arrests of
persons distributing copies of its own 2004 report on disappearances
in Belarus.
5. Persons abusively convicted for political reasons (paragraphs
2.1 and 2.2 above) must be recognised as political prisoners and
compensated for their suffering as soon as possible.
6. Officials ordering or participating in politically motivated
abuses of the criminal justice system must be held to account personally
for their responsibility regarding such abuses.
7. The Assembly is confident that the Republic of Belarus will
one day join the family of European states upholding human rights
and the rule of law, and that justice will be done, inter alia by
compensating victims and punishing perpetrators of the abuses described
above.
8. Meanwhile, the Assembly urges:
8.1 the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus to:
8.1.1 repeal Law No. 71-3 of 15 December
2005 (the so-called “anti-revolution law”), and in particular Article
193-1 of the Criminal Code, criminalising activities of non-registered associations;
8.1.2 urgently introduce a moratorium on executions and abolish
the death penalty;
8.2 the competent authorities to revoke or amend Presidential
Decree No. 643 of 17 December 2007 so as to curb its wrongful use;
8.3 judges, prosecutors and police officers in Belarus to
avoid, to the best of their ability, participating in abuses of
the criminal justice system, and to bring to bear their courage
and imagination in order to mitigate the effects of the abusive
legislation on its victims;
8.4 Belarusian and international human rights defenders to
keep a record, in a transparent and objective manner, of both the
victims and the perpetrators of politically motivated abuses of
the criminal justice system.
9. The Assembly further encourages:
9.1 the member states of the Council of Europe, through their
diplomatic representations in Minsk, and in collaboration with local
and international human rights defenders, to continue intervening
with the authorities on behalf of political prisoners and their
families, and to offer them temporary protection;
9.2 the European Union and the United States of America to
continue imposing targeted sanctions, such as visa bans or the freezing
of assets, on Belarusian officials responsible for serious human
rights abuses;
9.3 the international community to set up a mechanism for
assistance to victims of human rights violations in Belarus, bearing
in mind the following:
9.3.1 such
a mechanism could be governed by a working group involving local
and international human rights defenders, in Minsk or in a neighbouring
capital;
9.3.2 it is essential to provide those students who have been
expelled from Belarusian universities because of their participation
in anti-government demonstrations with an opportunity to continue
their education in Council of Europe member states;
9.3.3 the working group’s tasks could also include the identification,
in a fair and transparent manner, of officials responsible for abuses,
with a view to the imposition of targeted sanctions (paragraph 9.2);
9.4 the Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation
to intervene urgently with the authorities in Minsk on behalf of
political prisoners and other victims of politically motivated abuses.
