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SITUATION of HUMANRIGHTS in BELARUS in 2013

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SITUATION of HUMANRIGHTS in BELARUS in 2013 Human Rights Center “Viasna” SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS in BELARUS in 2013 REVIEW-CHRONICLE Minsk, 2014 SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN BELARUS IN 2013 REVIEW-CHRONICLE Compiled by: Tatsiana Reviaka Editor and author of the foreword: Valiantsin Stefanovich The book was prepared on the basis of monthly reviews of the situation of human rights in Belarus in 2013. Each of the monthly reviews includes the analysis of the most important events infl uencing the observance of human rights for the reported period, as well as the most eloquent and signifi cant facts of violations registered at the time. The review was prepared on the basis of personal appeals of victims of human rights violations, registered by human rights defenders and/or voiced in open sources of information. The book makes use of photos from the websites nn.bу, euroradio.fm, sva- boda.org, gazetaby.com, charter97.org and the archive of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”. FOREWORD In 2013, the situation with human rights in the country remained stably bad: the basic political and civil rights were extremely limited, rigid and authoritar- ian practices persisted, bringing an aggravation of systematic and systemic issues: - Eleven political prisoners — Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Autukhovich, Ales Bi- aliatski, Mikalai Dziadok, Andrei Haidukou, Eduard Lobau, Vasil Parfi ankou, Artsiom Prakapenka, Mikalai Statkevich, Yauhen Vaskovich and Uladzimir Yaromenak — continued to be held in jail; - the release of political prisoners Dzmitry Dashkevich, Aliaksandr Frant- skevich and Pavel Seviarynets took place in connection with the expiration of punishment and does not indicate a change in the policy of the authorities on the issue of political prisoners; - Despite the end of suspended sentences and exemption of a number of political prisoners from deterred punishment, various restrictions continued to apply to more than 20 individuals who had previously been prosecuted; - More than 50 people were brought to administrative responsibility in the form of arrest for the peaceful exercise of their civil rights, or were subjected to arbitrary detention; - death sentences were still issued; - the authorities continued the pressurization of independent journalists, including their detention by law enforcement agencies for exercising their pro- fessional duties; - we registered cases of torture and other inhuman treatment, including in respect of persons who are kept in penitentiary institutions; - in some cases, the legislative process was non-public, and the bills were not available for public discussion; - the Belarusian authorities continued ignoring the human rights mecha- nisms of the UN and their international commitments in the fi eld of human rights; Politically motivated persecution: main trends of the year Despite the overall decline in politically motivated criminal and adminis- trative prosecution as compared to previous years, no positive trends and dynamics suggesting an improvement or positive expectations in the short term were observed in this area. Quantitative reduction can be explained by a signifi cant decrease in social and political activity and the absence of the elec- tion campaigns in 2013, rather than by changes in the government policies. [ 3 SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN BELARUS IN 2013 The main indicator of the lack of progress is the unsolved problem of politi- cal prisoners, as well as the phenomenon of politically motivated prosecution (both criminal and administrative). After the liberation of Dzmitry Dashkevich, Aliaksandr Frantskevich and Pavel Seviarynets, at the end of the year the country held eleven political prisoners — Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Autukhovich, Ales Bialiatski, Mikalai Dzia- dok, Andrei Haidukou, Eduard Lobau, Vasil Parfi ankou, Artsiom Prakapenka, Mikalai Statkevich, Yauhen Vaskovich and Uladzimir Yaromenak. It should be noted that the release of Dz. Dashkevich, A. Frantskevich and P. Seviarynets took place solely in connection with the completion of their sentences, while the position of the offi cial Minsk with regard to the issue of political prisoners remained unchanged. The authorities continued denying the existence of political prisoners in the country, noting that if “the convicts, whose release is demanded by the West” had written personal appeals for clemency, they would have been released. It was repeatedly stated by Presi- dent Aliaksandr Lukashenka and Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei. In 2013, the court released from further punishment Iryna Khalip and Ul- adzimir Niakliayeu (both of whom were sentenced to two years in prison with determent of sentences) in connection with the protests of December 19, 2010. The terms of conditional imprisonment against other defendants in the case, A. Dzmitryieu, A. Fiaduta, S. Martsaleu and V. Rymasheuski, came to an end, too, as well as the term of personal restraint without sending to a penitentiary for Dz. Miadzvedz, and journalist A. Poczobut (sentenced for defaming the President). However, all kinds of restrictions continued to apply to more than 20 persons convicted for political reasons, who were released without a previous convic- tion. These restrictions (preventive surveillance and supervision) are a serious method to control their political activity by the security services. The imprison- ment of V. Parfi ankou and U. Yaromenak for violating the rules of preventive surveillance are eloquent examples of the use of such limitations. It should be noted that according to the current legislation, persons with a conviction are not eligible to be nominated as candidates in elections at all levels. The situation of political prisoners caused great concern. Four prisoners, Mikalai Autukhovich, Mikalai Dziadok, Mikalai Statkevich and Yauhen Vasko- vich, continued to serve punishment in strict isolation in prisons, to which they were transferred from penal colonies due to “violations of the internal regula- tions”. During the year, there were regular reports about the placement of po- litical prisoners in solitary confi nement and various provocations against them on the part of the administrations of the penitentiary institutions, whereas all complaints about such treatment weren’t considered on their merits either by the Prosecutor’s Offi ce or by the Department of Corrections of the MIA. Most of the prisoners were assigned the status of “repeated violators of the regime”, 4 ] SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN BELARUS IN 2013 which deprives them of the possibility of early release or release on parole un- der the law on amnesty. Vice-President of the International Federation for Hu- man Rights and Chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski, sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment, was not an exception. He also has the status of a repeated violator of the internal regulations and various disciplinary actions have been imposed on him. The imprisoned human rights defender is kept in strict isolation from the outside world (during the year he had only two short meetings with relatives), and within the colony: the administration limits his contacts with other prisoners, putting pressure on them for any contacts with A. Bialiatski and threatening with various disciplinary measures. Such treatment clearly highlights the special attitude of the authorities to these prisoners and proves their de facto recognition as political prisoners, despite the public denial of the existence of political prisoners in the country. Much attention of the public and human rights defenders was attracted by the criminal case against a 23-year-old resident of Navapolatsk, Andrei Haidu- kou, charged with high treason. There was no complete and accurate informa- tion, the details of the case were concealed from the people and Haidukou’s lawyer had to sign the undertaking not to disclose any information related to the case. During the hearing, which was held behind closed doors, the Vitsebsk Regional Court reclassifi ed the charges against A. Haidukou to Part 1 of Art. 14 and Art. 356-1 of the Criminal Code (attempt to establish coopera- tion with a special service, a security authority or intelligence service of a for- eign state) and sentenced him to 1.5 years of imprisonment. During the inves- tigation and the trial, there were violations of the principle of presumption of innocence, the right to protection and hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. Even before the appeal of A. Haidukou was considered, the largest state-owned newspaper “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” printed some materials of the criminal case. This caused a legitimate criticism of the Belarusian human rights community and was qualifi ed as a violation of the rights of the accused. This fact clearly demonstrated the political motivation in this case. A great public interest was aroused by the civil proceedings for involuntary hospitalization and psychiatric treatment of Dr. Ihar Pastnou, after several video messages that contained criticism of the state of medicine in the Vitsebsk region were posted online. In August, the Vitsebsk District Court in a closed session satisfi ed the appeal of the Vitsebsk Regional Clinical Center for Psychiatry and Addiction (where Mr. Pastnou worked). The court session was held with serious violations of the principles of a fair trial. The verdict did not provide suffi cient jus- tifi cation for the consideration of the case in the absence of Mr. Pastnou; it did not specify why exactly he was dangerous for the society and for himself and why leaving him without medical help could infl ict substantial harm. The
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