FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY IN POST-SOVIET ST ATES REPORT Belarus • Moldova • Russia • Ukraine 2016-2017 2017 Content: Freedom of Assembly in Post-Soviet states. Report on Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine – 2016-2017. By ed. Eugene Krapyvin, Serhii Bahlai – Kyiv, Expert group “Police under control”, 2017. – 56 p. Preface....................................................................................................................................4 Belarus (Dzmitry Charnych) Authors: I. Summary.................................................................................................................................................8 Dzmitry Charnych (Belarus) – coordinator of legal programs, Belarusian Helsinki II. Full Report.............................................................................................................................................8 Committee, Human Rights Center «Viasna» 2.1. Legal Framework.........................................................................................................................8 2.2. Demonstrative cases of recent years: review.........................................................................10 Alexandru Postika (Moldova) – lawyer, head of monitoring on democratic processes 2.3. New Trends.................................................................................................................................15 program, Promo-LEX Association III. Recommendations...........................................................................................................................16 Alexey Kozlov (Russia) – expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group on freedom of assembly, PhD Moldova (Alexandru Postika) Serhii Bahlai (Ukraine) – analyst of the Expert group “Police under control” I. Summary...............................................................................................................................................20 II. Full Report..........................................................................................................................................22 Editors – Eugene Krapyvin, Serhii Bahlai 2.1. Legal Framework.......................................................................................................................22 Design, page layouts – Ivan Yurchyk 2.2. Demonstrative cases of recent years: review......................................................................25 III. Recommendations...........................................................................................................................30 Russia (Alexey Kozlov) I. Summary...............................................................................................................................................34 II. Full Report...........................................................................................................................................34 2.1. Legal Framework......................................................................................................................34 2.2. Demonstrative cases of recent years: review......................................................................36 2.3. Use of force, illegal arrests, disproportionate restriction This report presents the main trends in the practical implementation of the right to freedom of of peaceful assemblies.....................................................................................................................39 peaceful assembly in recent years in four countries of the post-soviet states: Belarus, Moldova, Russia 2.4. New Trends...............................................................................................................................41 and Ukraine. III. Recommendations...........................................................................................................................42 In recent years, protest movements have intensified in the post-soviet states – the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine (2013-2014); anti-corruption protests in Russia (2017) and Moldova (2015); unproportional activity of Law-Enforcement agencies in Belarus in preparation for the annual action Ukraine (Serhii Bahlai) «Freedom Day» (2017) – which raised new challenges for the government, whose duty is to ensure I.Summary.....................................................................................................................................46 the right to peaceful assembly. II. Full Report.........................................................................................................................................46 The material will benefit everyone who is interested in the issues of compliance with international 2.1. Legal Framework.......................................................................................................................46 human rights standards in sphere of peaceful gatherings and role of Law-Enforcement agencies on 2.2. Demonstrative cases of recent years: review.......................................................................50 guarantee public order during them. 2.3. Use of force, illegal arrests, disproportionate restriction The report was prepared specifically for the annual Conference of the Office for Democratic Institutions of peaceful assemblies......................................................................................................................53 and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2.4. New Trends.................................................................................................................................54 Warsaw in 2017. III. Recommendations...........................................................................................................................55 -4- -5- country, which is a new challenge for law enforcement agencies, including in ensuring the right to Preface peaceful assembly. This report is an attempt to briefly present the main trends in the practical implementation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in recent years. It was important for the authors of the materials presented in the report to cover key types of government reactions to citizens’ activities, Eugene Krapyvin, to give examples of successful peaceful assemblies held by activists, as well as examples of meetings lawyer, expert of the Expert group “Police under control” whose participants faced problems in realizing their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The main focus of this report is on mechanisms that actually restrict the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, Serhii Bahlai, formal and informal practices of law enforcement agencies while ensuring public order for peaceful analyst of the Expert group “Police under control” protests. The final part of each report contains recommendations that the authors provide to the authorities to improve the situation with freedom of peaceful assembly. Belarus The situation with the realization of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly sharply deteriorated. The authorities, trying to suppress protest street activity, again began to resort to detentions and arrests of participants of meetings. The culmination of the spring of 2017 was the hard crackdown of the annual mass event «Freedom Day». More than 500 people were detained, about 200 were subjected to administrative arrest for a period of 2 to 25 days. Russia The criminalization of the protest continues: the legislation is moving toward the creation of lists of undesirable and unreliable, which, probably, will soon be attracted simply for being in these lists. Legislative changes in recent years, especially the so-called « Package of Yarovaya «, are a serious attempt to equate the authorities’ criticism not with extremism, but with terrorism. Detentions on single pickets, subsequent fines, and sometimes arrests have become a nationwide practice. Moldova Strikes, marches and other kinds of mass events became the norm in the center of Chisinau. The most significant mass actions broke out in the spring of 2015, the reason for their conduct was the growing corruption. Most of the protests in the past three years have been peaceful. The police were trained in organizing and holding peaceful assemblies and were adequately provided with respect to equipment and logistics. At the same time, there were acts and omissions, which can also be seen as limiting freedom of peaceful assembly, several cases were recorded when the police reacted disproportionately to the threats that emerged during a particular peaceful assembly. Ukraine The number of claims for banning meetings is also decreasing, as is the percentage of «prohibitive» court decisions. The creation in 2015 of the National Police, as a separate executive body, has become a significant step towards reducing political pressure on the law enforcement system. Law enforcement agencies have become less likely to involve organizers and participants in peaceful assemblies in administrative or criminal proceedings. At the same time, due to the socio-economic situation and military actions, the number of non-peaceful assemblies increased with the use of violence by both the police and protesters. In general, there is an escalation of violence in the Belarus (Dzmitry Charnych) coordinator of legal programs, Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Center «Viasna» -8- -9- of holding the meetings. The law creates a complex procedure for adhering to a rigid and time- I. Summary consuming procedure for obtaining