UN Special Rapporteurs are informed about the detentions near Minsk detention facility

Centre for Legal Transformation Lawtrend submitted the information about the arbitrary detention near the detention facility No.1 on Volodarskogo street in Minsk.

According to the letter, submitted by the Centre for Legal Transformation Lawtrend to Miklos Haraszti, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and Mr. Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on September 14 at around 1 p.m. a group of citizens who intended to spend a minute of silence near the detention facility number 1 on Volodarskogo street in Minsk were detained. The action was planned in memory of Igor Ptichkin who died under mysterious circumstances on August 4 in jail. Participants did not have time to carry out the action because of the police intervention. Among the detainees there were mostly relatives and friends of Igor Ptichkin. Also a human rights activist and journalists who attended the event were detained. The total number of detainees is 18 people.

Andrei Bondarenko is a human rights activist, head of the human rights NGO "Platform innovation", which deals with the issues of human rights in prisons. He was arrested at around 1p.m. and taken to the Moscovsky district Police Department where he was held for more than three hours.

Also, reporters of "Radio Freedom" Oleg Hruzdilovich and of "Nasha Niva" newspaper Irina Orehovskaya and Anna Bodyako, who covered the campaign, were arrested. They were taken to the Central district police station and released at around 4 p.m.

The names of four other detainees are Alexander Gavrish, Sergey Evmenov, Igor Koval and Victor Kotlyanik. They were also taken to the Central district police station. Till September 16 they remained in the status of detainees.

On 16 September the hearings were held in relation to 5 detainees. In the result, fines were imposed on them. The substance of the charges is unknown because the courts were closed to public: relatives and journalists were not allowed to the hearings. It is known that the court considered the cases on administrative offenses for participating in an unauthorized mass event.

“We believe that the actions of the police in relation to Andrei Bondarenko are aimed at preventing him from carrying out his human rights activities”, - is stated in the letter of the Centre for Legal Transformation. The human right fighters recall that arbitrary detention is incompatible with the obligations of the Republic of Belarus under Art. 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as with the provisions of Art. 6 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

“We believe that the detention of journalists, Oleg Hruzdilovich, Irina Orekhovskaya and Anna Bodyakowhile fulfilling of their professional duties is incompatible with the obligation of the Republic of Belarus to respect freedom of expression and information as guaranteed by Art. 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We believe that the detention of peaceful action’s participants, Alexander Gavrish, Sergei Evmenov, Igor Koval, Victor Kotlyanik and others, who did not break the public order is the violation of freedom of association as enshrined in Art. 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

 We call upon Mr. Miklos Haraszti, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rightsin Belarus, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mr. Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection  of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, with the request to undertake possible actions under their mandates, including but not limited to:

1. to draw attention to the persecution of Belarusian human rights defenders, in particular, of the “Platform innovation”;

2. to draw attention to the systemic preventing activities of journalists in Belarus;

3. to continue communication with the authorities of Belarus in order to prevent prosecution for human rights activities and for the dissemination of information on such activities;   

4. to continue to insist on getting the invitation from the Government to visit Belarus with the aim to learn in detail the situation  with human rights defenders and mass media in the country”, - is stated in the letter.