Source: www.forum18.org
Date: September 2, 2022
If Parliament approves a draft Law, individuals will be stripped of the
possibility to complain to the UN Human Rights Committee about violations
of their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Nazaruk alleged "arbitrary expansion"
of the Committee's powers. Human rights groups warn this "will close one of
the last remaining opportunities to seek justice for human rights
violations". In 2021, the Committee found the regime violated Valentin
Borovik's rights when it fined him for leading an unregistered Pentecostal
community.
BELARUS: Closing "one of the last remaining opportunities to seek justice"
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Olga Glace, Forum 18
Individuals from Belarus are likely to be stripped of the possibility to
complain to the United Nations Human Rights Committee about violations of
their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. The Council of Ministers has proposed this in a draft Law expected
to be considered in the lower chamber of Parliament in the autumn. Among
the many complaints from Belarus to the UN Committee, some have concerned
violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
In 2021, in its latest decision related to freedom of religion or belief,
the UN Human Rights Committee found that the regime had violated the rights
of Pentecostal leader Valentin Borovik when it fined him nine months'
minimum wages for leading an unregistered religious community (see below).
Two separate complaints from Jehovah's Witnesses are among those pending
with the UN Committee. Dmitry Mozol lodged a complaint in November 2021
after being fined four months' average wages for refusing on grounds of
conscience to undergo nearly four weeks of reservist military training.
Earlier, Andrei Kuzin lodged a complaint after a court fined him more than
a month's average wage for leading a Jehovah's Witness meeting on his
property (see below).
In earlier decisions, the UN Committee found that the rights of an executed
prisoner's family had been violated when the regime refused to release the
body for burial. In another case, the UN Committee found that the rights of
two Hare Krishna devotees had been violated when the regime refused to
register a nationwide Hare Krishna organisation as well as a local
community in Minsk (see below).
Seven local human rights groups condemned the proposed withdrawal from the
Optional Protocol and called for it to be abandoned. They noted that
"although the authorities consistently ignored the Committee's decisions,
the state was under an obligation to respond to the Committee, explaining
the relevant issue and providing information on measures taken" (see
below).
A further appeal from five of the seven human rights groups - joined by
international human rights groups - warned that the move "will close one of
the last remaining opportunities to seek justice for human rights
violations in Belarus" (see below).
A Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Nazaruk complained of what he called the
"arbitrary expansion of the powers of the Human Rights Committee, creating
additional unreasonable obligations for the state, which it did not accept
when joining this act" (see below).
Member of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on Human
Rights, Ethnic Relations and the Media Lyudmila Zdorikova is overseeing
passage of the draft Law. Her secretary refused to put Forum 18 through to
her to ask why the regime plans to remove the right of individuals to lodge
complaints to the UN Committee when their human rights have been violated.
"We do not give any comments on this issue," the secretary said (see
below).
Asked if there is any chance the authorities will change their mind and
listen to the human rights defenders, one human rights defender who has
been involved in freedom of religion or belief cases told Forum 18 that it
would be "a miracle".
Belarus is not a member of the Council of Europe or party to the European
Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, so individuals and
organisations cannot bring cases to the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg.
Draft Law to end complaints to UN Human Rights Committee
On 5 August, the Council of Ministers sent to the House of Representatives,
the lower chamber of Parliament, a draft Law on the denunciation by the
Republic of Belarus of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, according to the parliamentary website.
If adopted by both chambers of Parliament and signed into law, Belarus
would then inform the UN Secretary General and cease to be a party to the
Optional Protocol three months later.
This would remove the possibility for individuals from Belarus to complain
to the UN Human Rights Committee about violations of their rights under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), including
over the right to freedom of religion or belief.
On 19 August, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the House of
Representatives on Human Rights, National Relations and the Media, a Deputy
Foreign Minister Igor Nazaruk, tried to justify the move.
"Among the reasons for this step is the arbitrary expansion of the powers
of the Human Rights Committee, creating additional unreasonable obligations
for the state, which it did not accept when joining this act," the House of
Representatives website cited Nazaruk as telling the meeting the same day.
"At the same time, Belarus retains its participation in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights itself."
It appears that the Law will require only one reading in the House of
Representatives before being sent to Parliament's upper chamber, the
Council of the Republic. The draft Law is due to be considered at the House
of Representatives ninth session, which is scheduled to begin on 20
September and likely to last for most of the rest of 2022. No date appears
to have yet been set for the House of Representatives to consider the draft
Law.
The regime does not allow opposition parties to win election to Parliament.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe found that the
November 2019 elections for the House of Representatives "did not meet
important international standards for democratic elections"
(https://www.osce.org/odihr/el
Belarus acceded to the ICCPR Optional Protocol in 1992. The Human Rights
Committee has considered more than 175 complaints from Belarus
(https://ccprcentre.org/databa
than one complainant - since 2000. The Committee is still considering other
complaints from Belarus. Some of these relate to violations of individuals'
rights to freedom of religion or belief (see below).
"We do not give any comments on this issue"
Member of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on Human
Rights, Ethnic Relations and the Media Lyudmila Zdorikova is listed as
overseeing passage of the draft Law.
On 31 August, Forum 18 called Zdorikova to find out why Belarus intends to
withdraw from the Optional Protocol. However, her secretary refused to
comment or transfer the call to her superior. "We do not give any comments
on this issue, you have to ask somebody else," the secretary told Forum 18
before putting the phone down.
Also on 31 August, the secretary at the House of Representatives
Information and Analysis Department asked for questions to be sent in
writing. Forum 18 sent an official enquiry before the start of the working
day of 1 September. Forum 18 received no response by the middle of the
working day in Minsk of 2 September.
The phone of the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee
on Human Rights, National Relations and the Media, Gennady Davydko, went
unanswered each time Forum 18 called between 31 August and 2 September.
At the Foreign Ministry, the secretary referred all questions to the press
service, but the phone went unanswered each time Forum 18 called on 1 and 2
September.
Law "will close one of the last remaining opportunities to seek justice for
human rights violations"
Lawyer Natallia Matskevich – who was expelled from the Bar in October
2021 after defending opposition leaders and now teaches in neighbouring
Lithuania – thinks the regime decided to withdraw from the UN Human
Rights Committee Optional Protocol because the "flood of complaints" from
Belarus has significantly increased and the likelihood that the Committee
will find violations.
"Complaints of a strategic nature are being filed, which show a complex of
violations that stem from general abusive practices and from legislation
that is not in conformity with the Covenant [ICCPR]," Matskevich wrote on
the Right to Protection website
(https://www.defenders.by/deno
complaints are almost impossible to reasonably object to from the point of
view of international law, as I see it. And the decisions of the HRC over
time on these complaints will show the full scale of what is happening,
starting from the spring of 2020."
Lawyer Matskevich noted that "withdrawal from a universal human rights
treaty can be a serious blow to the reputation of the state. Judging by the
history of international relations, this situation is extraordinary."
Matskevich pointed out that removal of one of the UN human rights defending
mechanisms will not solve the problem for the state. She insisted that it
is not the consequences – Belarusians' complaints to the Committee -
which have to be eliminated, but their cause – human rights violations by
the state.
On 22 August, seven local human rights groups – including Viasna
(Spring), the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and Human Constanta –
condemned the proposed withdrawal from the Optional Protocol
(https://spring96.org/ru/news/
They noted that "although the authorities consistently ignored the
Committee's decisions, the state was under an obligation to respond to the
Committee, explaining the relevant issue and providing information on
measures taken".
The human rights groups also called on the regime to "provide citizens with
the opportunity to use international mechanisms for the protection of human
rights, taking measures to expand such opportunities, and not exclude
existing ones" and "to comply with international obligations in the field
of human rights, bringing its legislation and practice of its application
in accordance with them".
The human rights groups called on international organisations also to
condemn the move publicly.
On 29 August, a further appeal from five of the seven human rights groups -
joined by international human rights groups – condemned the proposed move
(https://humanrightshouse.org/
warning that it "will close one of the last remaining opportunities to seek
justice for human rights violations in Belarus". The appeal added: "The
move would also set a dangerous precedent for states seeking to negate
their international human rights obligations to avoid unwanted scrutiny."
The appeal noted that Belarus is not party to the European Convention on
Human Rights, which means that individuals cannot bring cases to the
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
UN Human Rights Committee cases pending
One case related to freedom of religion or belief pending with the UN Human
Rights Committee is that of Dmitry Mozol. The 33-year-old Jehovah's Witness
lodged a petition to the Committee in November 2021
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
refusing to undergo nearly four weeks of reservist military training on
grounds of conscience. A court in Pinsk fined him four months' average
wages in February 2021, a criminal punishment he failed to overturn on
appeal. The UN Committee asked the Belarus regime questions about the case
on 22 December 2021.
Another pending case was lodged by Andrei Kuzin. In December 2014 a court
in Borisov fined him more than a month's average wage
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Jehovah's Witness meeting on his property. The UN Committee asked the
Belarus regime questions about the case on 10 April 2018.
Forum 18 has been unable to find that the regime has responded to the UN
Committee in either Mozol's or Kuzin's case.
UN Human Rights Committee finds violations
The most recent UN Committee decision relating to freedom of religion or
belief, made public on 17 November 2021, found that Belarus had violated
the rights of Pentecostal Christian Valentin Borovik
(CCPR/C/131/D/2695/2015
(https://digitallibrary.un.org
In March 2008, police and other state officials raided a meeting in a
church member's home of the small unregistered congregation Borovik led in
the western town of Mosty. In June 2008 a local court fined him nine
months' minimum wages for leading an unregistered religious community and
the same month Grodno Regional Court rejected his appeal. The Supreme Court
rejected his supervisory appeal in March 2009
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
fine.
Borovik submitted his appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee in March
2011, arguing that the punishment violated his rights under Article 18 of
the ICCPR ("Freedom of thought, conscience and religion"). The Committee
found that "by convicting and fining [Borovik] for creating and leading a
religious organisation without State registration and by restricting
[Borovik]'s right to peacefully manifest his religious beliefs in community
with others", the regime had violated his rights.
It said the regime "has not specifically explained why [Borovik] was
convicted and fined for engaging in religious worship in community with
others without having met the pre-condition for official registration or
why imposing such a pre-condition was at all necessary to ensure the
protection of the freedom of religion or belief within the meaning of
article 18 (1) of the Covenant".
Vladislav Kovalev was executed in March 2012 after being sentenced to death
for alleged involvement in the April 2011 bombing in the Minsk metro. He,
his family and human rights defenders rejected the charges. After his
execution, his mother, Lyubov Kovaleva, tried to claim her son's body for a
Christian burial, telling Forum 18 that "it is important to give Vladislav
- like other people - a Christian burial". The authorities refused
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
In response to Lyubov Kovaleva's and her family's complaint, in October
2012 the UN Human Rights Committee found (CCPR/C/WG/106/DR/2120/2011
(https://digitallibrary.un.org
violations, Belarus had violated Article 7 ("Freedom from torture and
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment") of the ICCPR.
The Committee stated: "The complete secrecy surrounding the date of the
execution and the place of burial, as well as the refusal to hand over the
body for burial in accordance with the religious beliefs and practices of
the executed prisoner's family have the effect of intimidating or punishing
the family by intentionally leaving it in a state of uncertainty and mental
distress".
"The State party," the UN Human Rights Committee ruled, "is under an
obligation to provide the authors with an effective remedy, including
appropriate compensation for the anguish suffered, and disclosure of the
burial site of Mr. Kovalev."
The Human Rights Committee added: "The State party is also under an
obligation to prevent similar violations in the future" by amending laws
"so as to bring it in line with the State party's obligations under article
7 of the Covenant".
The Committee did not examine Kovaleva's and her family's claim that the
Belarusian authorities had also violated the ICCPR's Article 18 ("Freedom
of thought, conscience and religion").
In July 2003, two Hare Krishna devotees Sergei Malakhovsky and Alexander
Pikul filed a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee after Minsk
Central District Court in 2002 rejected their appeal to register a
nationwide Hare Krishna association due to the absence of premises
designated for worshipping and a complaint about sanitation and fire safety
norms. The local Minsk community headed by Malakhovsky was also denied
compulsory local re-registration, which triggered six official warnings for
unapproved religious activity. The Committee found in July 2005
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
(https://digitallibrary.un.org
been violated. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Belarus
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background, see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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