UN rights expert warns of worsening situation for
political prisoners in Belarus ahead of elections
GENEVA (11 June 2015) – The United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklós Haraszti, today
raised alarm at the deterioration of the plight of several political prisoners
ahead of the October presidential elections, and reiterated his calls to the
immediate and unconditional release of all those imprisoned for the exercise of
their political and other rights.
“In this election year, the authorities have both kept
critical-minded political personalities in prison and severely hardened their
situation, instead of giving a reassuring signal to society on creating an
environment for free and fair elections,” the human rights expert said. (See
list of cases below)
“This is disheartening for all who hoped that four years
after the massive reprisals during the last presidential elections of December
2010, the Government finally would be ready to release all political prisoners,
as well as secure equitable chances for all competitors by rehabilitating the
civil and political rights of the previously incarcerated,” he stated.
Mr. Haraszti was referring to the events in 2010 which
prompted the United Nations Human Right Council to establish the mandate of the
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus. At the time, seven of the nine presidential
candidates were arrested and incarcerated along with hundreds who protested
against the non-transparent voting
procedures.
“This year, the authorities chose in several cases to
extend prison sentences of already incarcerated political opponents or impose
harsher prison conditions, on differently formulated but similar grounds,” he
noted. “Imposing harsher regimes or extending prison sentences based on claims
of violations of internal prison regulations are deliberately used to put
pressure on political prisoners.
“I urge the Belarus authorities not only to release, but
also to fully rehabilitate political opponents who have been imprisoned,” the
Special Rapporteur said, while stressing the importance of rehabilitation and
full reinstatement of civil rights, especially in view of this year’s
presidential election.
As pointed out in his reports* to the Human Rights
Council, former political prisoners as individuals having a criminal record,
cannot run for or occupy public office. They continue facing preventive
supervision procedures and have to regularly report to the authorities; they
cannot change or leave their place of residence without permission from the
police.
Mr. Haraszti also expressed his concern at the lack of
independence of the judiciary from the executive, which is inconsistent with an
environment necessary for the exercise of human rights, and is an enabling
factor in perpetuating the use of arbitrary detention against political
opponents. “A broad and comprehensive reform is needed to ensure the principle
of independence and impartiality of the judiciary, ” he reiterated.
The cases highlighted by the Special Rapporteur:
On 27 May 2015 the
Pružany District Court sentenced political prisoner Yury Rubtsou, who had been serving a sentence in an
open-type correctional facility in Pružany
district, to two years of imprisonment in a penal colony on charges of
violating penitentiary regime rules
under article 415 of the Criminal
Code.
Yury Rubtsou is an activist from Gomel who was first
arrested in November 2013 during a demonstration, and was then repeatedly
sentenced to terms of administrative detentions until October 2014, when criminal charges were brought
against him for allegedly insulting a judge during a closed
session administrative hearing in April, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Mr. Rubtsou is but the last instance when an imprisoned
political opponent continues to be charged with additional offences allegedly
related to violating penitentiary rules.
In April, the presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, who is serving
a six-year prison sentence since May 2011 for
allegedly ‘organizing mass
riots’ during the 2010 presidential election, was found guilty
of violating the internal regulations of Shklou penal colony ¹ 17 and sent to a
cell-type prison facility with a harsher penitentiary regime (Prison No. 4 in Mahiliou) – charges included
failing to be in bed on time.
Similar pressure continues against the political prisoner
Mikalai Dziadok, who in 2011 was sentenced to
four and a half years in prison.
This April his punishment was extended for one year on alleged violations of
prison rules under Article 411 of the Criminal Code.
Before the extension of his term, he was charged with 16
violations, the main of which was ‘wearing a tracksuit instead of prison
uniform’ and ‘refusal to clean the cell.’ Each alleged violation was punished by
placement in an isolation cell, denial of food parcels and meetings with
relatives. Reports continue to attest that since he was transferred to another
prison facility in May, he continues to receive ill-treatment in a confinement
cell.
“The cases of Mikalai Statkevitch, Yuri Rubtsou, and
Mikalai Dziadok, show that arbitrary detention as a policy to stifle dissent
has not stopped, and set a very clear signal to opposition ahead of the 2015
presidential election,” Haraszti said.
The human rights expert warned that while some imprisoned
critics have been released – notably Ales Bialatski –others are being sentenced
and sent to prison on similar charges, and the situation of already imprisoned
dissenters is continuously deteriorating.
(*) Check all the Special Rapporteur’s reports on
Belarus:
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=140
ENDS
Mr. Miklós Haraszti (Hungary) was designated as Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus by the UN Human Rights
Council in 2012.
In the 70s, Mr. Haraszti was a founder of Hungary’s human
rights and free press movement, and in the 1990s he was a Member of the
Hungarian Parliament.
From 2004 to 2010, he served as the OSCE Representative
on Freedom of the Media. Since 2010, he has been a Professor at several
universities teaching media democratisation.
Learn more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/CountriesMandates/BY/Pages/SRBelarus.aspx
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world.
Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights, country page – Belarus:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/ENACARegion/Pages/BYIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests please contact
Ms. Alexandra Swetzer (+41 22 917 9401 / aswetzer@ohchr.org) or write to
sr-belarus@ohchr.org.
For media inquiries related to other UN independent
experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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