The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

In June 2010 the member of the Party of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Yauhen Yakavenka was sentenced to 1 year of personal restraint with direction to an open penitentiary institution for the demand to be assigned to an alternative civilian service. Recently Mr. Yakavenka has received an answer from the Ministry of Defense to his request to be assigned to alternative civilian service. The answer, signed by the commissioner of the Homel City Executive Committee, colonel Yafimchyk, reads that the correspondence with the draftee on this matter is stopped.

A number of Belarusian youth organizations, including ‘Civil Forum’, ‘Young Democrats’, ‘Movement of Future’, ‘Young Front’, as well as several human rights groups (‘Center for Legal Transformation’, and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee), have developed a draft bill on alternative service, an option provided by Article 57 of the Constitution, but not applied in reality as yet, the Young Front press-service reports.

Amnesty International has welcomed the release of a conscientious objector in Belarus who had been sentenced to one year in prison for “evading military service”.

On 16 July, the panel of judges of the Homel Region Court will consider the protest of the procuracy against the verdict of the Tsentralny District Court of Homel acquitting the conscientious objector Dzmitry Smyk of draft-dodging.

On 15 June the Minsk Region Court considered the cassation appeal of the state accuser, L.Daubniuk, against the acquittal of Ivan Mikhailau by the Minsk District Court, and left the verdict of the lower court standing, thus taking the side of the defendant.

On 9 June, lawyer Yauhen Hrabouski familiarized with a copy of the verdict to his client, conscientious objector Yauhen Yakavenka, who has been recently punished by the Tsentralny District Court of Homel with 1 year of personal restraint with direction to an open penitentiary institution.

On 4 June, Tatsiana Shvets, Judge of the Tsentralny District Court of Homel, sentenced Yauhen Yakavenka, an activist of the organizing committee of the Party of Belarusian Christian Democracy, to a year of personal restraint for 'evasion from military service'. Mr. Yakavenka was released till the enforcement of the sentence under a written undertaking not to leave. The activist and his counsel, Yauhen Hrabouski, disagree with the verdict and stated they would appeal against it.

Will a bill on alternative service be passed in Belarus? An international forum on the issue is being held in Minsk, Radio Racyja reports. Its aim is to foster the solution of the issue by encouraging the Belarusian Parliament members to consider the introduction of the civil service in the near future. The forum, arranged by Mikhas Pashekvich, leader of the campaign 'For Alternative Civil Service in Belarus', is attended by representatives of NGOs from the majority CIS countries.