Russian HR defender deported from Belarus
International Observation Mission of the Committee on International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
On 28 April, Russian human rights defender representing the International Observation Mission Ivan Kondratenko was detained and later ordered to leave Belarus within 24 hours.
The activist was detained in Minsk Kastrychnitski District Court, as he was observing the trial of the persons involved in 19 December 2010 post-election events. Mr. Kondratneko was taken to Maskouski District Police Department, where his passport and two mobile phones were seized.
Ivan Kondratenko was released without charges at about 18 p.m. Simultaneously, he was ordered to leave Belarus within 24 hours.
“The situation is very similar to the incident of Andrei Yurov, head of the International Observation Mission. Ivan Kondratenko was detained while he was maintaining judicial observation. Thus, Belarus keeps showing disrespect for its international obligations under UN and OSCE treaties, by approving which it agreed to international control over the situation with human rights in its territory. In this context, any deportations or entry bans imposed on human rights observers are inadmissible. It looks especially cynical towards a citizen of Russia, who, together with Belarus, formed the Union State”, says Mr. Valentin Gefter, representative of the International Observation Mission in Belarus, member of the Presidential Council for the Promotion of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights.
