Human Rights Situation in Belarus: December 2016

Conclusions:

- December was not marked by any significant changes of a systemic nature that would be aimed at qualitative changes in the country’s human rights situation;

- on December 26, the Court of the Maskoŭski district of Minsk found Uladzimir Kondrus guilty under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (participation in mass riots). The court, taking into account the defendant’s health and the period of limitations, applied Art. 70 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to 18 months of restraint of liberty and forced outpatient treatment. Kondrus was released from custody in the courtroom.

- the sentencing of Uladzimir Kondrus does not change the assessment of the criminal case by the Human Rights Center "Viasna", as well as the evaluation of the events of 19 December 2010 that took place in Independence Square in Minsk, in general. At the same time, we commend the restraint shown by the Belarusian authorities and the application of punishment not associated with deprivation of freedom;

- according to information received by the Human Rights Center "Viasna", Mikhail Zhamchuzhny, who is serving his sentence in a prison in Barysaŭ district, was transferred to so called cell-type premises in connection with the exercise of his legitimate right to appeal against disciplinary penalties earlier imposed on the prisoner. The country’s human rights community still believes that that the prosecution of Zhamchuzhny was politically motivated. The human rights activists demand an immediate review of his criminal case in an open trial in compliance with the guarantees of a fair trial, which does not preclude the application of a wide range of legal measures, such as a pardon, amnesty and parole;

 - during the month, the government continued to practice violations of the right to peaceful assembly, imposing administrative fines on peaceful protesters, while the assemblies were not, as a rule, dispersed and the participants were not detained or subjected to further administrative detention;

- on December 28, human rights defenders learned about another death sentence handed down to Kiryl Kazachok, a 39-year-old resident of Mazyr. Thus, in spite of two recent thematic conferences held in Belarus and public debate on the possible introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty, the Belarusian authorities continued to apply this type of punishment;

- human rights activists continued to document facts of ill-treatment by law enforcement officers; the investigation of such cases is usually extremely cursory;

- during the month, the HRC "Viasna" documented a few instances of the use of forced labor in some districts of the Minsk region, which together with the earlier recorded reports, is evidence of a systemic and systematic use of forced labor in the country.

Politically motivated criminal prosecution

The Human Rights Center "Viasna" learned that from 21 to 26 November political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny, who is serving a sentence in penal colony No. 14, was held in a punishment cell for five days. The official reason for the punishment was an ‘escape attempt’. Later, it became known that on December 1, he was transferred to a cell-type room for three months. Later, Zhamchuzhny wrote to human rights activists that the reason for his transfer was an appeal against disciplinary penalties earlier imposed on the prisoner. Belarusian human rights activists believe that Mikhail Zhamchuzhny is a political prisoner.

On December 26, the court of the Maskoŭski district of Minsk began the consideration of the criminal charges of involvement in the riots 19 December 2010 in Minsk, which were brought against Uladzimir Kondrus. The case was heard by judge Sviatlana Bandarenka.

Uladzimir Kondrus was brought to the courthouse, but refused to enter the courtroom. The trial began without him, and the judge decided to remove the defendant for the entire period of the hearing.

The court eventually found Uladzimir Kondrus partially insane in relation to the acts committed by him and took the fact into account, applying the provisions of Art. 70 of the Criminal Code (appointment of a more lenient sentence than that provided for the offense) sentencing Kondrus to 1 year and 6 months of restraint of liberty without sending him to an open-type penal institution. He was also sentenced to forced outpatient treatment. The court also ordered to change the measure of restraint and immediately release Kondrus from custody in the courtroom. Taking into account the time Kondrus spent in custody, he will be under restrictions for the period of six months.

Uladzimir Kondrus was detained on June 14 this year in the framework of a preliminary investigation into the events of 19 December 2010 in Minsk’s Independence Square. Prior to the trial, he was held in jail No. 1 in Minsk. Human rights defenders recognized Uladzimir Kondrus a political prisoner.

On December 27, the Minsk City Court rejected an appeal filed against a two-year suspended sentence earlier imposed on Dzmitry Paliyenka for his involvement in the Critical Mass cycling protest in April 2016. The sentence entered into force. Human rights activists regarded the prosecution of Paliyenka as a violation of his constitutional freedoms.

Violations of social and economic rights. Forced labor

The Prosecutor's Office refused to investigate a forced labor report when harvesting corn in Viliejka district. In its response to human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich, District Prosecutor Shukrynau referred to the fact that citizens could only exercise their right to appeal to the public authorities directly or through their representatives, while the Prosecutor's Office did not receive any complaints from the citizens.

In another reply received by the human rights defender from the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Minsk regional executive committee, the officials argued that citizens were involved in harvesting corn due to ‘operational necessity’, namely waterlogging of the soil and the inability to use farming equipment.

In mid-November, several mass media outlets published photos showing people harvesting corn from under the snow.

The Prosecutor's Office of Minsk region also found no grounds for investigating the forced labor report, in connection with which Valiantsin Stefanovich wrote to the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus.

On December 7, Stefanovich sent to the Prosecutor of Lahojsk district a complaint about a volunteer clean-up arranged by the district executive committee for the employees of 21 local enterprises. The human rights defender learned about the illegal order of the district executive committee from a publication on tut.by.

Based on the number of media reports of forced labor by the residents of Maladziečna, Viliejka and Lahojsk districts, the human rights activist concludes that the phenomenon is of a systemic nature, which he reported in a letter to the Minsk regional executive committee.

The demand to abolish forced labor and to ensure adequate protection of workers' rights was one of the key requirements by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the ILO’s Committee on the Application of Standards, where the human rights defenders of Viasna and FIDH submitted a joint thematic report “Forced Labor and Pervasive Violations of Workers’ Rights in Belarus.” However, the Belarusian government still ignores repeated calls of the United Nations system experts.

The death penalty

Another death sentence was handed down in Belarus on December 28. Kiryl Kazachok, a 39-year-old resident of Mazyr, was found guilty of murdering his tow children and sentenced to capital punishment. The verdict was announced at a session of the Homieĺ Regional Court in Mazyr. The hearings was held behind closed doors.

This is the fifth death sentence either handed down or executed in 2016.

On November 5, three prisoners held on death row in Minsk’s jail No. 1 (Ivan Kulesh, Siarhei Khmialeuski and Henadz Yakavitski) were executed in secrecy.

On December 13, Minsk hosted the second international conference “Abolition of the Death Penalty and Public Opinion”, which was organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the first time ever, representatives of the HRC "Viasna", Valiantsin Stefanovich and Andrei Paluda, were invited to participate in the conference in their personal capacity.

The Belarusian human rights community continues to urge the country's authorities to declare a moratorium on the death penalty as the first step towards its complete abolition.

Harassment of journalists

The month saw new instances of pressure on journalists performing their professional activities.

On December 8, activists of the Young Front opposition movement led by Dzmitry Dashkevich protested on in Independence Avenue in Minsk on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The protest was covered by a number of journalists. As a result, Iryna Arekhouskaya and Mikita Nedaverkau, both journalists of the Nasha Niva weekly, were detained outside the KGB building. The police claimed that the journalists violated the law, since filming near the KGB building was prohibited. The journalists were later released without charges.

Uladzimir Bukhautsou, Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Lojeŭ district, filed to the court of Centraĺny district of Homieĺ a claim to protect his honor, dignity and business reputation. The defendant in the lawsuit was freelance journalist Kanstantsin Zhukouski. The policeman referred to a video posted on the website of the Belsat TV channel, which told about the beating of Zhukouski by police officers in Lojeŭ, as well as stories in which local residents spoke about their problems related to the police officers’ illegal actions.

Representatives of the Mahilioŭ police department confronted local blogger Aliaksandr Irkho, who conducted a survey in social media about traffic police. As a result, the police department filed a suit to protect their business reputation. During the court hearing, a representative of the department insisted that the correct form of cooperation between citizens and the police was providing information about violations committed by police officers directly to the police, who themselves will take appropriate measures, instead of publishing reports in the media. Such publications only degrade the image of the police, said she. However, the court turned down the claim.

Torture and ill-treatment

The Žodzina city department of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal investigation into the death of Ihar Barbashynski, an inmate of local jail, in September 2016. A notification received by the victim’s mother says that the case was opened under Part 2 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code (improper performance of professional duties by a healthcare practitioner, which negligently caused the death of a patient).

In late March 2016, Ihar Barbashynski was detained in Sluck together with his brother Ivan and charged with appearing in a state of intoxication in a public place. The following day, the brothers were taken to hospital, where an examination revealed broken ribs and numerous bruises. After they complained to the police department, they learned that they faced charges for acts of violence against police officers. Two months later, in June 2016, the men were arrested and put in a pre-trial detention center in Žodzina.

Following his death, the Investigative Committee opened a probe, which revealed that the prisoner voiced complaints about short-term loss of consciousness. Later, in mid-September, Barbashynski complained about a significant deterioration in his health: physical weakness, frequent dizziness, high temperatures and very low blood pressure. The prison doctor said that the patient's state was of moderate severity. However, he was unable to determine the diagnosis. On the same day, late at night on September 16, Barbashynski’s condition deteriorated and an ambulance was called. The prisoner was sent to the city hospital with a diagnosis of cerebral circulation disorder. He received treatment during three days, from 16 to 19 September. He was examined more thoroughly and diagnosed with encephalitis. Barbashynski was then brought back to the prison hospital. However, in the morning on September 20, Ihar Barbashynski died.

Dzmitry Serada, a pediatrician from Minsk, received a copy of another decision to refuse to open a criminal investigation at his request. Serada was brutally detained during a raid on his apartment in August this year. Senior investigator Kazlouski said that there were legal grounds for the detention, while the decision to involve riot policemen was justified by operative information, which claimed that Serada was physical.

A forensic medical examination revealed bruises in the frontal region, on the right side of the abdomen, the back surface of the left forearm and the inner side of the left ankle; it also found wounds on the front surface of the right ankle. In addition, the three-year-old daughter of Dzmitry Serada was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In connection with this, Dzmitry Serada filed a complaint with the head of the Investigative Committee. He argues that the investigator’s conclusions that there were no grounds for a criminal investigation were, on the one hand, premature, as a number of key circumstances have not been established, and, on the other hand, illegal, as the alleged legitimacy of actions by riot policemen was based on their own explanations given in order to evade responsibility, which are refuted by unbiased evidence.

Violation of the right to peaceful assembly

The right to peaceful assembly was still severely restricted; street protests were not dispersed, but active participants and organizers were punished by heavy fines.

Following these penalties, bailiffs have threatened opposition activists and politicians with property arrest.

On December 6, opposition leader Pavel Seviarynets was fined 1,050 rubles on charges of violating the law during a picket of solidarity with Eduard Palchys.

On December 5, the Court of Lieninski district of Hrodna completed the consideration of administrative charges against BCD activist Siarhei Verameyenka and human rights defenders Viktar Sazonau and Uladzimir Khilmanovich. The activists were fined for involvement in an event in memory of the 1863 anti-Russian rebels, which took place October 30 in the town of Svislač. On December 6, Aliaksandr Mekh, an activist from Kobryn, was fined 1050 rubles for participation in the same event.

Zmitser Dashkevich was fined 1050 rubles for involvement in a number of recent protests.

Attempts to obtain permission for a peaceful rally on Human Rights Day in Viciebsk were dismissed by the executive committee, who argued that the picket should be maintained by utility services, which, in turn, evaded signing any contracts.

Violation of the right to association

Re-applying for registration by a public association of entrepreneurs ended in another refusal from the Ministry of Justice. The ban argued that the organization had an invalid name: Committee for Entrepreneurship Support Solidarity, as well as a number of other errors.

At the same time, officials did not specify why the name did not comply with the legislation.

Meanwhile, the shortcomings specified in the refusal by the Ministry of Justice do not encroach on the above relations and could be eliminated through granting a respite to remedy the deficiencies during the first submission of documents for registration. Thus, there is a continued violation by the state of the NGO’s right to association, which does not encroach on the protected interests of the state and citizens.