UN Considers Case On Banning Procession In Support Of Charter 97

The UN Human Rights Committee has entered into official correspondence with the Belarusian state.

On December 3, the UN Human Rights Committee registered the case № 3675/20129 and entered into official correspondence with the Belarusian state regarding the complaint of Homel trade union activists Viktar Kazlou and Leanid Sudalenka, related to bannig the street protest rally in Homel against the blocking of the Internet edition Charter-97, Homel Viasna reports.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights informed the complainant Leanid Sudalenka about registering the 316th complaint from Belarus with the UN Human Rights Committee.

The human rights activist notes that they planned to hold a peaceful protest rally on February 17, 2018 to attract public attention and protest against the blocking of the Internet edition Charter-97 by the Ministry of Information, as well as to discuss problems with freedom of expression in Belarus.

"The Homel City Executive Committee banned our march in the city center, referring to the absence of agreements on medical care during the event and on ensuring the cleaning of the territory after the event. The officials also mentioned that I had been brought to administrative responsibility for participating in an unsanctioned mass event during the "parasite" protests in 2017, which does not give me the right to apply for new assemblies under the Belarusian law," - Leanid Sudalenka comments on the ban.

The human rights activist also notes that the UN Human Rights Committee has considered similar cases on banning peaceful assemblies in Homel more than a dozen times, stating a gross violation of rights, however, the officials' vicious practice has not changed.

"Today official Minsk refuses to fulfill its international obligations related to human rights. Meanwhile, the number of complaints from Belarus is increasing every year, today they are more than three hundred of them! Is it not extremism when officials openly ignore the international obligations of the country? Let's imagine a situation when tomorrow officials start to ignore the country's international obligations on loans and credits," - Leanid Sudalenka adds.

We remind that on January 24, 2018, the Lukashenka regime blocked the independent information resource Charter97.org. The first deputy minister of information, Ihar Lutski, approved the blocking. The Ministry of Information is headed by Aliaksandr Karliukevich.