Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the judicial harassment of Mr. Vladimir Velichkin, an environmental rights defender and member of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” (HRC “Viasna”) [1], and the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Vitaly Kazak and Mr. Alexander Kabanov, two environmental activists, in the context of the repression of an environmental protest movement against the construction of a battery plant in Brest [2].
According to the information received, on February 16, 2019, Mr. Vladimir Velichkin was arrested at the Leninsky police department in Brest, after being summoned by the police to appear at the precinct. After his arrest, he spent two days in a temporary detention facility of the department. On February 18, he was summonsed before the Leninsky District Court of the city of Brest. The Court found him guilty of participating in an unauthorized mass event under Article 23.34 of the Belarus Code of Administrative offences and sentenced him to a fine of 382,5 Belarusian rubles (approximately 156 euros).
The charges relate to a rally organised to protest the construction of a battery plant in Brest— which took place on December 30, 2018 and was attended by around 170 protestors. The rally was the 45th in a series of related protests that have been held on the Lenin square in Brest every Sunday since February 25, 2018.
On December 30, 2018, Mr. Vladimir Velichkin, who participated in this rally as well as in numerous previous rallies against the battery plant, gave a brief interview to online blogger Mr. Sergei Petrukhin. The Court considered that the message he passed during the interview contained “negativity towards the authorities and attracted the attention of citizens”, which formed the basis for his arrest and subsequent charges.
The Observatory fears that the sentencing of Mr. Vladimir Velichkin aims to impede his human rights activism and, more broadly, to obstruct the Brest environmental protest movement.
Mr. Vitaly Kazak, an activist, was arrested and placed in the same temporary detention facility as Mr. Vladimir Velichkin—that of the Leninsky police department in Brest—on February 16, 2019. He was accused of “organizing an unauthorized mass event in an inappropriate location involving a citizen of a foreign state” (Article 23.34 of the Code). The court found him guilty and charged him with 1,020 Belarusian rubles (approximately 419 euros).On morning of February 17, 2019,in the city of Bereza, Belarus, police arrested another activist and blogger, Mr. Alexander Kabanov. At time of the arrest he was at the Bereza railway station, as he was going to Brest to join the Sunday’s rally as usual The Observatory suggests that his arrest was an attempt to prevent him from joining the rally. Mr. Alexander Kabanov posted on his Facebook page that he was arrested for participating in a rally in Brest on February 10, 2019. He was brought to Bereza police department and released after questioning on the February 10, 2019 events.
The Observatory recalls that other human rights defenders have been targeted for their participation in protests against this battery plant in Brest, such as Mr. Roman Kysliak [3]. It emphasises that the Belarusian legislation violates the right to peaceful assembly by unjustifiably prohibiting citizens to hold peaceful assemblies without authorisation. In Belarus, the authorities routinely reject requests to hold peaceful assemblies related to practically any human rights or other societal issue, either without providing adequate reason or by referring to the law that requires organisers to ensure first medical aid during the event and to subsequently clean the event venue [4].
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment of Mr. Vladimir Velichkin, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate and peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of association and assembly.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Belarus, urging them to:
i. Put an end to any form of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Vladimir Velichkin, as well as all human rights defenders in Belarus;
ii. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Vladimir Velichkin, and all human rights defenders in Belarus;
iii. Comply with all their international obligations to respect the exercise of the citizens’ right to freedom of association and assembly, as established in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular its Articles 21 and 22;
iv. Comply with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with its Articles 1, 2, 5 and 12.2;
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Belarus.
Addresses:
President Aliaksandr Lukashenko, Belarus, fax: + 375 172 26 06 10 or + 375 172 22 38 72, email: contact@president.gov.by ;
General Prosecutor, Alexandr Konyuk, Belarus, fax: + 375 17 226 42 52, email: info@prokuratura.gov.by ;
Minister of Justice of Belarus, Mr. Oleg Slizhevsky, Belarus, fax: + 375 17 200 86 87, email: kanc@minjust.by ;
Chairman of the State Control Committee of Belarus, Mr. Leonid Anfimov, Belarus, fax: +375 17 289 14 84, email: kgk@mail.belpak.by ;
Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 748 24 51, email: mission.belarus@ties.itu.int ;
H.E. Mr. Aleksandr Mikhnevich, Embassy of Belarus in Brussels, Fax: + 32 2.340.02.87, Email: belgium@mfa.gov.by ;
Svetlogorsk district court, Belarus, fax: +375 (2342) 7-02-47, 4-02-39; e-mail: svetlgorsk@court.by .
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Belarus in your respective countries.
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Paris-Geneva, February 20, 2019
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] HRC Viasna is a member of FIDH.
[2] The construction of the plant is largely criticised by ecological activists and civil society of Belarus. They claim that the battery factory constructed 7 km away from the city will pollute the environment of Brest and the Brest region. Human rights activists highlight that the plant facilities are being built with numerous irregularities in terms of security and environmental norms. Since the beginning of 2018, a civil campaign has been underway against the construction of the battery plant in Brest. In February 2018, a petition of about 40,000 signatures against the construction was transferred to the Administration of the President of Belarus. Since February 25, 2018, every Sunday, protesters assemble peacefully and silently on the Lenin Square in Brest to express their opposition by feeding pigeons on the square. When organisers started the protests, they sought authorisation from the authorities, yet they only got one authorisation (in April 2018) while all other requests were denied. Therefore, protesters decided to simply assemble and feed pigeons or carry balloons in sign of protest.
[3] See Observatory Urgent Appeal BLR 003 / 1018 / OBS 128, published on October 19, 2018.
[4] See the Observatory Urgent Appeals BLR 002 / 0918 / OBS 119 published on September 28, 2018 and BLR 002 / 0918 / OBS 119.1 published on October 12, 2018.