Viasna was registered with the Ministry of Justice since 1999, but was forced to close down in October 2003 by a decision of the Supreme Court. At the time of its closure, the Minsk-based organisation had more than 150 members in the country. The organisation monitored the human rights situation in Belarus: it prepared alternative human rights reports for UN treaty bodies and organised protests and pickets to denounce human rights violations. In 2001, it had deployed 2,000 observers to monitor the voting process during the Presidential elections.
On 24 December 2003, the appeal lodged by Viasna against the Supreme Court decision to liquidate the organisation was rejected. Its members were denied the right to legally pursue their human rights activities in Belarus within the frame of their organisation. They had exhausted all domestic remedies to challenge the Court’s decision. In April 2004, Mr. Aliaksandr Bialiatski, President of Viasna and FIDH Vice-President, lodged a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
In July 2007, the UN Human Rights Committee concluded that the dissolution of Viasna was a violation of article 22, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and that the co-authors of the complaint were « entitled to an appropriate remedy, including the re-registration of Viasna ». Consequently, the organisation made an new attempt to register, but its application was soon rejected, in direct violation with the Communication n°1296/2004 of the UN Human Rights Committee1.
On 26 January 2009, 67 members of Viasna have signed an application to the Ministry of Justice of Belarus to register the human rights organisation under the name « Nasha Viasna ».
FIDH calls upon the authorities of Belarus to guarantee the right to freedom of association as guaranteed by the Belarus Constitution and international human rights instruments, in particular the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol.
Yours respectfully,
Souhayr BELHASSEN,
Presiden
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