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Statement of Support for Belarusian Defence Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders

Human Rights Embassy, Moldova

15 August 2020, Chisinau

To:

Viktar Chaichits,

Belarusian Republic Bar Association

 

Oleg Slizhevskij,

Ministry of Justice

 

Yuri Karaev,

Ministry of Internal Affairs

 

Statement of Support for Belarusian Defence Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders

 

On 9 August 2020, the presidential elections in Belarus took place. The outcome of these elections was widely reported as unfair, falsified and manipulated.[1] This led to widespread protests across Belarus. These protests have been, and are being, brutally dispersed and more than 6000 people have been arrested.[2] It is widely reported that those arrested are ill-treated. Those arrested are held in inappropriate conditions and there are reports of torture and other prohibited ill-treatment.[3] There are reports that courts have been temporarily established in detention centres and that defence lawyers are denied access to their clients.

In a situation of public unrest, the right to access a lawyer is a crucial one and it provides a deterrent effect preventing the most brutal cases of ill treatment. Having said that, the official bar organisation of Belarus (the Belarusian Republic Bar Association) is failing in protecting their members. In their recent statement,[4] bizarrely, they claim that it is the police who need to be defended in these circumstances. The bar organisation is effectively a part of state machinery in Belarus and not an independent body of self-governance.

Human Rights Embassy and its partners from the Human Rights House Network, as well as experts, alumni and participants of the Human Rights House Foundations’ “International Law in Advocacy” Programme[5] have expressed their concerns regarding intimidation and persecution of human rights lawyers in Belarus in the report “Human Rights Lawyers at Risk: Making the Case for Protection of Legal Professionals in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine”.[6] In the updates to the Report[7] Human Rights Embassy stated that the pressure on defence lawyers has only intensified in recent years in the region, including Belarus. Human rights lawyers are increasingly subjected to harassment, threats and intimidation, regular and extraordinary re-certification, discredit, disciplinary proceedings and disbarment from their professional organisations, administrative punishment and even criminal persecution. Human Rights Embassy presented the key findings on the situation with human rights lawyers in Belarus and recommendations of the report at the joint side-event «Lawyers Under Threat in OSCE Region: Identifying Trends and Finding Solutions» in the framework of OSCE annual meeting — OSCE/HDIM-2019.

In the past the International Federation for Human Rights reported that ‘[i]n Belarus, lawyers defending cases considered by the authorities to be ‘troublesome’ are generally exposed to retaliatory measures which can culminate in their expulsion’.[8] In a situation of crisis this threat is multiplying. Every case is considered troublesome. Moreover, the official bar organisation is unlikely to defend its members.

There have been multiple reports that lawyers are not allowed to see their clients even in high profile cases.[9] For instance, the lawyer of the former presidential candidate Victar Babaryka was not allowed to see his client in the KGB detention centre. Defence lawyers are not allowed to do their job, they are prevented from meeting their clients.

 

Thus, bearing in mind the aforementioned Human Rights Embassy calls for:

  1. The Belarusian Republic Bar Association to do everything possible to defend their members from abuse and persecution.
  2. The Belarusian authorities to fully comply with the rights of all arrested persons and guarantee them access to a competent and qualified lawyer.
  3. The right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition on arbitrary detention, fair trial and right to privacy to be fully complied with by the Belarusian authorities.
  4. Democratic and participatory rights including the right to protest, the right to set up and be part of campaigning organisations and free speech to be guaranteed.

 

Human Rights Embassy declares its support to and solidarity with Belarusian Defence Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders.

 

[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-election-germany/germany-there-are-many-indications-of-electoral-fraud-in-belarus-idUSKCN2560Z6

[2] https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/11/belarus-protesters-incited-to-change-tact-for-third-night-of-demonstrations

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53773534

[4] http://www.rka.by/news/obrashchenie-brka-k-grazhdanam/ in Russian

[5] https://ilia.humanrightshouse.org/

[6] https://humanrightshouse.org/noop-media/documents/21177.pdf

[7] http://humanrightsembassy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230%3A-2015-&catid=34%3A2011-12-19-22-16-39&Itemid=63&lang=en

[8] https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/belarus-controls-on-lawyers-endangering-human-rights?fbclid=IwAR2wC1ENRm3BpfLai05t19ZnLs96mxF9izTya3vlziNVM3u9ax0MzCAAkTo. For more detailed account of the situation with legal professionals in Belarus, see https://www.hfhr.pl/en/report-on-the-situation-of-legal-profession-in-belarus/?fbclid=IwAR1GAv-FVgstnFEjLy3IFDgLNN9KV3Y8hbrPqTC_iBXOsNphfrDyFRXa8bk

[9] https://verfassungsblog.de/the-kafkaesque-edifice-of-law/

 

Lela Metreveli / Лела Метревели

Executive Director, 
Human Rights Embassy
(Ambasada Drepturilor Omului / Посольство Прав Человека)

Tel/fax: /+373-22/ 920-700
GSM: /+373/ 697-19-808
E-mail: l.metreveli@humanrightsembassy.org

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