Former mayor of Homel complains to UN Human Rights Committee

Svyatlana Haldadze, a former chairwoman of the Homel city executive committee, filed a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee about a ban to hold a picket.

She and local human rights activists Anatol Paplauny and Leanid Sudalenka wanted to hold a picket to support jailed human rights defender Ales Byalyatksi in Homel on 4 August 2012, Viasna human rights centre reports.

“We were going to have a picket on the day of the arrest of Ales Byalyatski. We wanted to draw public attention to the problem of political prisoners, not only Ales Byalyatski, who, we think, was convicted illegally,” Svyatlana Haldadze said. She noted the picket was supposed to be a part of the national campaign launched by human rights activists. People applied for pickets in all regional centres and other towns across the country, but all events were banned.

The district court ruled in favour of the city executive committee and the regional court upheld the decision of the district court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. After all domestic remedies were exhausted, the activists applied to the UN Human Rights Committee.

Svyatlana Haldadze asked the Committee to establish the fact of violation of her right, as well as the right of the human right defenders, to freedom of assemblies and expression by the state and recommend the Belarusian government to bring the Law on Mass Events and the local authorities' decision on mass events in compliance with international standards.

Svyatlana Haldadze was chairwoman of the Homel city council in 1991-1996 and chairwoman of the city executive committee in 1991-1994.

Photo: spring96.org