Andrei Sannikov: UN Confirms Right Of Belarusians To Peaceful Protest

Lukashenka's regime is illegitimate.

The UN Human Rights Committee delivered an official decision that the Belarusian authorities violated the rights of the former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov in the elections-2010, and demanded the removal of criminal records from the politician.

The leader of the European Belarus campaign commented on the UN response to his complaint filed in 2012 to the Charter97.org website:

– To start with, there is no justice in Belarus. If it existed, then, after yesterday's Lukashenka speech, he would have been taken out of the Oval Hall handcuffed, because he confessed that he was contract killers’ hirer.

But there is no independent judicial system in Belarus, it is integrated into the criminal group holding the power. Therefore, it is important to seek justice in international institutions. In this regard, I have lodged a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee and received an appropriate judgement.

– What’s your opinion of the response received from the international authority?

– I highly appreciate this decision. Yet in jail (after the illegal arrest in 2010 – Ed.), I advised people, who asked me to help, to send their complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee and seek justice. And I helped to write some of them as well.

Regardless of my situation, I want to say: the UN response is a very important document, as it gives evaluation of the legitimacy of the presidential candidates’ actions in upholding their principles and exercising their right to freedom of speech, opinion and assembly. As soon as such a precedent has been created, those, who were at the Square on December 19, 2010 and suffered from the actions of Lukashenka’s punitive bodies, were arrested and beaten, will be able to use this UN response to protect their rights.

Therefore, the UN Committee response received following my appeal is of great importance as a precedent.

I want to draw your attention to the fact that the received response does not only assess the authorities’ actions as unlawful, but also confirms what we were saying before and after December 19: Lukashenka's power is illegitimate, it infringes on Belarusian people’s rights and freedoms.

Thus, the UN confirmed that on December 19, 2010, Lukashenka carried on holding the power in Belarus by force. The international body has confirmed that the opposition is right, saying that the dictator is unable of holding the power by legal means and he is to resign.

There’s another point I want to make. The main "charge" against me was that I allegedly had "organized mass riots." This case was studied in detail in the UN Human Rights Committee and all the arguments that the authorities had brought – warnings the rally and march participants, no applications for holding them – were also mentioned in the UN response. Nevertheless, the Committee took the side of the peaceful protests’ organizers and condemned the authorities for suppressing them.

We keep saying that citizens of Belarus have the right to peaceful protest and it is guaranteed by international agreements, approved by the Republic of Belarus. The UN Committee has confirmed that this right is lawful and legal.

– The UN Human Rights Committee has now registered 248 complaints from Belarusian citizens on violation of their rights. How can this be used in the future, in democratic Belarus?

– Undoubtedly, the government of democratic Belarus will consider the recommendations of the UN and international bodies.

– What steps do you intend to take in the future?

– We need to study this document more closely to plan the further actions.