Human Rights Defenders Told UN How Authorities Turn Belarusians Into "Extremists"

The UN Special Rapporteur has been informed about the cases of unlawful usage of the legislation in Belarus.

Viasna human rights defenders informed Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, about cases of illegal use of anti-extremist legislation in Belarus and prosecution of citizens for posting content that, in the opinion of the authorities, may lead to incitement of racial, national or other hatred and enmity.

"In recent years, human rights defenders have increasingly documented cases of illegal use of anti-extremist legislation by holding people unjustifiably liable for distributing extremist information materials or materials previously recognized as such and included in extremist lists, including for reposting such materials and images on social networks. In some cases, the situation is reduced to absurdity when the authors are held administratively liable for publicly displaying Nazi symbols in anti-Nazi caricatures. Thus, the anti-extremist legislation is used by the authorities to oppose dissent and to restrict freedom of expression.

On the other hand, state bodies do not take appropriate measures to prevent and combat violence and extremism in society, as the law enforcement agencies and courts do not properly qualify illegal actions committed against vulnerable groups motivated by hatred as crimes committed on the basis of hatred, and not just of hooliganism or other motives," - the report says.

Recently, representatives of leading Belarusian human rights organizations (BAJ, BHC, HRC Viasna and Human Constanta) have prepared a joint analytical report "Countering Extremism and Human Rights" in order to study and analyze the national anti-extremist legislation and practice of its application.

The human rights activists criticized the definition of extremism in the national legislation, the order of formation and activities of the commissions entrusted with expert functions, the state of civil procedure legislation, as well as the legislation governing the activities of the Internet.

The report describes the cases of applying the anti-extremist legislation and bringing people to criminal and administrative responsibility.

The UN Special Rapporteur has also been informed about these cases.