Svetlahorsk Activist: Power Is Cynically Hiding Behind Children

Andrey Smalianchuk appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee.

On September 24th Svetlahorsk eco-activist Andrei Smalianchuk filed an individual complaint to the UN Committee on Human Rights. At the international level, he challenges the decisions of the Belarusian courts to ban him from holding a protest rally related to the environmental problem of the city, Homel Viasna reports.

Last year Andrei together with other activists of the city, applied for holding a rally in the district center, but his application was rejected. The fact is that there is a decision, according to which there's only one place allowed for holding rallies - the stadium Bumazhnik. In other places it is forbidden to hold rallies and those who disobey risk to fall under sanctions - a large fine or arrest up to 15 days.

In fact, there is a taboo on everyone's right to freedom of peaceful assembly and public expression in the city, the man said.

"The authorities send us to the stadium, and if we agree, there is no place for us there: these days there are supposed to be children's events. In other words, the authorities are cynically hiding behind children, forbidding us, adults, to discuss aloud the environmental problem of the city related to the Chinese bleached pulp mill," - Andrei Smalianchuk says.

Human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka notes that although the so-called "cosmetic" amendments to the basic law on mass events came into force in the beginning of the year, allowing in some cases not to ask for permission to hold peaceful assemblies, the situation is still completely under the control of officials.

"It is known that holding several events in one place at the same time is prohibited. In Svetlahorsk, such a place is the stadium where something is going all every day - if not the training of athletes, then the children's festivals, which the authorities organize to prevent the opponents of the bleached pulp mill from gathering. It turns out to be a vicious circle: there is a right but it is impossible to implement it," - the human rights activist emphasizes.

In a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee, in addition to specifying violations of his rights to peaceful assembly and expression of opinion, Andrei Smalianchuk asks to oblige the Belarusian government to change the basic law and the decision of the local authorities on mass events so that everyone has the opportunity to publicly speak out in practice in defense of public interests.

Earlier, human rights activist Aliona Masliukova, eco-activists Tatsiana Naskova and Anatol Zmitrovich addressed the UN Committee on Human Rights with similar complaints about prohibitions of holding peaceful protests in Svetlahorsk.