27-04-2020
While 2019 law amendments promised liberalization, the monitoring report finds that the situation of the right to freedom of assembly has in fact deteriorated in 2019 in Belarus.
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This monitoring report looks at the impact of the amendments to the Law on mass events in Belarus, which came into force in January 2019 and promised liberalization. It finds that the situation of the right to freedom of assembly has in fact deteriorated in 2019: protests were cancelled and trials resulted in fines and administrative arrest for protesters and activists. The report, prepared by a coalition of human rights organizations, provides a legal analysis as well as a data analysis of peaceful assemblies held based on their monitoring. It also provides recommendations to various stakeholders, such as the government and the international community. Some of the recommendations to the Belarus government include:
- Repeal the obligation on organizers to pay for ambulance assistance, policing and ground maintenance after meetings, as this is a State responsibility;
- Abandon the practice of persecution of activists for participation in peaceful assemblies simply for the absence of a permit to hold the meeting;
- Abandon the practice of detaining and persecuting monitors and journalists carrying out their legitimate activities in covering peaceful assemblies;
- Invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom peaceful assembly and of association to Belarus for an objective assessment of the situation.