Violation of freedom of expression following the unjustified State refusal to hold a single-person picket

Facts

The author is a Kazakh national who sought permission from local authorities to hold a picket in Karaganda to support “freedom of religion and conscience as important components of building a democratic society”. The author’s request was rejected on the basis that public events such as pickets by ordinary citizens shall be held only at the outskirts of the city, in contrast to the events held by government officials. The rejection was upheld by the courts of the first instance, appeal and cassation. The author claimed that the State party had violated her rights under article 14 (1) because of the failure to assure the impartiality, independence, and fairness of the courts, and of article 19 for the restriction of her right to freedom of expression. She also claims a violation of article 21 regarding her right of peaceful picketing, and of articles 26 and 2 because of the discrimination against private citizens.

Admissibility

Contrary to the allegations of the State, the Committee considered that domestic remedies were fully exhausted. The author lodged a petition for a supervisory review to the Office of the Prosecutor General that was dismissed, and the State party did not sufficiently demonstrate that further supervisory review appeals would have been an effective remedy. The Committee declared the complaint under article 19 of the Covenant admissible, but it found that the author had not sufficiently substantiated, for the purposes of admissibility, her claims under articles 14 (1), 21 and 26, read in conjunction with article 2 of the Covenant, and declared them inadmissible.

Merits

The Committee observed that limiting the holding of a picket to certain predetermined locations does not meet the standards of necessity and proportionality under article 19 (3) of the Covenant. Thus, the restrictions imposed on the author were not justified and the author’s rights under article 19 (2) of the Covenant have been violated.

Recommendations

The State party should:

• (a) provide adequate compensation to the author; and
• (b) take all steps necessary to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future, namely, to revise its normative framework on public events, in accordance with its obligation under article 2 (2), with a view to ensuring that the rights under article 19 of the Covenant may be fully enjoyed in the State party.

Implementation

Deadline: 15 September 2022

By: Anna Gorodetskaya