Sanction of the author for single-person picket

Facts

The author of the communication is Dina Baydildayeva, a journalist and blogger and a national of Kazakhstan. She held a 15-minute, peaceful, single-person picket, holding a poster and demanding release of her colleagues who had been arrested for publishing criticism of the work of the mayor, who happened to be the nephew of the President of Kazakhstan. She also criticized the mayor. She was detained by the police and charged with violating a provision of the administrative code requiring that individuals obtain government authorization prior to holding pickets. A court found her guilty and served her a penalty in the form of a warning. She appealed, and her appeals were denied or dismissed. She claims that the State party violated her rights under articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant pertaining to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.

Admissibility

Contrary to the State’s argument that domestic remedies were not exhausted because the author failed to seek review with the Prosecutor General, the Committee reiterated that a failure to seek discretionary review from a prosecutor does not constitute a failure to exhaust domestic remedies. Moreover, the author did submit requests to initiate supervisory review with two prosecutors’ offices and those requests were dismissed. The Committee observed that oneperson pickets do not normally fall under article 21 freedom of assembly protection and that the author’s claims instead fell under article 19. The Committee concluded that the author had not sufficiently substantiated her claim under article 21 of the Covenant and found her article 21 claim inadmissible.

Merits

The Committee found that the State party failed to justify the requirement that prior authorization be obtained prior to carrying out a single-person picket. Furthermore, the State party failed to demonstrate that the measures taken were least intrusive in nature or proportionate to the interest that it sought to protect. Thus, the restrictions imposed on the author were not justified and violated her article 19 rights.

Recommendations

The State party should, inter alia, take appropriate steps to provide the authors with adequate compensation and reimbursement of any legal costs incurred by her.

Implementation

Deadline for implementation: 6 September 2023

More information on the case:

— Association for Human Rights in Central Asia - Over the Last Year, the Situation in the Kazhak Service of RFE/RL Has Not Improved