Disproportionate punishments for participation in peaceful demonstrations

Facts

The four authors of the communications are nationals of Belarus. All the authors participated in peaceful demonstrations for different causes, for which they were subjected to hefty fines under the Code of Administrative Offenses or to arbitrary detention by the District Court. All their appeals were rejected. The authors did not attempt to lodge supervisory reviews with the judicial or prosecutorial authorities due to its ineffectiveness. The authors claim violations of their rights under articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant taken in conjunction with articles 2 (2) and (3) because the restrictions imposed to express their opinion in peaceful rallies were not necessary

Admissibility

The Committee agreed with the authors’ submission on the admissibility of their claims for violations under articles 19 and 21. However, it noted that provisions of article 2 cannot be invoked in a claim in a communication under the Optional Protocol in conjunction with other provisions of the Covenant, except when the failure by the State party to observe its obligations under article 2 is the proximate cause of a distinct violation of the Covenant directly affecting the individual claiming to be a victim.

Merits

The Committee observed that the domestic courts did not provide any justification or explanation as to how the authors’ participation in such peaceful assemblies had violated the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, as set out in article 21 of the Covenant. Neither has the State party provided any justification for restricting the authors’ rights under article 21 in its submissions before the Committee, particularly in light of the chilling effect of the imposed sanctions. With respect to article 19, the Committee was of the view that the State party failed to invoke and justify any specific grounds to support the necessity of such restrictions. Additionally, the State party also failed to demonstrate that the measures taken were the least intrusive ones. Therefore, it was concluded that the State party had violated the authors’ rights under articles 19 as well as 21 of the Covenant.

Recommendations

The State party is obligated to:

a) Provide the authors with adequate compensation, including reimbursement of the fines and any legal costs incurred by them;

b) Prevent similar violations from occurring in the future and revise its normative framework on public events, consistent with its obligation under article 2 (2), to ensure that the rights under articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant may be fully enjoyed in the State party.

Implementation

Deadline for implementation: 9 April 2024