Administrative detention and fines for individuals participating in unauthorized peaceful demonstrations in Kazakhstan

Facts

The authors of the communication are eight nationals of Kazakhstan who are civic activists. The authors of communications No. 3044/2017 and No. 3045/2017 claim that they intended to participate in a demonstration concerning the lease of agricultural land to China, and posted information about it on their social media accounts beforehand. The authors were arrested and sentenced to 15 day’s administrative detention for breaching an article of the administrative offences code on organizing and holding peaceful assemblies. The courts found that the authors had not received authorization for the event and had violated procedure by posting information about an unauthorized public event. The authors’ appeals and requests for prosecutorial review were dismissed. The authors claim that their right to freedom of expression under article 19 (2) of the Covenant, and their right to freedom of peaceful assembly under article 21 of the Covenant, were violated by the sanctions imposed on them. They further claim that the courts ignored their arguments and did not consider international principles concerning freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, in violation of articles 14 (3) (b) and 14 (3) (c) of the Covenant.

The author of communication No. 3063/2017 is a journalist who was arrested when leaving a city area where a demonstration was being held. She was sanctioned by a specialized administrative court and fined, as it was determined that she had been the organizer of the meeting. The court found that the author was encouraging people not to leave and to continue the unauthorized demonstration. The author’s appeal and requests for supervisory review were rejected. The author claims that her right to freedom of expression under article 19 (2) of the Covenant, and her right to freedom of peaceful assembly under article 21 of the Covenant, was violated by the sanctions imposed on her.

The author of communication No. 3072/2017 published information on his social media account about an unauthorized meeting to be held in support of two human rights defenders who had been arrested. The author was arrested as he was approaching the location of the event, and an administrative court sentenced him to a sanction of 10 days’ administrative detention after concluding that the author had become an organizer of the event. The author’s appeals and requests for review were rejected. The author claims violations of his rights under articles 19 (2) and 21 of the Covenant, and a general violation of article 14 of the Covenant, based on similar arguments.

Admissibility

The Committee considered the claims in communications No. 3044/2017, No. 3045/2017 and No. 3072/2017, that the authors’ rights under articles 14, 14 (3) (b) and 14 (3) (c) of the Covenant had been violated, because domestic courts did not consider their arguments and did not consider their cases in the light of articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant. The Committee considered that the authors had failed to sufficiently substantiate the claims, and they were therefore inadmissible. In addition, the Committee considered that the author of communication No. 3063/2017 failed to provide arguments to substantiate how her right to exercise her freedom of expression under article 19 (2) of the Covenant was breached in the factual context of her case. Therefore, that author’s claim under article 19 (2) of the Covenant was inadmissible.

The Committee considered that the remainder of the authors had sufficiently substantiated their claims under article  19 (2) and that all the authors had sufficiently substantiated their claims under article 21 of the Covenant for the purposes of admissibility.

Merits

The Committee considered that the facts disclose a violation of article 19 (2) in relation to the authors of communications No. 3044/2017, No. 3045/2017 and No. 3072/2017 and of article 21 of the Covenant with regard to the authors of all the communications. The Committee concluded that sentencing the authors of communications No. 3044/2017, No. 3045/2017 and No. 3072/2017 to a sanction of deprivation of liberty for 10 or 15 days, for sharing invitations to a peaceful but unauthorized public event, was not a necessary and proportionate measure pursuant to the conditions set out in article 19 (3) of the Covenant. As a result, the Committee concluded that those authors’ rights under article 19 (2) had been violated.

In addition, the Committee noted that the State party had sanctioned the authors for violating an authorization regime for organizing a peaceful assembly, which itself raises issues of compatibility with the Covenant. The State party did not attempt to demonstrate that the sanctions of a fine, or 10 or 15 days of administrative detention, were necessary and proportionate under article 21 of the Covenant. The Committee therefore concluded that the State party had violated article 21 of the Covenant with regard to all authors.

Recommendations

The State party should, inter alia:

• (a) make full reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights have been violated;
• (b) take appropriate steps to provide the authors with adequate compensation and reimbursement of the imposed fine for the author of communication No. 3063/2017 and any legal costs incurred by all of the authors; and
• (c) take all steps necessary to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future.

Implementation

Deadline for implementation: 19 September 2024