Background:

On 9 March 2011 the Chairperson of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly requested the Venice Commission to assess the compatibility with international human rights standards of the warning addressed by the Ministry of Justice of Belarus to the Belarusian Helsinki Committee.

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus issued a written warning to the BHC on 12 January 2011, the day after the BHC had sent a communication to the UN Special Rapporteur.  In its statement, the BHC said inter alia that about 700 arrested persons in the aftermath of presidential elections were not allowed to meet their advocates in private. The warning stated that the said communication was “an attempt to discredit the Republic of Belarus in the eyes of the international community.

Conclusions of the Commission

As the Venice Commission stated in its opinion on a warning directed by the Ministry of Justice to the Belarusian Association of Journalists[1] Belarus as a party to the ICCPR is under legally binding obligations to respect and protect fundamental civil and political rights such as freedom of expression (Article 19), freedom of association (Article 22) and all other rights laid down in the Covenant.

As a candidate country for membership of the Council of Europe and an associate member of the Venice Commission, the European Convention jurisprudence is a relevant frame of reference to assess if the contested conduct by Belarus public authorities is in conformity with European human rights standards and the international human rights treaties that Belarus has ratified.[2]

The rights to freedom of expression and of association are of paramount importance in any democratic society and any restriction of these must meet a strict test of justification[3] .

By contesting the BHC communication to the General Rapporteur and its content and by trying to interfere in the organisation and activities of the association, the Ministry of Justice’s warning has infringed the right of association and of expression of the BHC.

The Venice Commission considers that the grounds invoked to justify issuing the warning directed at the BHC do not stem from a pressing social need in a democratic society. They are disproportionate and the reasons adduced are neither relevant nor sufficient.

Hence, in the opinion of the Venice Commission, the warning of the Ministry of Justice constitutes a violation of Articles 19 and 22 of the ICCPR and 10 and 11 of the ECHR.

Moreover, the Venice Commission considers that the chilling effect of the warning directed against the BHC, jeopardises not only the registered statute of the BHC but also affects the status of all human rights defenders in the Republic of Belarus. More generally, it puts an unlawful threat on public criticism and political debate on human rights.

The Venice Commission recalls that the international human rights obligations of the Republic of Belarus not only demand that the authorities respect the rights of dissident voices but also that they protect civil society organisations and their members in doing their duty of promoting universal human rights standards.

Text of the opinion CDL-AD(2011)026