Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

On 10 August, Human Rights Center “Viasna” reported that it received an answer from the General Prosecutor’s Office about a request it and others NGOs (Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Center “Viasna”, Committee for Protection of the Repressed “Solidarity”, the Centre for Legal Transformation, and the Center for Human Rights) had made to discuss illegal preventive detention.

The Head of the Department for Supervision over the observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, M.V.Papova, simply made a bureaucratic response stating that “given that you are not a person to whom, in prescribed order, is delegated the right to represent the interests of these citizens, there are no sufficient grounds to consider your appeal”. But human rights activists in their address didn’t ask to represent the interests of citizens in administrative processes, but only meet with the Attorney General of the Republic of Belarus, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus to discuss the situation, prevent illegal practices, and bring the perpetrators to justice. Basically, they didn’t hear an answer from the Prosecutor General’s Office. The Deputy of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich said “representatives of the Belarusian human rights organizations expressed their concern that illegal and politically motivated detentions and arrests of political and civil activists have actually become a norm in the country. It is very unfortunate that not only representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also judges are involved in these processes. This problem we planned to discuss with senior officials, whose responsibility is to protect legitimate rights of citizens of the country. We did not complain to the sentences of the courts, did not intend to represent these citizens in these public bodies and institutions. It is a pity that the General Prosecutor’s Office declined in an ostrich style the offer of the human rights defenders“.

from: General Prosecutor’s Office covers preventive arrests of oppositionists – Charter97 :: News from Belarus – Belarusian News – Republic of Belarus – Minsk.