PACE to Hear Report on Abuses of Belarus' Criminal Justice System

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), at its plenary session on April 15, is scheduled to hear a report, titled "Abuse of the Criminal Justice System in Belarus."

The report was drafted by Christos Pourgouride of Cyprus, rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Right.

The document expresses deep regret about "numerous politically-motivated abuses of the criminal justice system that have taken place in recent years and are still taking place in the Republic of Belarus, including the arbitrary application of specific provisions criminalizing legitimate, peaceful activities of opposition parties, non-governmental organizations and independent media, and arbitrary convictions of political opponents, following unfair court proceedings, under general criminal provisions such as embezzlement, fraud, counterfeit or tax evasion."

It says that officials ordering or participated in the abuses should be held accountable personally.

The document urges the Belarusian authorities to repeal criminal penalties for activities carried out on behalf of an unregistered organization, introduce a moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty.

It calls on judges, police officers and prosecutors to avoid "to the best of their ability participating in abuses of the criminal justice system and to bring to bear their personal courage and imagination in order to mitigate the effects of the abusive legislation on its victims."

It "encourages" Belarusian and international rights defenders to keep a record "in a transparent and objective manner" of politically-motivated abuses.

It also encourages the European Union and the United States to continue imposing targeted sanctions on officials responsible for serious human rights violations.

It proposes the establishment of a working group whose goals could include both assistance to victims of human rights abuses and the identification of the perpetrators, and calls on all Council of Europe member states and "in particular Russia to intervene with the Belarusian authorities in favor of political prisoners." //BelaPAN