Belarusian government appeals individual communications of Belarusian citizens at UN

The Belarusian authorities disagree with the registration of 56 individual communications of Belarusian citizens at the UN Human Rights Committee.

As stated to BelaPAN by human rights defender Raman Kisliak, the Belarusian government states that the individual communications were registered in violation of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In particular, they stated that according to it the Committee’s procedures, methods of work and precedent law mustn’t be taken into consideration during the registration of communications, that’s why they are going to consider the decisions adopted on these communications as invalid.

According to Raman Kisliak, the UN Human Rights Committee was established for supervision over the implementation of ICCPR and the Optional Protocol by the member states, whereas now Belarus demands that the Committee refused from all its previous work and replaced its explanation of ICCPR with an interpretation given by one of the states.

http://spring96.org/en/news/50588

News of Belarus

President welcomes the release of Ales Bialiatski

Today, Ales Bialiatski, a prominent Belarusian human rights defender who became the first laureate of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2013, was released from prison after spending almost three years behind bars.

Commission Starts Negotiations of Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements with Belarus

Commission DG for Home Affairs, Stefano Manservisi and Belarus Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna met in Brussels to launch the negotiations on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements between the EU and Belarus. Since 2011 the Commission has been regularly reminding of its readiness to launch the negotiations.

The negotiations will focus on agreements to facilitate the procedures for issuing short-stay visas as well as the readmission of irregular migrants between the European Union and Belarus.

Political prisoner Ales Bialiatski could walk free

The political prisoner can be “pardoned” if “it is proved the damage he caused with the tax fraud has been repaid.”