MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Belarus: arrest of Ales Bialatsky, human rights defender

13.9.2011

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure

Véronique De Keyser, Justas Vincas Paleckis, Kristian Vigenin, Marek Siwiec on behalf of the S&D Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0496/2011

B7‑0498/2011

European Parliament resolution on Belarus: arrest of Ales Bialatsky, human rights defender

The European Parliament,

-    having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus, in particular those of 12 May 2011, 10 March 2011, 20 January 2011 and of 17 December 2009;

- having regard to the Statement by the spokesperson of EU High Representative Catherine

Ashton on the arrest of Mr Ales Bialatski in Belarus, Brussels, 4 August 2011;

 

- having regard to the Council conclusions on Belarus, 3101st Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Luxembourg, 20 June 2011;

-  having regard to the Resolution on the Freedom of Association in the Republic of Belarus adopted by the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe on 22 June 2011;

-  having regard to the UN Human Rights Council resolution of 17 June 2011 condemning human rights violations before, during and after the presidential elections in Belarus and calling on the Belarusian government to end the "persecution" of opposition leaders;

-   having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A. whereas on 4 August 2011, the Chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and Vice

Chairman of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Bialatski was arrested and after being detained at the detention centre of the Interior Ministry he was officially charged under Article 243 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus ("concealment of profits on an especially large scale”) which could result in the sentence up to seven years of imprisonment and confiscation of all property; whereas Ales Bialatski's apartment in Minsk, as well as his home in Rakov, and the Human Right Center "Viasna" offices in Minsk were searched and his computer was seized;

 

B. whereas the arrest is linked to the transfer of Ales Bialatski's bank account details to the

Belarusian authorities by the EU Member States under the terms of a bilateral agreement

      on legal assistance; whereas the Belarusian tax authorities interpreted the amount on the

      account of Mr Bialatski’s as his personal income and accused him of concealing it;

 

C. whereas in reality, this money, which was transferred by international organisations, was

by no means used as personal funds but to finance the legitimate human rights activities of the Human Rights Center "Viasna", such as assistance provided to victims of the political repression in the post-electoral context,

 

 

D. whereas large number of opposition activists were detained for their participation in the post-election protest of 19 December 2010 in Minsk, most of whom have been released after serving short administrative sentences, while other opposition figures and journalists, including former presidential candidates, have been charged for "organising mass disorder" and have been imprisoned in KGB detention centre for long prison terms;

E. whereas on 14 May 2011, former presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a high security prison colony on charges of organizing mass protests in connection with the demonstrations of 19 December 2010; four other young opposition activists, who stood trial together with Sannikau, were also convicted of involvement in the riots and handed sentences: Uladzimir Yaromenka, Ilya Vasilevich (one of the youngest convicted, born in 1991) and Fyodar Mirzayanau (three years), Aleh Hnedchik (three and a half years), all of them in a high security prison colony;

 

F. whereas prominent journalist Iryna Khalip, the wife of Anrey Sinnikau, was sentenced on

16 May 2011 to a two year suspended prison term;

 

G. whereas on 20 May 2011, two former presidential candidates, Vladimir Nyaklyaev and

     Vitali Rymasheuski, were sentenced to two year suspended prison term and two years on

     probation respectively;

 

H. whereas on 26 May 2011, former presidential candidates Nikolai Statkevich and Dzmitri

      Uss received extremely harsh sentences of respectively six and five and a half years in a

      high security prison colony; whereas the sentences against Statkevich and Uss are the

      lengthiest so far in the string of trials against participants of the post election protest in

      Minsk;

 

1. Urges the Belarusian authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and

psychological integrity of Mr Ales Bialatski as well as of all human rights defenders in

Belarus;

 

2. Strongly condemns the arrest of Mr Ales Bialatski and the lack of respect for the

fundamental rights of freedom of assembly and of expression by Belarusian authorities and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and for all charges against them to be dropped as well as for their rehabilitation;

 

3. Condemns the actions against the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and urges Belarus to

respect the rule of law, international conventions and national laws and to bring to end the

ongoing harassment of political opponents, human rights activists and independent media;

 

4.   Stresses that legal aid between EU Member States and Belarus should not become a tool of political persecution and repression against political opponents;

 

 

5. Stresses that the renewal of the political dialogue with the official Minsk is possible only

      under clear conditions: release and full rehabilitation of all political prisoners and only if

      Belarus adopts the international standards of democracy, human rights and civil liberties;

 

6. Calls on the Belarusian government to respond to the European Commission invitation to

      start negotiations on visa fee reduction agreement;

 

7.   Calls on the Eastern Partnership Summit due to be held in Warsaw on 28-29 September 2011 to intensify its assistance and to engage effectively with the Belarusian democratic opposition and civil society organisations in order to encourage their democratic efforts and to strengthen their common accountability;

 

8. Calls on the EU Member States' authorities to coordinate more effectively the sharing of

      the data on individuals with undemocratic regimes in order to prevent this data being

      used for political purposes;

 

9. Urges the European Commission to introduce a single European judicial cooperation

mechanism with undemocratic regimes to prevent politically motivated use of

international legal instruments against these regimes' political opponents;

 

10. Calls on the European Commission to improve the Schengen information system data protection mechanisms issuing Schengen visa in order to eliminate mistakes of transliteration/transcription of names of individuals and companies from Cyrillic to Latin;

 

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe and the Parliament and Government of Belarus.