CCPR/C/122/D/2228/2012 United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Distr.: General 6 June 2018 Original: English Human Rights Committee Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2228/2012*, ** Communication submitted by: Maya Abromchik (represented by counsel, Sergey Golubok) Alleged victim: The author State party: Belarus Date of communication: 9 August 2012 (initial submission) Document references: Decision taken pursuant to rule 97 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to the State party on 17 August 2012 (not issued in document form) Date of adoption of Views: 20 March 2018 Subject matter: Ill-treatment by the police Procedural issues: Exhaustion of domestic remedies; substantiation Substantive issues: Torture; effective investigation Articles of the Covenant: 2 (3) and 7 Articles of the Optional Protocol: 1, 2 and 5 (2) (b) 1. The author of the communication is Maya Abromchik, a national of Belarus born in 1989. She claims that the State party has violated her rights under article 7 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Belarus on 30 December 1992. The author is represented by counsel, Sergey Golubok. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 On the evening of 19 December 2010, the author intended to observe the peaceful assembly in the centre of Minsk that followed the announcement of the results of the presidential election in Belarus, together with her friends. After the event, at approximately 11.50 p.m., while moving along the avenue, the author and her friends were suddenly stopped by a special unit of the riot police. When the police attempted to detain some of the * Adopted by the Committee at its 122nd session (12 March–6 April 2018). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Tania María Abdo Rocholl, Yadh Ben Achour, Ilze Brands Kehris, Sarah Cleveland, Olivier de Frouville, Christof Heyns, Ivana Jelić, Bamariam Koita, Marcia V.J. Kran, Duncan Laki Muhumuza, Photini Pazartzis, Mauro Politi, José Manuel Santos Pais, Yuval Shany and Margo Waterval. GE.18-09118(E) 

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