CCPR/C/133/D/2619/2015 Advance unedited version
before the law and equal protection of the law;
effective remedy
Articles of the Covenant:
2, 7, 9, 10, 14 (1), (2), (3) (b) (d) (e) (g), (5), 17,
19 (1) (2), 21, 22, 25
Articles of the Optional Protocol:
2
1.1
The author is Marina Adamovich, a Belarusian national born in 1961, who claims that
her husband, Mr. Mikalai1 Statkevich2, a Belarusian national born in 1956, is a victim of
violation, by Belarus, of his rights under articles. 2; 7; 9; 10; 14 (1, 2, 3 (b) (d) (e) (g), and
5); 17; 19 (1 and 2); 21; 22, and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(the Covenant). The Optional Protocol entered into force for Belarus on 30 December 1992.
The author is represented by counsel3.
1.2
On 7 May 2021, pursuant to rule 107 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteurs on New Communications and Interim
Measures rejected the State party’s request for the discontinuance of the complaint.
Factual background
2.1
Mr. Statkevich is the Chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, former
candidate for Belarus presidency and founder of the Belarusian Union of Military Personnel.
2.2
In 1994, Mr. Statkevich founded and headed a public commission for the oversight
and management of Belarusian presidential elections. In 1995, he became the Chairman of
the People’s Assembly. In 1996, Mr. Statkevich assumed the chairmanship of the newly
formed Belarusian Social Democratic Party. He was elected the chairman of the Eastern
European Social Democratic Forum in February 1999 and stood unsuccessfully for election
to the Belarusian parliament in 2000. In 2003, he became the leader of the European Coalition
“Free Belarus”. He ran as an opposition candidate in the 2001 and 2006 Belarusian
presidential elections. In an attempt to force him out of the elections, the authorities initiated
criminal proceedings against him on the eve of both of the presidential elections. Mr.
Statkevich gained further prominence as an advocate of democracy. He organized and led
over thirty demonstrations attended by several thousand people to protect democracy against
government policies in the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, he was arrested more than thirty
times and he was charged with crimes on at least three occasions. For example, on 1 May
1997, he was arrested for demonstrating against President Lukashenko’s policies aimed at
forging closer ties with the Russian Federation. In October 2004, Mr. Statkevich organized a
peaceful protest against the results of a referendum that lifted the constitutional limits on the
number of presidential terms extending President Lukashenko’s term indefinitely, and about
irregularities in the October 2004 parliamentary elections. He was arrested, and on 31 May
2005, convicted and sentenced to three years of imprisonment for his role in the protest. In
2006, Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of conscience. In July 2007, he
was released on parole.
2.3
In 2009, Mr. Statkevich was nominated to stand as the Social Democratic Party’s
opposition candidate in the 2010 presidential election. Throughout his campaign, he was
harassed on a number of occasions by the security forces, which, for example, seized his
campaign materials, recorded his phone conversations, and confiscated a speaker system.
2.4
On 19 December 2010, the presidential elections were held amongst ten candidates.
On the same day, before the announcement of the official results, supporters of the opposition
presidential candidates and non-partisan opponents of the President in power gathered in the
1
2
3
2
The counsel indicates that the author’s first name can also be spelt Mykalai, Mykalau, Nikolai,
Mikola.
At time of the communication submission, Mr. Statkevich was imprisoned. He was released from
prison on 22 August 2015 after receiving a presidential pardon.
The author is jointly represented by: Freedom Now, McKool Smith PC and Hogan Lovells US LLP.
On 4 September 2014, the Secretariat informed that as the main counsel, to whom all the
correspondence should be sent, is Mr M. Scheimer from Hogan Lovells US LLP.