CEDAW/C/49/D/23/2009
Annex
Views of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women under article 7, paragraph 3,
of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(forty-ninth session)
Communication No. 23/2009*
Submitted by:
Inga Abramova (represented by counsel)
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Belarus
Date of communication:
3 April 2009 (initial submission)
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
established under article 17 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women,
Meeting on 25 July 2011,
Adopts the following:
Views under article 7, paragraph 3, of the Optional Protocol
1.
The author of the communication, dated 3 April 2009, is Inga Abramova, a
national of Belarus born in 1986. She claims to be a victim of violation by Belarus
of her rights under article 2, paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f), article 3 and article 5,
paragraph (a), read in conjunction with article 1 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the Convention”). The
author is represented by counsel, Roman Kisliak. The Convention and its Optional
Protocol entered into force for the State party on 4 March 1981 and 3 May 2004,
respectively.
Facts as presented by the author
2.1 On 10 October 2007, the author, who is a journalist and activist of the “For
Freedom” movement, was hanging blue ribbons in the city of Brest, Belarus, in
order to draw public attention to the “European March” campaign that was to be
held in Minsk on 14 October 2007. At 7.50 p.m., she was arrested by a police officer
of the Interior Division of the Brest Regional Executive Committee and taken to the
* The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the present
communication: Ms. Ayse Feride Acar, Ms. Nicole Ameline, Ms. Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla,
Ms. Magalys Arocha Dominguez, Ms. Violet Tsisiga Awori, Ms. Barbara Evelyn Bailey,
Ms. Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani, Mr. Niklas Bruun, Ms. Naela Mohamed Gabr, Ms. Ruth
Halperin-Kaddari, Ms. Yoko Hayashi, Ms. Ismat Jahan, Ms. Soledad Murillo de la Vega,
Ms. Violeta Neubauer, Ms. Pramila Patten, Ms. Silvia Pimentel, Ms. Maria Helena Lopes de Jesus
Pires, Ms. Victoria Popescu, Ms. Zohra Rasekh, Ms. Patricia Schulz, Ms. Dubravka Šimonović
and Ms. Zou Xiaoqiao.
2
11-51730