The reason for such a radical decision of the Belarusian authorities was the fact that the complaint Mr. Zhuravlev prepared and sent on behalf of the UN Committee on Human Rights (CHR), a human rights activist, Paul Levinau.
From the comments of the government it is clear that the Belarusian government has greatly offended by the Committee for the registration of complaints Zhuravlev, sent Levinau. In addition, dissatisfaction with the state was the fact that the Committee did not deign to inform the authorities about the reasons for any victim – M. Zhuravlev was unable to file its own complaint. Thus, the Belarusian authorities consider a violation of the procedure for filing complaints to the HRC.
Furthermore, the State – the alleged infringer of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, insists that the Human Rights Committee shall not consider any communication from individuals unless it has ascertained that the individual has exhausted all available domestic remedies.
Substantiating his claim, the Belarusian government in its comments on the complaint Zhuravlev wrote: "information in the message indicates that the person on whose behalf the message is presented, were not exhausted all available in Belarus remedies. Mikhail Zhuravlev did not use the right to appeal to the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus ".
Seeing in these facts of procedural irregularities, the Belarusian authorities have rejected the complaint Zhuravlev and informed the Committee that further consideration of the complaint Zhuravlev HRC will be considered by the state as the promotion of the author, Paul Levinau to acts not provided procedural documents of the Committee, and the abuse of the right to appeal to international bodies.
In the last sentence of his commentary on the March 26, 2015 the Government of Belarus informed the Committee on the termination of further correspondence with him on a complaint by Mikhail Zhuravlev.
In its reply comments activist Paul Levinau decisively rejects the arguments of the State of the Republic of Belarus, on the basis of which it has ceased to correspond with the UN Human Rights Committee, and assesses them as incompetent and Procedure, and in the actual sense.
Human rights groups say that the right to appeal to the HRC on behalf of Mikhail Zhuravlev he received after making an official document – the power of attorney of the latter on the conduct of the case by the Committee. In the report it stated that Mikhail Zhuravlev is disabled pensioners and can’t fully prepare himself a complaint to the HRC.
It should be noted that in international practice, such a relationship between the applicant and his team recognized the legitimate and reasonable and are sufficient for the protection of persons in all instances up to the international.
Levinau also reports that the judge of the court of Pervomaisky district of Vitebsk Natalia Korablina that in October 2012, Mikhail Zhuravlev was brought to administrative responsibility for the distribution of the newspaper "Vitebsky Kurier", was appealed in cassation and supervisory review. But the Belarusian courts denied him the protection of his civil rights.
As for the argument of the state, though Mikhail Zhuravlev had not exhausted all domestic remedies, do not complain to the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus, in fact, such a complaint was filed in April 2013, and the General Prosecutor's Office requested it by the prosecutor of the city of Vitebsk. Prosecutor of the right to lodge a protest against the decision of the administrative case against Mikhail Zhuravlev not used. Thus, it concludes Levin, Zhuravlev were not only exhausted all internal efficiency but also an extraordinary remedy.
This activist concludes that his actions are no violations of UN procedures, under which the Human Rights Committee should complete its consideration of complaint Zhuravlev, and insists on its further consideration.
Vitebsk Spring
