Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refused to recognize the decision of the Committee on Human Rights of the United Nations. This was reported Vitebsk defender Paul Levinau (pictured), who treated the Foreign Ministry with a request to inform him of the date on which the committee's decision will be made about his complaints made at the 105th session of the Committee in July 2012.
Paul Levinau applied to the Human Rights Committee after repeated prohibitions of the Vitebsk on him to arrange pickets. Before he tried to challenge the bans in Belarusian courts, but in vain. Human rights defenders were sent to the HRC nine messages, according to the number of prohibited pickets. Due to significant factual and legal similarities of all these messages, the committee decided to combine them. The verdict of the UNCHR adopted regarding Paul Levinau: depriving the authors of the right to freedom of information and ideas, Belarus has violated Paragraph 2 of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
"The State party should provide the author with an effective remedy, which should include compensation, as well as covering the legal costs paid by the author. The Committee invites the State party to review the relevant legislation on the organization of public events in order to bring it into line with the requirements of Article 19 of the Covenant. The State party should also ensure that such violations do not occur in the future "- proclaimed in the UN Human Rights Committee decision on the appeals Paul Lyavinau.
The Committee asked the Belarusian authorities for 180 days to provide information on measures taken to implement the Committee stated position and publish the position and make it available in the country in Russian and Belarusian.
180 days available to the Committee on the implementation of its decisions, has passed. None of that should the Belarusian authorities did not. No compensation was Paul Levinau, and of course, the law on the organization of events was not altered.
Unfortunately, it has become a tradition that the authorities simply do not pay attention to the UN Human Rights Committee decision. But now they have gone further than usual. In the course of the proceedings in the committee in the correspondence with the last Belarusian side has stated that he believes Paul Levinau's message registered allegedly in violation of the provisions of the Optional Protocol, and therefore, they say, for consideration by the State party of no legitimate reason. It was stated that States parties are not obliged to accept the rules of procedure and interpretation of the provisions of the protocol, and that the decisions taken by the Committee on these reports, the authorities will be considered "invalid."
This unprecedented ratio of Belarus to the HRC decisions reflected in the outcome document of the Committee on the matter: "The Committee recalls that paragraph 2 of Article 39 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows it to set its own rules of procedure, which the participating States agreed to recognize. The Committee further notes that, as a party to the Optional Protocol, the State - party to the Covenant recognizes the competence of the Human Rights Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals claiming to be victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant (Preamble and Article 1). From the fact of accession to the Protocol states that the State is committed to working with the Committee in good faith."
"Any action taken by the State party, the Committee in preventing consideration and study reports, and reports his findings, or make these actions of the Committee negligible, are incompatible with these obligations. Committee itself the right to determine whether to register a particular case. The Committee notes that the non-recognition of the competence of the Committee for determining whether to register a particular message as a direct statement that the State party does not accept the message of the Committee on the admissibility and merits of the communication is a violation of the State party's obligations under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ", - emphasized in addressing the UN HRC.
While all attempts authoritative organ of the United Nations such as the Belarusian authorities to reach and persuade them to honor their agreements under international obligations remain a voice crying in the wilderness. Authorities stand firm on its "Your messages have been registered by the Committee on Human Rights, in violation of ... Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ... The Committee informed that the decisions taken reportedly registered in breach of the Optional Protocol would be invalid, "- said in a letter to Paul Levinau from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It turns out, the authorities intend to continue to bid defiance to the Committee on Human Rights, as Belarusian, thus no longer exists any means of effective legal protection?
