At the end of October in Geneva, Switzerland UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the official report of Belarus has been heard about the country's achievements in the advancement of women. Among the Belarusian human rights defenders who happen to be present at the discussion of the report and read out was Viciebsk human rights activist Leonid Svetik.
Mr. Leonid kindly agreed to give a short interview to our edition.
From 24 to 29 October, you are in Geneva, which hosted the 65th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Say a few words about your trip.
The visit was organized by the Polish human rights organization "Human Rights Helsinki Foundation", which is located in Warsaw. The purpose of the trip was to acquaint the Belarusian human rights defenders with the work of international non-governmental organizations that interact with virtually all UN agencies.
An important part of the visit was to get acquainted with the daily activities of the UN treaty bodies. Meetings were held with senior officials of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and with the employees of the Secretariat of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
During the visit, I was wondering how the special UN Human Rights Council's procedures, and how to use them in their human rights activities.
The main event, of course, was the 65th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which was considered the eighth periodic report of the Republic of Belarus.
And what is your impression of the report?
Report of the Republic of Belarus read out the deputy chairman of the Council of the Republic of Marianna Shchetkina. Like any bureaucratic report, it contained little actual material, there were many common and controversial statements about the situation of women in Belarus. The state has virtually no self-criticism. Overall send the report to the world community – Belarus women's rights is simply remarkable, and the existing individual small flaws in the coming years will be completely eliminated.
In addition, the report has not been adapted to the reading at the international level, it contains the abbreviated names of the Belarusian authorities and organizations, was filled with a variety of technical terms, making it difficult to accurately translate and, as a result, the report turned out to be difficult for the perception of the audience.
How to keep the official Belarusian delegation during the presentation and discussion of the report?
It should be noted that the statement made by the government to prepare seriously before the committee. Also the head of Marianne Shchetkina, in the delegation were experts from many Belarusian ministries and departments. The impression that these mid-level officials are deeply aware of the problem of the country's female population. They have adequate statistics and health of girls and women, and about women's conditions of detention in prisons, and the difficulties of registration of women's rights groups. It may be noted that they are finely versed in the problems of the Belarusian prostitution, female alcoholism, HIV and AIDS, oral and vaginal contraceptive, the difficulties of the Roma ethnic women, the difficulties of adaptation of migrants, in the nuances of the survival of older women and young girls in many other aspects concerning the rights and freedoms of women.
However, conspicuous, and that ordinary members of the country's official delegation to perceive what is happening as a battle in which you must defeat the enemy by any means – the international community and present the Belarusian human rights defenders. Even during the break kept wary, we walked the Palais des Nations only in the group. When asked to take a picture together with fellow-defenders inadequately responded with a categorical refusal.
And what elements of the report became the most memorable for you personally?
I remember Mrs. Shchetkina response to a question about why the housewives have to pay the tax for "parasitism", if their children are older than seven years. This, according to one of the members of the committee, direct discrimination lies Belarusian housewives.
Marianne Akindinovna long and confusing urged the Committee members and all those present that the procedure for determining the social dependency is still in the testing stage. What is the public proposal to raise the age at which the tax will be calculated their parents, from 7 to 14 years.
Unfortunately, the present human rights defenders were not procedurally possible to expose the lie of the former Minister of Labor and Social Protection. It has been more than a month, as the Belarusian "parasites" were to discover in their mailboxes, "chain letters" from the tax authorities with the request to pay the discriminatory, shameful tax.
Nevertheless, with the help of international organizations, the Belarusian government and civil society finally began to conduct a dialogue on international markets. It is a fact. What can you say about this?
I only welcome the fact that human rights defenders and other representatives of the Belarusian civil society appear possible debate with our government representatives at international fora. While this cannot be called a dialogue. But I am convinced optimist and believe that participation in international events would help civil society activists to reach out to government officials and have their voices heard.
Lyavon Yafremenka
