July 31, Pozirk. The UN Human Rights Committee registered an appeal by Andrej Bastuniec, chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), against a court ruling to close down the association, his associate Barys Harecki has told Pozirk.
The BAJ filed the appeal in February 2023, just before Belarus’ withdrawal from the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Aleh Ahiejeŭ of the BAJ said.
Minsk’s decision to denounce the protocol deprived victims of human rights violations, who have been denied justice at the national level, of the opportunity to appeal to the UN.
Meanwhile the UN Human Right Council’s decisions have no statute of limitations and must be enforced by governments or after a change of government, Ahiejeŭ stressed.
Belarusian authorities’ decision to shut down the BAJ violates the right to freedom of association, guaranteed by Article 22 of the ICCPR, Bastuniec noted in the appeal.
Belarusian authorities outlawed the BAJ in August 2021, blacklisting it as an extremist group some six months later.
