CE Conference of INGOs condemns poor exercise of freedom of association in Belarus

The Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution on the freedom of association in Belarus, reiterating its demand to the Belarusian authorities to ensure the full observance of the international standards on the freedom of association in the country.

The resolution “deplores the resumed application of the Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus criminalising the participation in the work of unregistered public organisations, notably in the case the of President of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski who received an official warning about the inadmissibility of violating this article from the General Prosecutor’s Office, which was further upheld by a court decision.”

The Conference of INGOs “is also deeply concerned by the second warning received by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee from the Ministry of Justice accusing BHC of tax evasion on technical support projects received in 2002-2003 under the European Union's TACIS programme, which is sufficient to institute legal proceedings for closing this human rights NGO down.”

The full text of the resolution can be found at: http://www.coe.int/t/ngo/Articles/CONF_PLE_2011_RES3_Belarus_en.asp