Civil society groups petition Constitutional Court over controversial draft laws
Twenty-six civil society groups have petitioned the
Constitutional Court over controversial draft laws that would extend the
powers of the Committee for State Security (KGB), introduce additional
restrictions on street protests and tighten penalties for political and
civil society groups receiving foreign aid.
The petition was delivered to the court on Monday.
In it, the groups asked the court to examine the bills for their compliance with the country’s constitution.
The
court has time to do this now that the bill of amendments to the law
governing the operation of the KGB has not yet been debated by the
national legislature, while the two other bills have not yet been signed
by the head of state into law, the groups said.
They warned
that the pieces of legislation run counter to OSCE standards, as well as
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, apart from
being in violation of the country’s constitution.
The bills would pave the way for infringements on the citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms, the groups stressed.
The
petitioners included, among others, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee,
the Law Transformation Center, Alyaksandr Milinkevich’s Movement for
Freedom, the Mahilyow Human Rights Center and the Ecokom environmental
group. //BelaPAN