Soviet-era ‘legal lynching’in Belarus: UN asked for measures against expelling HR activist

05.11.201407:17

On October 30, 2014, Yelena Tonkacheva, a well- known human rights defender and lawyer, received a notice of cancellation of her residence in the Republic of Belarus for …. excess of the speed limitations. The question of her expulsion from the country is to be considered today.

Belarusian human rights organisations appealed to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, as well as to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus with a request to urgently intervene. The urgent use of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council is provided for cases requiring an immediate reaction of Special Rapporteurs to serious pressure on human rights activists in a particular country. This procedure is used very seldom.

As HRC Viasna (Spring) reports, in their statement they indicate that this is not the first case Yelena Tonkacheva is pressurized in connection with her human rights activities. Fellow human rights activists consider unacceptable such actions of the state unacceptable, when human rights activities of citizens and organisations are impeded with the use of restriction of individual rights and freedoms.

Yelena Tonkacheva, Head of the Centre for Legal Transformation “Lawtrend” and a citizen of the Russian Federation, has been recently deprived of residence in Belarus, where she has permanently resided since 1985. The formal reason for this are the four cases of insignificant excess of the speed limitations by Yelena Tonkacheva while driving her car which were registered by video cameras of the traffic police.

Lawtrend is one of the leading human rights organisations in Belarus and has carried out legitimate human rights activities in the interests of the Belarusian society for many years already. Yelena herself is an example of professionalism in the field of jurisprudence, her colleagues stress. For more than 20-years’ work in the third sector, Yelena has helped many people, the organisation she heads has consulted a large number of non-profit organisations and conducted a large number of educational events and programs for students, they added in the statement.