Executions and Travel Bans Latest Signs of Lukashenka’s Gross Human Rights Abuses
Washington
The execution without a fair trial of two men convicted of the Minsk metro bombing and a recent travel ban on human rights defenders and government critics in Belarus point to continued serious repression by the Lukashenka regime, according to Freedom House. The international community must continue to push back against Lukashenka’s blatant violations of fundamental freedoms.
Belarusian state television reported that the two men found guilty of last April’s metro bombing which killed 15 people and injured hundreds were put to death on March 17, despite international calls for clemency. The trial of Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov was rushed and marred by irregularities that raised serious concerns about its legitimacy, including accusations of torture and failure by the authorities to find a motive for the bombing. Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still carries out the death penalty.
“The unusual speed with which both men were tried and executed, despite all controversies in the case, calls into serious question Lukashenka’s commitment to the rule of law and any semblance of the right to a fair trial,” said Susan Corke, director of Eurasia programs at Freedom House.
News of these executions came as Belarus’ first post-Soviet leader, Stanislau Shushkevich, was barred from leaving the country this weekend after Belarusian authorities removed him from a train bound for neighboring Lithuania. Shushkevich, 77, said he was taken off the train heading to Vilnius on March 18 by border guards who offered no explanation. Several prominent journalists and opposition members have been barred from leaving the country in recent weeks, supporting rumors that authorities in Belarus have placed a list of 108 people, mostly human rights defenders and opposition activists, under a travel ban in retaliation for the visa restrictions and asset freeze recently imposed by the European Union on Belarusian officials. Such a ban would contradict Belarusian law, which denies exit only to debtors, draft dodgers, and criminal suspects.
“The travel ban against Belarusian democrats is in direct contravention, not only of international norms, but Belarusian law as well. The Belarusian authorities must lift the travel ban, respect the rights of its citizens and allow them to be a part of the international community. These troubling developments are evidence of an ongoing deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus,” noted Corke.
Belarus is considered by Freedom House to be one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. The country is ranked Not Free in Freedom in the World 2012, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2011.
For more information, visit:
Freedom in the World 2011: Belarus
Freedom of the Press 2011: Belarus
Freedom on the Net 2011: Belarus
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