Biélorussie: perquisition au domicile de Zhanna Popova et détention arbitraire des défenseurs Viacheslav Andreev et Olga Karatch

Your Excellency,

I am deeply concerned following reports of a search of the home of Zhanna Popova and of the arbitrary detention of Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch. Zhanna Popova is executive director of the Vitebsk Kurier (Vitebsk Courier) Publishing House, which publishes the Vitebsk Courier M newspaper. Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch are human rights defenders involved in the Our House Campaign for promotion of human rights. Olga Karatch is the leader of the campaign and of the women's rights organisation Female Centre "Adliga".

On 23 July 2008, at approximately 7.50 am, plainclothes officers of the Vitebsk Regional Department of Organized Crime (UBOP) arrived at the home of Zhanna Popova and conducted a search. In the course of the search, which lasted two hours, 11 diskettes, 7 compact discs and other information-storage devices were confiscated by the agents who also attempted to take Zhanna Popova's computer with them. The officers reportedly explained that the confiscation of these items was due to the fact that they might contain instructions on how to construct a bomb.

The UBOP officers stated that the search was being carried out in connection with a bombing in Minsk on 4 July 2008, although reports indicate that it may have been due to a letter written by Zhanna Popova to the Chief of Vitebsk Police in connection with confiscation of editions of the Vitebsk Courier M newspaper by authorities on 24 April 2008.

Following the search, Zhanna Popova was brought to the office of the Vitebsk UBOP for questioning. When Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch followed by taxi, their vehicle was reportedly blocked by officers who subsequently pulled Viacheslav Andreev from the taxi. Both human rights defenders were then brought to Zheleznodorozhny Police Precinct, where officers attempted to take their fingerprints and photographs, ostensibly for inclusion in a civic database. All three individuals were reportedly released after a few hours.

I believe that the search of the home of Zhanna Popova and the arbitrary detention of Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch are a direct result of their legitimate and non-violent activities in defence of human rights. In view of these reports, I express its concern for the physical and psychological integrity of those named and of all those involved in the Our House Campaign.

I call on the Belarusian authorities to:

1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the search of the home of Zhanna Popova and the arbitrary detention of Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

2. Guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Zhanna Popova, Viacheslav Andreev and Olga Karatch;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and human rights organisations in Belarus are free to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals.

I respectfully remind you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals.

I would particularly draw attention to Article 6 (c) which states that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”, and to Article 12 (2): “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present declaration.”

Yours sincerely,