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Case History: Elena Tonkacheva

Status: 
Threatened
About the situation

On 21 March 2017, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Belarus denied human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva’s request for a reduction of the term of her entry ban into Belarus. This is the third time her request has been denied.

About Elena Tonkacheva

elena_tonkachevaElena Tonkacheva is a prominent Belarusian human rights defender working for the promotion and defence of human rights in the country since 1996. Her organisation, Centre for Legal Transformation, is a group of legal experts and activists who work on human rights protection and education and carry out legal analysis.

31 March 2017
Human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva denied reduction of entry ban into Belarus

On 21 March 2017, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Belarus denied human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva’s request for a reduction of the term of her entry ban into Belarus. This is the third time her request has been denied.

Elena Tonkacheva is a human rights defender who has been actively involved in the promotion and defence of human rights in Belarus for twenty years. In 1996 she established the Centre for Legal Transformation, a non-governmental organisation which unites legal experts and activists who work on human rights protection and education, and carry out analytical and research activities in the field of law. Elena Tonkacheva has Russian citizenship, but she has resided in Belarus for the past thirty years. In January 2015 she was forced to relocate to Vilnus, Lithuania, where she has continued her human rights work.

On 21 March 2017, the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs dismissed the request from Elena Tonkacheva to reduce the term of her entry ban to Belarus and remove her name from the list of people denied entry to the country, which she submitted on 21 February 2017. It is noted in the denial that the permissible date of her re-entry into Belarus is 21 February 2018. On 6 January 2016 and 5 October 2016, Elena Tonkacheva submitted similar requests before the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs which were refused. The human rights defender was warned that violating the prohibition during the established period of time would mean facing criminal liability in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Article 371 of the Criminal Code. The penalty for violating this provision is up to three years' imprisonment.

On 5 November 2014, Elena Tonkacheva was ordered by the Pervomayskiy District Police department of Minsk to leave Belarus within one month and not return for three years. Her residence permit was nullified by authorities in October 2014. The human rights defender had violated public traffic regulations by exceeding established speed limits. The residence pemit of Elena Tonkacheva was valid until 2017. She appealed the decision before the courts of first and second jurisdiction, both of which upheld the decision.

Front Line Defenders is concerned by the revocation of Elena Tonkacheva's residence permit and the recent denial of permission for her to return to Belarus, where she has spent the last thirty years, which are believed to be directly linked to her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights in Belarus.

17 February 2016
Human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva denied permission to return to Belarus

On 15 February 2016, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Belarus officially rejected the request submitted by human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva for a reduction of the term of her ban from entering Belarus. Elena Tonkacheva has Russian citizenship but she has resided in Belarus for the past thirty years. In January 2015 she was forced to relocate to Vilnus, Lithuania, where she has continued her human rights work. On 15 January 2016, Elena Tonkacheva received a response from the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Belarus concerning her application for a reduction of the term of the ban prohibiting her from entering Belarus, which she had submitted on 6 January 2016. The request of the human rights defender was denied and she was warned that in case of her return to or stay in the territory of Belarus in violation of the prohibition during the established period of time, she will face criminal liability in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 371 of the Criminal Code. The penalty for violating the mentioned provision is up to three years' imprisonment. This was not the first attempt by the human rights defender to counter the decision to revoke her residence permit. The decision has now been appealed to all possible judicial instances and all available domestic remedies have been exhausted. On 5 November 2014, Elena Tonkacheva was ordered by the Pervomayskiy District Police department of Minsk to leave Belarus within one month and not return for three years, in view of the revocation of her residence permit in October 2014. The reason for the revocation was the fact that the human rights defender had violated public traffic regulations by exceeding established speed limits. The residence pemit of Elena Tonkacheva was valid until 2017.

16 January 2015
Police order to expel human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva upheld by court

On 13 January 2015, Pervomayskiy District Court in Minsk ruled to uphold the previous decision of the Office for Migration and Citizenship of Pervomayskiy District Police Department cancelling the residence permit of human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva ordering her to leave Belarus for three years.

On 5 November 2014, Pervomayskiy District Police Department decided to cancel Elena Tonkacheva's residence permit and ordered her to leave Belarus within one month, for three years. According to the authorities, the human rights defender violated public traffic regulations on a number of occasions when she exceeded the speed limit. These minor traffic offences were considered a “threat to public order” and were the official reason for the cancellation of Elena Tonkacheva's residence permit.

On 28 November 2014, Elena Tonkacheva appealed the decision in the Minsk City Police Department. However, on 12 December 2014 City Police Department dismissed her appeal. On 24 December 2014, she appealed the police's decision in court. The first court hearing was held on 8 January 2015 in Pervomayskiy District Court. Two defense witnesses testified in court that they were responsible for some of the traffic offences while driving Elena Tonkacheva's car. The defense also presented a petition with 7,000 signatures demanding that the human rights defender is not expelled from the country for such minor offences.

On 13 January 2015 the judge dismissed Elena Tonkacheva's appeal on grounds that she had committed at least four traffic offences while driving her car, as well as a fifth offence as a pedestrian as she crossed the road outside designated crossings. This, according to the court, constituted a “threat to public order” and was considered a legitimate ground for the three-year expulsion.

Elena Tonkacheva is going to appeal the verdict in Minsk City Court.

13 November 2014
Authorities cancel residence permit for human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva as she faces expulsion

On 30 October 2014, human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva, the head of the Centre for Legal Transformation, received a notification from Pervomayskiy District Police department in Minsk stating that her residence permit in Belarus has been nullified by the authorities, despite the fact that she has lived in the country on a permanent basis for the last thirty years.

According to the notification, authorities have begun the process of her expulsion from Belarus.

On 23 September 2014 Elena Tonkacheva was notified by authorities that they had begun the process of nullifying her residence permit. According to the notification, the human rights defender recently violated public traffic regulations by exceeding the speed limit while driving her car, which was recorded on the traffic police's speed cameras. Though Elena Tonkacheva has already paid a fine for the traffic violation, this minor offence has been used as an official basis to begin the cancellation process of her residence permit in Belarus.

On 2 October 2014, the human rights defender provided a detailed explanation to the district police department in Minsk stating that she has been living in Belarus since the age of fifteen when her family moved there. Elena Tonkacheva does not have any residence registration in the Russian Federation, where she has official citizenship, and her daughter is a citizen of Belarus. Elena Tonkacheva refrained from applying for Belarusian citizenship previously due to personal reasons. Her current residence permit was valid until 2017.

Since this notification has been issued, the human rights defender must now obtain temporary registration in Belarus. The human rights defender has been officially invited to Pervomayskiy District Police office where, on 5 November 2014, authorities will have a meeting “to examine the question” of her compulsory expulsion.

6 November 2014
Elena Tonkacheva ordered to leave the country in one month with prohibition to return for three years

On 5 November 2014 the Office for Migration and Citizenship of Pervomayskiy District Police Department in Minsk ordered human rights defender Ms Elena Tonkacheva to leave the country within one month.

She was also informed that she will be prohibited from visiting Belarus for the next three years. The human rights defender will appeal that decision in court.

Her most recent residence permit should have been valid until 2017.

On 30 October 2014 Elena Tonkacheva received a notification informing her that her residence permit was nullified by the authorities. According to the authorities, the human rights defender violated public traffic regulations on a number of occasions when she exceeded the speed limit while driving her car. These minor traffic offences were considered a “threat to public order” and became an official reason for Elena Tonkacheva's residence permit cancellation.

On 5 November 2014, the human rights defender was invited to attend a meeting in Pervomayskiy District Police Department in Minsk where the question of her expulsion from the country was examined. Elena Tonkacheva was allowed to present additional arguments to the authorities. During the meeting she presented a petition of more than 7,000 signatures against her expulsion from the country. Despite agreeing to accept the signatures, the authorities decided to expel her from Belarus.

Elena Tonkacheva will appeal the order to expel her from Belarus and the decision to cancel her residence permit. Her public traffic offences were minor and she has already paid the fines and the traffic police did not consider it necessary to cancel her driving licence.