Freedom of expression stifled in Belarus

Freedom of expression stifled in Belarus, in media and on Internet, UN rights expert warns

GENEVA (6 November 2015) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus has called on the country to start reforming its laws and practices that have for two decades stifled its citizens' right to freedom of expression.

In his report to the General Assembly, Special Rapporteur Miklos Haraszti found that Belarusians’ rights to freedom of expression, as stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was being seriously curtailed. He congratulated the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature, Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, but regretted that her work has not been published in her country, illustrating how thoroughly freedom of opinion and information are suppressed by a barrage of punitive laws, administrative regulations, and governmental institutions.

“Critical opinion and fact-finding are curtailed by the criminalization of content that is deemed 'harmful for the State'; by criminal defamation and insult laws that protect public officials and the President in particular from public scrutiny; and by 'extremism' laws that ban reporting on political or societal conflicts," Haraszti said.

"Media pluralism is absent. Belarus is the only country in Europe with no privately owned nationwide broadcasting outlets. Media independence is rendered impossible through a permission-based system of registration and arbitrary rules regarding the revoking of licenses," he continued.

The Special Rapporteur said that until last year, Belarusians had benefited from a space of free expression on the Internet. However, amendments to the law on mass media, adopted in December 2014, have put practically all Internet-based forms of expression under direct government control, and authorized a long list of authorities to order Internet providers to block unwanted content.

The system-wide violations of the right to freedom of expression are further aggravated by the systematic harassment of journalists who challenge the denial of their rights. Short-term detention of reporters covering unauthorized events on the Internet is adding to the level of intimidation and self-censorship.

While commending the fact that the October 11 presidential election took place without violence, he deplored that the voters were deprived of the benefits of diverse media, which is crucial for an informed, free and fair competition.

"The road to free elections goes through pluralism, and the right to speak and to know,” the Special Rapporteur said.

"Belarus needs to engage in a broad reform of its oppressive media governance, in consultation with all media and civil society actors," Haraszti concluded. "An important part of compliance with its international human rights obligations is the need to change the laws on foreign media support and accreditation, which today obstruct and punish interaction,” he pointed out.

ENDS

© Scoop Media