“This clearly disproportionate measure has been taken by the Government in retaliation for Ms. Tonkacheva’s human rights work in the country. Such an act constitutes a violation of Belarus’s human rights obligations under international law.” – stressed Haraszti.
It should be recalled, that the UNHRC rapporteur on Belarus was appointed in 2012. The mandate of Miklós Haraszti is not recognized by the Belarusian authorities, who refuse to cooperate with him, but the Belarusian human rights defenders meet regularly with the Special Rapporteur outside Belarus.
Elena Tonkacheva – human rights defender, the Chairperson of the Board of the Centre for Legal Transformation (Lawtrend). She has Russian citizenship, and was deported for three years from Belarus in February 2015 after having lived here for about 30 years. Law enforcement agencies cancelled her residence permit in Belarus, claiming that it was based on the numerous administrative offenses Tonkacheva (mostly – speed limit violations). During the court proceedings the human rights defender herself claimed that it was not her, who drove the car in most cases of the offenses. Colleagues and associates of Tonkacheva say that her deportation is a result of her human rights activities. The information on the fact that on 29 October the decision to cancel residence permit in Belarus of the Chairperson of the Board of the Centre for Legal Transformation Elena Tonkacheva was noted in the analytical review, covering the period from October to December 2014, drafted by the Belarusian human rights defenders.
Civil activists collected 7,000 signatures on the petition not to deport Tonkacheva from the country.Civil society representatives believe that the actions of the authorities are disproportionate and represent politically motivated sanctions, closely related to the professional activities of the human rights defender.
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The analytical review of the human rights situation in October-December 2014 is published
Human rights defenders met with the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Belarus
The Court turned down the appeal of human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva
