Valiantsin Stefanovich: ‘Belarusian Authorities Continue Violating and Restricting Civil Right to Association’

14.05.2007.

The Ministry of Justice has considered materials concerning the state registration of the youth NGO ‘Young social-democrats – Young Hramada’ and decided to deny registration. In the official paper, received by the association from the Ministry of Justice, it is said that its charter didn’t meet the demands of article 9 part 3 of the law On public associations.

The Ministry of Justice stated that the charter didn’t include the norm that guaranteed the periodical summoning of the auditing organs of the organizational structures of the public association. This trifle could be corrected, but such variant would hardly satisfy the Ministry of Justice, which decided not to give to the NGO any time for correcting its charter.

Besides, as it follows from the ministry’s letter, the initiators of the establishment of the NGO violated article 13 of the law On public associations and didn’t present the list of members of the control-revision organ. Thus, the Ministry of Justice refused to give the state registration to the public association ‘Young social-democrats – Young Hramada’ and its symbols. The answer was signed by the chair of the department of public associations A.Slizheuski.

The human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich commented on the refusal of the Ministry of Justice: ‘The tendencies remain unchanged. The authorities don’t want to register public associations. On the contrary, the latter ones are liquidated, as it has recently happened with the Belarusian Literary Fund. The situation didn’t change even after the abolishment of the State commission on registration (re-registration) of public associations, which our officials representatives like to boast of at OSCE summits and other international forums. The Belarusian authorities continue violating and restricting the civil right to association. It takes place against the background of total criminal persecution of activists of civil society for membership in unregistered organizations.’

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