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Baranavichy government bans International Human Rights Day demonstration

The Baranavichy City Executive Committee has rejected an application for permission to stage a demonstration on December 10 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.

The application was filed by human rights defender Syarhey Howsha and Viktar Syrytsa, chairman of the local chapter of the Movement for Freedom.

The demonstration was to be staged between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the old park on Kamsamolskaya Street, the only place in the city of some 170,000 people designated for "mass events."

The objective of the demonstration was to spread information about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mr. Syrytsa told BelaPAN.

"As far as I understood from the city government's reply, our demonstration has been banned because we failed to sign a contract that would require police officers to maintain public order during the event," he said. "However, the police refused to sign any contracts with us. That is why I view the ban as a violation of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression."