First appeal against forced dactylography filed with UN Human Rights Committee

On 10 January Vasil Paliakou, head of the Homel regional branch of the United Civil Party, filed an individual communication with the UN Human Rights Committee concerning violation of Article 14 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the Republic of Belarus by forced dactylography.

Mr. Paliakou had been fined by the Savetski District Court of Homel for insubordination to the “lawful demand” of the police officer who had forced him to give his fingerprints. After his appeals against the fine were turned down by the Homel Regional Court and the Supreme Court, Vasil Paliakou applied to the UN.

In his communication he writes why forced dactylography violates his rights:

“Due to the existence of such provision in the national legislation of Belarus I was subject to adverse discrimination on the basis of my sex and year of birth, prohibited under article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By entering such selective approach into the national legislation, the Republic of Belarus has violated the principle of equality of all citizens before the law, because such personal characteristics as age and sex were introduced as grounds for adverse discrimination. As a result, a person is treated not as an individual, but as a representative group of people (citizens who are liable for military service). When I was summoned to the police station to be fingerprinted, I refused, because the police did not produce a single argument except the legal requirement according to which I was obliged to undergo the procedure of mandatory fingerprint registration."