Many of the measures employed are also aimed at discouraging people from exercising the rights to freedom of assembly and expression altogether. The decree seriously inhibits the organization and preparation of demonstrations, provides for extremely strict rules to be observed by demonstrators and establishes a system of exorbitant fines. The decree therefore seriously restricts the rights to freedom of assembly and expression and illustrates President Lukashenka's wish to weaken the effectiveness of demonstrations and to discourage people from organizing and participating in them. The last provision is clearly not consistent with international standards on the right to freedom of expression, yet it has already been used to convict demonstrators. The decree's other myriad restrictions are extremely burdensome and lend themselves to arbitrary and discrimminatory enforcement.
Several examples follow.
These provisions are clearly open to broad interpretation, which could easily restrict the right to freedom of assembly arbitrarily. When some 2,000 people gathered for the demonstration and started marching, the police intervened to stop the action and detained between fifty to 100 people. Police detained about 100 demonstrators. This provision clearly compromises the effective organization of demonstrations and appears to be meant solely to marginalize the effectiveness of demonstrations. Once again, it is not consistent with international standards.