A/HRC/44/55 perform and there are no effective complaint mechanisms. In addition, if they refuse to work, they face sanctions. 77. The Special Rapporteur notes that owing to suppressive policies towards independent trade unions, workers cannot effectively defend their rights, and those who proactively try to do so may face retaliation. She adds that this perpetuates anti-union policies and other violations of labour rights. Discrimination against unemployed persons 78. The Special Rapporteur continues to be concerned about the practice of systematic discrimination against unemployed persons.74 According to the presidential decree No. 1, on the promotion of employment of the population, also known as the “anti-parasite law”, persons who are included on this list of able-bodied unemployed citizens have to pay for State-subsidized services, such as gas, heating and hot water, at their full cost. According to available statistics, approximately 500,000 persons are on this list. 75 The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the decree discriminates against persons who are not able to find employment owing to health conditions or due to the fact that they take care of their elderly relatives. The Special Rapporteur was informed about the case of a woman who took care of her elderly parents and therefore could not engage in the formal employment. As a result, the woman was included on the list, faced stigma and had to pay full cost for services. Several human rights defenders and workers of unregistered civil society organizations have also been included on this list. 3. Right to cultural life Discrimination against the Belarusian language 79. According to available statistics, 48 per cent of Belarus citizens consider the Belarusian language to be their mother tongue. However, only 3 per cent of the population claims to use the Belarusian language at home and in their everyday interactions. 76 The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the limited use of the Belarusian language in education and in cultural activities. While acknowledging the existence of national programmes in support of the Belarusian language, she regrets that in practice not enough is done to protect and promote it. The Belarusian language is underrepresented in all public spheres. There is a widespread perception that the Belarusian language cannot be used in technical, medical, economic, legal and other contexts. According to the Constitution of Belarus, both Russian and Belarusian are recognized as official languages; however, speakers of Belarusian are being systematically discriminated against in most public institutions. 80. Of particular concern is discrimination against speakers of Belarusian in education. Higher and secondary specialized education is provided solely in Russian, with the exception of specific studies of Belarusian philology. After the President of Belarus declared that there was no need for a university whose language of instruction was Belarusian, it was unclear whether the university that was recently registered in Minsk would receive the necessary licence and start operating. Furthermore, according to recent statistics, only 10 per cent of secondary schools offer an educational programme in the Belarusian language and only 1.6 per cent of schools in cities do so. This contributes to a division in terms of the use of the Belarusian language between cities and rural areas. Options for preschool education in Belarusian are very limited. For instance, in Minsk there are only two kindergartens which operate in Belarusian. These concerns were raised by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its concluding observations on the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Belarus. The Committee’s recommendations in this regard still remain unaddressed.77 81. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that restrictions on receiving education in the Belarusian language, along with the limitations on the use of the language in public life and 74 75 76 77 16 A/HRC/41/52, paras. 77–78. See https://charter97.org/ru/news/2018/12/2/315016/ (in Russian). See www.kp.by/online/news/3381149/ (in Russian). E/C.12/BLR/CO/4-6, para. 29.