A/HRC/43/51/Add.3 of Mr. Aliaksandr Kabanaŭ, environmental rights defender and blogger, for their participation in peaceful protests against the construction of a battery plant in Brest. 504. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Government for the responses to his communications sent on 7 February 2019 and 22 March 2019. 505. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the decision of the Government of Belarus to introduce amendments to the Criminal Code, decriminalising “involvement in the activities of an unregistered organisation”. While he also welcomes the decision not to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Burakoŭ, the Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government did not provide information on the steps taken to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity. 506. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned about the situation of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association for human rights defenders in Belarus. The Special Rapporteur recalls that on 7 August 2004, the Human Rights Committee recognised the decision to deregister the human rights organisation “Viasna” was a violation of the right to freedom of association (Decision No. 1296/2004). Accordingly, the Human Rights Committee asked the Government to provide the founders of the organisation with appropriate remedies, including the re-registration of the organisation. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned at the Government’s failure to comply with the decision of the Human Rights Committee. 507. The Special Rapporteur expresses concern at the allegations of judicial harassment of Mr. Vialičkin and Mr. Kazak and the alleged arbitrary detention of Mr. Kabanaŭ, which appear to be directly related to their participation in peaceful protests and promotion of environmental rights. He is further concerned at the use of the Code of Administrative Offenses to pressure human rights defenders and prevent them from exercising their right to peaceful assembly. Moreover, it seems that administrative detention is used as a means to prevent human rights defenders from participating in assemblies. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government for its response dated 16 May 2019 but regrets that it did not include information on how the arrest and detention of the above-mentioned individuals were compatible with international human rights norms and standards. Bosnia and Herzegovina 508. JAL 16/05/2019 Case no: BIH 1/2017 State reply: none to date Alleged excessive use of force by special police unit forces of the Ministry of Interior, and charges laid against twenty-three residents (22 women and one man) of Krušćica village who have been peacefully defending the river and the surrounding environment from the construction of two hydropower plants. 509. The Special Rapporteur regrets that, at the time of finalisation of this report, no response has been received from the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He encourages the Government to engage with the mandate holders of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. 510. In relation to the allegations outlined in his communication dated 16 May 2019, the Special Rapporteur raises concern over the physical and verbal excessive use of police force against the mainly female peaceful protestors, the denial of proper medical care, and the misdemeanour charges laid against them. He is concerned that those measures may have been directly linked with their environmental and human rights activism. The Special Rapporteur raises further concern that such acts of harassment and intimidation could have a negative impact across the wider human rights community and may deter local initiatives throughout the country where environmental human rights defenders are peacefully assembling to oppose controversial projects such as dams and hydropower plant construction. Cyprus 511. JAL 21/10/2019 Case no: CYP 2/2019 state reply: 11/12/2019 71