A/HRC/38/51 varying degrees of intensity, in the context of other rallies, most recently during the Freedom Day marches in March 2018. 51. As on previous similar occasions, the authorities conducted preventive detentions among the suspected leaders of the protest movement, in an attempt to deter other potential participants in rallies. Such detentions target political opponents of the Government in particular. At rallies, law enforcement officials, sometimes in plain clothes, arrest participants in a targeted manner but without legal grounds. The events surrounding the Freedom Day march testify to this approach. On 21 March 2018, the police prevented at least two persons from leaving their apartments on the grounds that they intended to organize an unauthorized rally. On the day of the march, the police arrested several dozen participants, in particular human rights defenders and staff of the respected Viasna Human Rights Centre. The Special Rapporteur recalls that, in March 2017, the premises of the Viasna Human Rights Centre was searched, and a number of the Centre’s staff members were arrested and, in some cases, subjected to ill-treatment. 52. The procedure for obtaining authorization for holding a rally is as cumbersome and prohibitive as that for obtaining registration for an association. The authorities may propose alternative locations for demonstrations that would render the event meaningless, or put forward petty grounds for refusing permission to hold a peaceful gathering. For instance, in August 2017, two trade unionists planning to hold two pickets in support of their fellow unionists accused of tax evasion could not hold one of them as scheduled in front of a former stadium, as to do so, they would have needed a contract with the Department of Utilities and the health-care service. Similarly to article 193-1 of the Criminal Code on unregistered organizations, article 23-34 of the Administrative Offences Code provides for up to 25 days’ imprisonment and heavy fines for anyone participating in, organizing or covering an unauthorized public gathering. Administrative detentions can be accumulated to exceed the maximum number of 25 days. For instance, as a consequence of his participation in and coverage of the March 2017 protests, a video blogger based in Homiel was sentenced four times, respectively to 13, 5, 7 and 7 days. 53. Activists who participated in protests organized by the Belarusian National Congress in Minsk and other cities on 1 May 2017 were detained and heavily fined. 54. Although observers might have anticipated smoother handling of the right to peaceful assemble following the holding of a session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Minsk in early July 2017, in that same month, a Minsk court sentenced three individuals to periods of administrative detention and heavily fined three others who participated in a picket to protest against the “White Legion case”, which itself was dismissed by the authorities at a later stage. 55. The months of August and September 2017 were a particularly difficult period for persons wishing to exercise the freedom of peaceful assembly, with the administrative courts severely punishing individuals daring to publicly disagree with State policies. For example, one teenage girl received a warning from the local commission for juvenile affairs on the basis of article 23-34 of the Administrative Code for having participated in an unsanctioned demonstration. Activists who protested against the Zapad 2017 joint BelarusRussian Federation military exercises were detained and fined.18 56. The Special Rapporteur recalls that one-person pickets are treated as mass public demonstrations. D. Situation of human rights defenders and civil society 57. Human rights defenders were one of the main targets of the violence perpetrated by the authorities in the context of the March 2017 demonstrations. According to the local department of the Investigative Committee, the repression was orchestrated by the State Security Agency and implemented by top-ranking police officials.19 The Special Rapporteur 18 19 See http://spring96.org/en/news/87960. See http://spring96.org/en/news/88849. 9