Perpetrators of human rights abuse in Belarus go unpunished – German government’s report

December 25, BPN. The human rights situation in Belarus has dramatically deteriorated after the rigged 2020 presidential election and the crackdown on peaceful protesters, says the biannual German government’s human rights report.

Belarusian authorities systematically targeted human rights organizations, independent media, civil society and opposition, it said.

Law enforcers went unpunished despite repeatedly confirmed reports of torture and ill-treatment of protesters in custody, the German government noted.

Minsk authorities defied decisions of the UN Human Rights Council and refused to recognize the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus, the report noted. The German government also stressed that Belarus remains the last country in Europe to apply the death penalty.

In February 2021, Germany allocated €21 million to the Action Plan for Civil Society in Belarus for victims of politically-motivated persecution, education projects and independent media. It also supports the International Accountability Platform for Belarus, an initiative collecting, verifying, and storing evidence of human rights abuse before and after the 2020 presidential election.

Project work in Belarus has been seriously limited since the authorities outlawed civil society organizations and keep persecuting independent project partners, the report noted.

The Bundestag will discuss the report on January 20.