Cichanoŭskaja calls on Guterres to react to Belarus’ withdrawal from rights protocol

January 17, BPN. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has called on UN Secretary General António Guterres to respond to Belarus’ withdrawal from the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), her shadow cabinet’s press office reports.

Cichanoŭskaja suggested using “additional mechanisms to publicly report and investigate human rights violations, restore the rights of victims and bring perpetrators to justice” as well as introducing “new measures to adequately address the current human rights crisis in Belarus” if required.

According to Cichanoŭskaja, the withdrawal “in no way exempts Belarus from its existing obligations under the ICCPR.”

“This step by the Łukašenka regime aims at depriving Belarusians of probably the last mechanism of applying for international protection, as stipulated in Article 61 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. The step deliberately and sharply cuts Belarusians from international law,” she said.

She added that she was ready to cooperate with the UN’s special rapporteur on Belarus and its human rights commissioner.

Alaksandr Łukašenka signed a law denouncing the 1966 protocol last year, presumably to deprive mistreated victims of human rights violations of the opportunity to file complaints with the UN.

Siarhiej Račkoŭ, a member of the upper house of the Belarusian National Assembly, said that the move was in response to the UN Human Rights Committee “expanding its powers in an arbitrary manner” and creating baseless obligations for Belarus.

The withdrawal is to take effect on February 8, three months after the UN Secretary General has received the respective notice from the Belarusian government.