UN rights committee records violations of former presidential hopeful’s rights

December 12, Pozirk. The arrest and imprisonment of former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka violated his right to freedom and fair trial, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) said.

The HRC ruled on the case on October 31 based on the complaint that Babaryka’s defense attorneys had filed in July 2020.

Given that there is no reliable information about jailed Babaryka for more than seven months, the HRC urged Belarusian authorities to take urgent measures to ensure that his life is not in danger and to allow lawyers, family members and medical staff to contact the prisoner.

Belarusian authorities discriminated against Babaryka based on his political views, the HRC said and reminded Minsk of its obligation to guarantee the politician’s rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Authorities have 180 days to respond to HRC.

In July 2021, Babaryka was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated. In late April a worker rights group reported his hospitalization with signs of beating and a collapsed lung.

In July, he was reportedly back at Navapołack Penal Colony No 1 in the Viciebsk region, where he is held in an internal prison. Prison authorities told his family members that his health was not in danger.

Babaryka turned 60 on November 9.