UN: some rights abuses in Belarus may amount to crimes against humanity

March 18, Pozirk. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has said in a draft report that some rights violations in Belarus may amount to crimes against humanity.

Human rights abuse has been committed since May 2020 using legal and institutional tools and “encouraged at highest levels,” it said.

The report also noted “arbitrary deprivation of the right to life, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual and gender-based violence, denial of the rights to due process and a fair trial.”

Scheduled to be heard on March 19 at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the report urged Belarusian authorities to immediately release all persons arbitrarily arrested and convicted on politically-motivated grounds and “cease all other ongoing violations of human rights.”