{"id":122199,"date":"2025-01-17T15:59:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T12:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/122199\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"hrw-sounds-alarm-over-deterioration-of-human-rights-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/122199\/","title":{"rendered":"HRW sounds alarm over deterioration of human rights in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 17, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Crackdown on Belarusian regime critics that has been ongoing since the contested 2020 presidential election keeps hitting new records, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said<\/a> in its recent report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International and Belarusian rights groups noted the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in the country last year, as the UN Human Rights Council set up an expert group to investigate human rights abuses and hold\u00a0Belarusian officials accountable, while the democratic countries introduced new sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN experts reportedly had \u201creasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of persecution may have been committed\u201d by Belarusian officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political prisoners faced ill-treatment, isolation and torture last year with restricted access to correspondence and meetings. Many of the 237 pardoned persons were forced to sign pardon requests which include admission of guilt, the HRW said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prison authorities denied political prisoners access to adequate health care, which led to at least three deaths behind bars, the report noted. More than 220 people jailed in politically-motivated cases have serious health issues, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities continued to harass released regime critics with regular checks and new criminal charges and punish solidarity initiatives with pressure on journalists, rights defenders and lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law enforcers stepped up pressure on exiled activists, raiding their Belarus-based homes and convicting 20 prominent opposition figures, journalists and academics for alleged links to the opposition without them being present at the trials, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 16, human rights defenders identified at least 1,244 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"
\n

CPJ: Belarus in top five jailers of journalists for two consecutive years<\/h3>\n
January 17, Pozirk. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described Belarus as the worst jailer in Europe and Central Asia for the second consecutive year in its annual report released yesterday. Globally, Belarus ranked fourth after China, Israel and Myanmar …<\/div>\n \n