{"id":74354,"date":"2024-03-20T19:21:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T16:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/74354\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"minsk-slammed-for-rights-abuses-at-un-session","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/74354\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk slammed for rights abuses at UN session"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Wikipedia.org)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 20, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The delegations of the European Union, 25 states and 11 human rights organizations have supported the report<\/a> “Belarus in the Run-up to the 2020 Presidential Election and in Its Aftermath” by the UN high commissioner for human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An interactive dialogue on the report was held today at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting the report, Christian Salazar Volkmann, director for field operations and technical cooperation at the high commissioner’s office, confirmed that there were grounds to classify the Belarusian authorities’ actions as crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delegations of 19 states did not support the report outright, calling against the “politicization” of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volkmann stressed that the Belarusian government did not cooperate with the special rapporteur on Belarus. He thanked the independent experts who had contributed to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called for a full, transparent and independent investigation of all violations of international law, starting in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged Belarus to immediately release political prisoners and stop the crackdown on the opposition, independent media and civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus’ envoy Larysa Bielskaja sharply criticized the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said there were no political prisoners in her country and that people were sentenced for specific crimes, including against national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the report painted a false picture of the situation in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The country is successfully developing despite large-scale Western sanctions,” she said through an interpreter. “In the context of a nationwide dialogue, with the support of the majority of citizens, constitutional reform has been implemented, the political system is being updated, all branches of power are being reformed, elections for the parliament and local authorities have been held, and civil society is actively developing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report was supported by Australia, Austria, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, the European Union, Iceland, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the United States, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden and all the human rights organizations that took the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azerbaijan, Burundi, Venezuela, Egypt, Iran, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, China, the DPRK, Cuba, Laos, Niger, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Sudan, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and Eritrea voted against it or abstained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

UN: some rights abuses in Belarus may amount to crimes against humanity<\/h3>\n
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 …<\/div>\n \n