During his speech the UN Special Rapporteur noted that the human rights situation in Belarus had no signs of improvement during the reporting period. In turn, the official representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Mikhail Khvostov once again pleaded, that Belarus does not recognize the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, appointed in accordance with the decision of the UN Human Rights Council. So the representative of Belarus said:

“We call on the European Union to stop the abuse of the international human rights mechanisms, ostensibly to protect human rights. We will never agree that the European Union is a society with a monopoly on common sense. Belarus rejects the draft resolution as it is written contrary to the UN Charter. It has nothing to do with human rights. Such resolutions are provocative in fact, because they create an atmosphere of confrontation, tension and distrust. The Special Rapporteur does not contribute to the progress in the field of human rights. The situation in Belarus does not require the Council’s attention. We urge the members of the Council to vote against the draft resolution. We ask the Council not to become part of the political process aimed against the interests of the Belarusian society. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus should be terminated.”

However, in their final resolution, the UN Human Rights Council:

– Expresses deep concern at the continuing violations of human rights in Belarus, which are of a systemic and systematic nature;

– Urges the Government of Belarus to carry out a comprehensive reform of the justice sector and bar associations in order to guarantee the full independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial;

– Strongly urges the Government of Belarus to immediately and release unconditionally and rehabilitate fully all political prisoners;

– Strongly encourages the Government of Belarus to establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles).

The voting results were as follows: 21 countries, including Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States, voted in favor of the resolution. 8 countries voted agaist: Bolivia, China, Cuba, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. Another 18 countries have abstained.

Latvia, introducing the draft resolution on behalf of the European Union, said that the project reflects the results of the latest report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, that confirmed the existence of systemic and serious human rights violations, including the fact that the continuing persecution, intimidation and arbitrary arrests and detentions of human rights defenders, political opponents and journalists. The situation in key areas, including labour rights, the legislation on the civil society, legislation on the electoral process, freedom of expression and the media has deteriorated. This is particularly alarming on the eve of the next presidential elections in October 2015. The European Union is concerned about the death penalty and the lack of transparency of its use, and calls on Belarus, the only European country which still applies the death penalty, to impose a moratorium as a first step towards its abolition.

In turn, the delegation of the Belarusian human rights defenders during the pre-session as part of the UPR (Universal Periodic Review) in Geneva had a number of meetings with representatives of the national delegations of member countries of the UN Human Rights Council, mainly from the countries of Africa and Latin America.

“We told them that for the human rights community of the country it is important to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus for a year, especially during the presidential elections. The reason for this is that the election campaign, as it may be observed from previous experience, is always accompanied by strengthening and increasing levels of repression in the country. And in this period, it is vital to be able to present information about what is happening at such a high international level, as the Human Rights Council, “- said Valiantsin Stefanovich (left), the Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Centre “Viasna”.

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