The report prepared by the International Commission of Jurists procedure was presented last autumn, on its basis Belarus will go though the UPR. The report included 5 broad topics; for each one of them Belarus will answer to the UN Council: independence of judicial review and the role of lawyers in it, restriction of the right on freedom of expression, violations of the freedom of association and assembly, persecution of HR defenders, pre-trial detentions, cooperation with the UN mechanisms on human rights. The official version prepared by the Belarusian authorities will be essential and instrumental during the UPR procedure. However, their report is still a secret and has not been made publicly available.
The specific character of UPR is that the UN Council also works with alternative sources on the HR situation in Belarus. The Belarusian HR defenders compiled and presented their own report, which will also be considered in Geneva. Parallel to Belarusian non-governmental and HR organisations the international HR community presented its own view on HR in Belarus.
On basis of presented documents the UN working group will make certain recommendations on HR improvements compulsory for implementation in the country. Their implementation is the cornerstone and the main principle of the UPR procedure. The UN Committee on Human Rights vests great interest and hopes in it. This new mechanism is supposed to effectively regulate national instruments of HR defence in each UN member-state as well as help to track violations and give concrete recommendations.
The UPR procedure could be especially useful and pressing for those countries where the HR situation is in a dire state. The UN Committee could point out to Belarus the late local election marred by fraud and falsifications as well as the recent death penalty executions, and harassments of independent media. That is why the international community and Belarusian HR defenders alike regard the UPR as a possible push for improvements with human rights in Belarus.
