On 10 December 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since that time 10 December is celebrated as the International Day of Human Rights. The Declaration is a document of great importance and an etalon for all peoples and nations that recognize the natural dignity and the unalienable rights of all human beings, based on the principles of freedom, peace and justice all over the world.(13-DEC-05)
It is well-known that the contemporary Belarusian authorities don’t recognize such etalons.
“The situation of human rights in Belarus is extremely tense”, — stated a doctor of juridical science on the eve of the International Human Rights Day. According to him, “it is hard to find any political rights stated in the Declaration that are not violated in Belarus.”
Among the most frequently violated rights there is the liberty of assembly and association, the right to receive and distribute information, the right to elect and to be elected. “One can still formally elect, but can be elected only with the agreement of the state authorities”, — noted the Professor “That’s why, pitifully enough, we meet this day with pity instead of joy”, — he concluded.
The lawyer NN points at the new amendments to the Criminal and Criminal-Process Codes of Belarus. He thinks after their enforcement the human rights situation in Belarus will become critical. He believes the main violations of human rights in Belarus concern the public and political field. “For instance, the violation of the right to free movement is observed. Activists of some organizations were deprived of the right to go abroad and others were persecuted for their foreign trips”, — This lawyer noted. “Besides, in Belarus there are no independent newspapers that elucidate public and political life without being persecuted for it, the country still has political prisoners”, — he said.
The pitiful situation of human rights is confirmed with the commentaries of Stsiapan Sukharenka, chair of the Belarusian KGB, concerning the amendments to the Criminal Code that will be enforced on 20 December (the Day KGB worker). “Some of the articles are targeted on certain persons. You will soon hear about it. The first trials are to be expected on the KGB Day. We have evidence. About 2-3 thousand of youngsters have already got into the nets, established by our enemies for destabilization of the situation in Belarus”, — he stated.
Recently the US State Department has issued a statement in which Belarus was called one of the countries where human rights activists are persecuted. A group of the Nobel Prize holders also turned public attention to violations of the workers’ rights in Belarus. It seems that only Belarusian authorities fail to notice human rights violations.
