On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” have to establish a fact that the Republic of Belarus is evading its international human rights obligations.

[…]

As Belarus is ignoring the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, failing to comply with the decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee on the appeals by the citizens of Belarus, refusing to submit periodical reports on implementation of the Covenant and the Conventions, and rejecting the cooperation with special mechanisms, in fact it is bringing itself out of the international human rights protection framework by the United Nations.

We are urging the Belarusian authorities to proceed to the implementation of their international commitments and in full measure to establish the cooperation with the UN human rights institutions.

Minsk – Paris, 9 December 2008

The joint statement by the FIDH and Human Rights Center “Viasna”

full version (in Belarusian)