Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC63 – Item 4 – Interactive Dialogue – Belarus Group of Independent Experts
18 September 2026
Background documents
- GIE Conference room paper: The involvement of Belarusian State institutions in human rights violations in the criminal justice process
- Belarusian authorities have designated the Belarusian Helsinki Committee as an “extremist formation.”
- Viasna: Human rights situation in Belarus. July 2026
- Statement by a Human Rights Coalition on the Arbitrary Invalidation of Passports of Citizens of the Republic of Belarus
Check against delivery.
Thank you, Vice-President.
We welcome the Experts’ oral update and the excellent new conference room paper.
Belarusians themselves continue to be targeted at home and abroad, including through denial of consular services and the recent placement of Ales Bialiatski on the CIS interstate wanted list. Furthermore, the arbitrary invalidation of passports may be viewed “as a contextual element of crimes against humanity under the qualification framework of the ICC”.
The Belarusian Helsinki Committee has been designated an “extremist formation”, effectively criminalising interaction with one of the country’s oldest human rights organisations.
And despite releases, our partners continue to document new cases of arbitrary detention. We welcome the release of journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau this week from prison, among others, but highlight their immediate forced deportation from Belarus.
Human rights defender Marfa Rabkova described being forced to leave Belarus after her release from prison this year as being “a harder blow than accepting a 15-year prison sentence.” Further releases are very welcome, but cannot constitute justice alone. Political convictions must be annulled, victims rehabilitated, allowed to remain in Belarus, and provided effective remedy.
We ask the Experts: how can States pursue releases while ensuring that such negotiations strengthen prospects for accountability, rehabilitation and non-recurrence?
Thank you.
