UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

53^th session

Interactive Dialogue with the situation of human rights in Belarus

4 July 2023

EU Statement

Mr. President,

The European Union wishes to thank the Special Rapporteur for her report.

We strongly condemn the systematic and widespread violations of international human rights law in Belarus, including unlawful deprivation of life and numerous cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, as well as sexual and gender-based violence.   

The EU supports the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and calls on Belarus to implement the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations and to grant the mandate holder unrestricted access to Belarus.

We strongly condemn the continued impunity for the excessive and disproportionate use of force during protests and deliberate attacks against civil society, pro-democratic movements, human rights defenders, persons belonging to national minorities, journalists and other independent media workers, independent labour and trade unions members.

We call on Belarussian authorities to stop enabling Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. We condemn persecution of Belarusians for their opposition to government, including for anti-war statements and for supporting Ukraine. 

There are currently almost 1500 political prisoners in Belarus; the EU calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, for the charges against them to be dropped and for their full legal redress.

We continue to urge Belarus to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in compliance with its obligations under international human rights law and to fully adhere to the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

We condemn the lack of independence of the judiciary and the intimidation and disbarment of independent lawyers, who have provided services to the political opposition and/or human rights defenders

We condemn attempts to instrumentalise migrants for political purposes, particularly when used as leverage or as part of hybrid destabilizing actions.

Madam Special Rapporteur, could you shed light on how can we better support the suppressed civil society and independent media in Belarus?

Thank you.