UN report: There is situation of complete impunity in Belarus

The fundamental human rights of tens of thousands of people in Belarus have been violated and the lives of countless others negatively affected by the Government’s continued crackdown on opponents, civil society, journalists and lawyers, without yet seeing the perpetrators held accountable, a report published today by the UN Human Rights Office says.

The report details the findings of OHCHR’s examination of the human right situation in Belarus, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. This review covered the run-up to the 9 August 2020 elections and the aftermath up to 31 December 2021, drawing on 145 first-hand interviews, as well as analysis of a wide range of information and evidence.

From the testimonies provided to OHCHR’s examination, it appears that arrests were largely random, with security forces pursuing and subduing any person within reach. In addition, men without insignia and wearing balaclavas took part in the forced dispersal of protests, “creating a climate of fear and lawlessness,” the report says. Broad use of unnecessary and disproportionate force repeatedly violated people’s rights, including to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

In total, between May 2020 and May 2021, at least 37,000 people were detained, many of them placed in administrative detention for up to 15 days. Of this total, some 13,500 people were arbitrarily arrested and detained between 9 and 14 August alone.

The information collected by the examination indicates that torture and ill-treatment were widespread and systematic, with individuals targeted for their real or perceived opposition to the Government or the election results. Many victims feared filing a complaint, while those who did had their cases dismissed.

By the end of 2021, 969 people were in prison on what OHCHR’s examination had reasonable grounds to believe were politically motivated charges, with several individuals given sentences of 10 years or more. By 4 March 2022, this figure had risen to 1,084.

After the election, the Government continued to harass those seeking to exercise their rights.  In September 2020, the authorities began pressing charges against opposition figures, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and ordinary citizens, a trend that continued throughout 2021, with the Government also passing a raft of legislative amendments that further curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms.

Civil society and human rights organizations, as well independent media, continued to be targeted. By October, 270 NGOs had been closed down, and by the end of the year, 32 journalists had been detained and 13 media outlets declared “extremist”. 

Lawyers who defended dissidents, spoke out about human rights violations or brought cases to UN human rights mechanisms were detained, intimidated, faced disciplinary sanctions or were even disbarred. As of November 2021, 36 lawyers had lost their licences.

Among its conclusions, OHCHR’s examination found that individuals were targeted following a consistent pattern of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arrests, detention – including incommunicado detention – torture or ill-treatment, rape and sexual and gender-based violence and the systematic denial of due process and fair trial rights.

The report also concludes that the scale and patterns of the violations identified, their widespread and systematic nature, and the evidence of official policy, knowledge and direction of their collective execution by multiple State organs requires further assessment of the available evidence from the perspective of applicable international criminal law. This is particularly the case in relation to mass arbitrary detentions from 9 to 14 August 2020.

In addition, the failure to effectively investigate human rights violations contravenes Belarus’ obligations under international human rights law. Beside the lack of investigations, “there was an active policy to shield perpetrators and prevent accountability, reflected in the level of reprisals, intimidation of victims and witnesses, attacks on lawyers and human rights defenders,” the report says.

“The authorities’ extensive and sustained actions to crush dissent and repress civil society, independent media and opposition groups, while at the same time shielding perpetrators, points to a situation of complete impunity in Belarus,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.  

The report makes detailed recommendations to Belarus and other States to work towards accountability through available legal processes for serious violations of international human rights law in Belarus.