UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus: “Human rights situation in Belarus is catastrophic”
UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus, Anaïs Marin, presented her new report at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). She noted that the human rights situation in Belarus is “catastrophic and only getting worse.”
- Anaïs Marin addressing the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council.
According to Anaïs Marin, amendments to the Belarusian legislation have led to a sharp increase in politically motivated prosecutions and convictions.
“The lack of accountability for human rights abuses creates an atmosphere of fear among victims and their families,” noted the expert.
Marin reminded that two years ago, she warned the HRC of a “totalitarian turn” in Minsk, as evidenced by the “disregard for human life and dignity” during the suppression of protests in 2020. Over 1500 people are still held in custody on politically motivated charges. Since 2020, there have been an average of 17 arbitrary arrests per day.
“No one in Belarus has been held accountable for the arbitrary detention of tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in 2020, nor for the violence or torture many endured. The pervasive impunity and the environment of fear resulting from repression have led hundreds of thousands of Belarusians into exile.”
Anaïs Marin pointed out that the Lukashenko regime in Minsk is deliberately purging civil society of the last voices of dissenters:
“The Belarusian government has made amendments to its already restrictive legislation aimed at eradicating civil liberties, leading to a surge in politically motivated persecutions and convictions,” she noted.
The UN Special Rapporteur also stated that the lack of accountability for human rights violations “contributes to creating an atmosphere of fear among victims and their families.”
“I have good reason to believe that prison conditions are deliberately being worsened for those convicted on political grounds, placing them in solitary confinement for minor breaches of prison rules,” Anaïs Marin noted.
She also pointed out that human rights defenders in Belarus are facing persecution. Over 1600 “undesirable organizations, including all independent trade unions, have been disbanded.”
