UN Human Rights Council condemns election-related violence in Belarus

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted Friday to condemn human rights violations before, during and after the December 2010 presidential election in Belarus, and urged the government to end what called the persecution of opposition leaders, reported BelaPAN.

With 21 votes in favor, five against, and 19 abstentions, the Geneva-based Council deplored “the use of violence against, arbitrary arrests, detention and the politically motivated conviction of opposition candidates, their supporters, journalists and human rights defenders.”

It also condemned abuses of due process, including the right to a fair trial for those charged in connection with a post-election demonstration that took place in central Minsk after the closure of the polls on December 19.

The resolution “urges the Government of Belarus to end [the] politically motivated persecution and harassment of opposition leaders, representatives of civil society, human rights defenders, lawyers, independent media, students and those defending them.”

The Council also urged the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, respect freedoms of expression and association, and “cease the detention and expulsion of international monitors.”

Last December the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, voiced deep concern at the violent breakup of the street protest that was largely peaceful.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian foreign ministry “has decisively condemned” what it called the politically motivated and unfounded resolution on Belarus.

“This document is a product of biased and unfounded… assessments of the situation in Belarus that prevail in Brussels,” the ministry’s spokesman, Andrey Savinykh, said in a statement.

“A lack of support for the Belarus resolution among a majority of the member countries of the Human Rights Council has clearly showed that the document does not reflect the general opinion of the international community on the situation in Belarus and, thus, is not trustworthy,” Mr. Savinykh said.

“We are sure that the resolution undermines the principle of non-discriminatory assessment of human rights situations and will have destructive effects for the Human Rights Council and UN rights agencies on the whole,” he stressed.

Mr. Savinykh said that Belarus fully complies with its commitments under international human rights treaties and advocates “an open dialogue based on mutual respect and equality free of discrimination and double standards.”