The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Belarus human rights situation under review at UN forum
Belarus’s rights record received support from some Member States and urgent calls for reform from others at a regular review at the United Nations in Geneva on Monday.
Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Yury Ambrazevich, opened the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meeting by appealing to other Member States to respect its current situation while commenting on its recent human rights record.
“The third cycle of the UPR is being undertaken by Belarus in a situation not only of a pandemic but also a complex situation with politics and society in our country following the elections to the presidency,” he said. “We have publicly several times spoken out on this subject. In that connection I would like to appeal to all participants today not to turn the UPR on Belarus only into a discussion of post-election events.”
Belarus faced written questions from the United States, Germany, Britain and others demanding greater safeguards on torture and freedom of expression, amid questions and comments from more than 90 delegations during the discussion.
“Belarus recognises that there are issues on which work needs to be done, and work will continue on these in the future,” Ambassador Ambrazevich said. “At the same time, we are convinced that only through respectful dialogue without external pressure, blackmail or conditions is it possible to make true progress, including on the basis of leading international experience.”
In September, UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed deep concern about the use of force against peaceful protestors in Belarus, where the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in August prompted huge demonstrations, and the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the deteriorating rights situation.
In Monday’s UPR session, Russian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Gennady Gatilov welcomed the implementation by Minsk of previous UPR recommendations. “In conditions of increasing external pressure that would not be easy,” he added. “We take the view that non-interference in internal affairs of a sovereign state, including in electoral processes, is a basic principle of international law.”
US Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, said that Belarus should immediately stop its “brutal crackdown” on peaceful protestors and hold those responsible to account. It should also immediately release all those detained in election-related protests and engage in a genuine dialogue with civil society, he added.
“Belarus’s 9 August presidential elections were fraudulent and we are deeply concerned by the ongoing use of violence, intimidation and repression against the Belarusian people,” Ambassador Bremberg said.
The UPR session also heard from Government bodies and ministries in Minsk, who commented by videolink. A Belarusian Interior Ministry official rejected earlier criticism, saying that the protests were deliberate provocations by trained fighters. Under interrogation, detained young people had said they had made a mistake by going to the protests, he said, adding that the demonstrators had been lured by fake news and used as “cannon fodder”.
The Interior Ministry official added that Belarus was allowed to limit the rights and freedoms of citizens in the interests of national security, public order, protection of morality and public health, and that there had been no identified cases of unlawful acts by the police.
- Wide shot, Assembly Hall, UN Geneva, venue for the Universal Periodic Review by Member States.
- SOUNDBITE (RU/EN): Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Yury Ambrazevich: “The third cycle of the UPR is being undertaken by Belarus in a situation not only of a pandemic but also a complex situation with politics and society in our country following the elections to the presidency. We have publicly several times spoken out on this subject. In that connection, I would like to appeal to all participants today not to turn the UPR on Belarus only into a discussion of post-election events.”
- Wide shot, podium and delegates in the Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (RU/EN): Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Yury Ambrazevich: “…that is natural and normal. Belarus recognises that there are issues on which work needs to be done, and work will continue on these in future. At the same time, we are convinced that only through respectful dialogue without external pressure, blackmail or conditions, is it possible to make true progress, including on the basis of leading international experience.”
- Medium shot, podium speakers in the Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (RU/EN): Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Gennady Gatilov: “We welcome the implementation by Minsk of the recommendations made under the second cycle of the UPR. In conditions of increasing external pressure that would not be easy. We take the view that non-interference in internal affairs of a sovereign State, including in electoral processes, is a basic principle of international law.”
- Medium shot, showing Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Yury Ambrazevich, sitting close to another delegate, in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — US Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Andrew Bremberg: “Belarus’s August 9 Presidential elections were fraudulent and we are deeply concerned by the ongoing use of violence, intimidation and repression against the Belarussian people. We call upon the Belarussian authorities to demonstrate restraint and engage in a genuine dialogue with Belarussian civil society.”
- Medium shot, delegates, profile, Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- Close-up, delegates, Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot: presiding, President of the UN Human Rights Council for 2020, Austrian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger.
- Medium shot: delegates, TV camera operator, Assembly Hall, UN Geneva.
- Close up, UN logo on open door showing UPR delegate (blurred) to rear.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday voiced concerns about the severe impacts on human rights of the socio-economic crisis in Cuba.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Madagascar: ‘Overwhelming’ destruction, surging needs after back-to-back cyclones – WFP
Some 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia brought heavy rains and flooding to Madagascar, cyclone Gezani has left the island’s main port in ruins, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief urges de-escalation in Tigray amid rising tensions and violence.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , OHCHR
In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ – UN humanitarians
Relentless violence, famine and disease are picking off Sudan’s children while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday gave an update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in El Fasher, Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.