The United Nations Office at Geneva
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HRC - Press conference: Human rights in Belarus - 20 March 2025
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5:41
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MP4
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341.9 MB
Launch of the report by the Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
Speakers:
- Karinna Moskalenko, chair of the Belarus Group of Independent Experts
- Susan Bazilli, member of the Belarus Group of Independent Experts
- Monika Stanisława Płatek, Belarus Group of Independent Experts
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Good morning and thank you for joining us at this press press conference with the Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, which was established by the Human Rights Council in April of 2024 to investigate alleged human rights violations committed in Belarus since May of 2020.
We're pleased to have with us today all three members of the Group of Experts who presented the findings of their latest report to the Human Rights Council yesterday.
In the middle we have the chair, Miss Karina Maskelenko, to her right, Susan Basili and to my right, Monica Platek.
The Chair will start us off with an opening statement.
And then we'll open the floor to.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yesterday we presented our first report to the Human Rights Council.
In our report, we found that government of Belarus has committed widespread human rights violations against the country's civilian population, some amounting to crimes against humanity, as part of the brutal efforts to quash all opposition to the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Among the most serious violations documented are arbitrary arrests and detention on politically motivated grounds, which have become a fixture of the tactics of Belarusian authorities.
The report found that men and women in detention had been routinely subjected to torch handle treatment, including beatings, electric shocks and threats to ****.
Not only detainees but their partners as well.
Security forces displayed targeting brutality towards LGBT individuals using physical violence and dehumanising language.
Our report said that violations had occurred in the context of broader efforts to keep President Alexander Lukashenko in power.
The violations were widespread, systematic, and directed against civilians critical of the government.
Our group found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that some violations amount to the crimes against humanity of imprisonment and persecution on political grounds.
Those detained in parental colonists have been subjected to a particularly discriminatory treatment designed to punish them.
Many have been arrested multiple times, including immediately after being released for the first time.
By changing laws on extremists, prosecuting defence lawyers and actively placing the Bar Association under the control of the Ministry of Justice, state authorities have set up place a system that violates fair trial rights of Belarusian citizens.
In 2024, the government adopted measures that purged most potential sources of dissent.
Law enforcement agencies now have enhanced digital surveillance capabilities, which they use to monitor online activities of individuals, often leading to prosecutors.
Also in 2024, at least 200 and 2018 civil society organisations were liquidated.
As a result of this ongoing violations, hundreds of thousands of people have left Belarus since 2020.
This includes lawyers, activists, members of civil society organisations, journalists.
Despite being forced into exile, many are charged and convicted under the Criminal Code for discrediting Belarus and conspiring to seize the state power.
The Group of independent Experts reiterates the importance of judicial and non judicial accountability.
Identifying and prosecuting perpetrators of human rights violations and crimes against humanity is key to ending Belarus culture of impunity and integral for the victims to receive justice.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you for those opening remarks.
And now we open the floor to questions if we have any from the room or online.
[Other language spoken]
If there are no.
[Other language spoken]
I don't see any at the moment.
Then we'll wrap up this press conference.
Thank you very much for joining us.
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