Background

The Human Rights Council established the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus in 2012 by its resolution 20/13 and has since renewed the mandate annually. As in previous years, the latest resolution 50/20, requests the Special Rapporteur, inter alia, to monitor the situation of human rights in Belarus and make recommendations for its improvement and report annually to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

Objectives of the report

These yearly reports provide an update on the latest developments and analysis of general trends and patterns pertaining to human rights in the Republic of Belarus.

In addition to the general overview of the human rights situation in Belarus, the report to the Human Rights Council will focus on the legislation and practices negatively affecting the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

For her thematic report to the 78th session of the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur plans to follow up on her 2022 report, which focused on the coercive environment compelling Belarusian nationals into exile (A/77/195). The Special Rapporteur will assess the evolution of the legislation and the impact of measures for countering terrorism and extremism from the perspective of their impact on human rights. 

Key questions and types of input sought

The Special Rapporteur invites stakeholders, including Member States, international and regional organisations, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, media representatives, academics, victims of alleged human rights abuses, relatives of victims, and witnesses to share any relevant legal analysis, documents, reports, statistics, or news that you believe should be considered by the Special Rapporteur for the preparation of the two reports, notably with input  on the following aspects:

• trends and challenges with regard to the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in Belarus during the reporting period (from 1 April 2022 to 30 March 2023); deadline for submissions: 28 February 2023.
• implications of legislation and measures in the areas of countering terrorism and extremism on the enjoyment of human rights; deadline for submissions: 5 June 2023

Practical recommendations towards promoting Belarus’ obligations in upholding its human rights obligations, ending impunity, providing accountability and redress to victims of such violations, and creating an enabling environment for the full realisation of human rights are most welcome.

When relevant and with the requisite safeguards, individual cases of alleged human rights abuses can be brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur. The decision to include references to individual cases in the reports is made on the basis of the principles of ‘do no harm’ and informed consent.