Summary

The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 32/26.

The report examines the relationship between the unique features of governance of Belarus and its situation of human rights. It concludes that one of the main structural reasons for both the entrenched systemic abuse of human rights and the cyclical waves of mass repression in the country is that all powers are assumed by the executive branch, chiefly the President and the presidential administration. Although the Constitution provides for the separation of powers and respect for human rights, the reality is a monolithic power structure with laws and governance aimed at maintaining the concentration of powers and an absence of effective human rights guarantees. As a result, improvements are made only temporarily and at the margins, while the oppressive might of governance through centralization erupts from time to time into massive crackdowns on those attempting to exercise their rights.

The recent cases of human rights abuses described in the report testify to the effects of the uptake by the President and the presidential administration of the powers of both the legislative branch and the judiciary. The severe crackdown on the massive peaceful demonstrations in February and March 2017, including the arrest and then the release of a new set of political prisoners, mirrored the violence of 2010.

The Special Rapporteur makes recommendations to improve the human rights situation in Belarus in line with the country’s international obligations.