The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato' Param Cumaraswamy, will visit Belarus from 12 to 17 June to study the state of the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession.
During the mission, the expert of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights will meet with high Government officials, including from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; members of the judiciary, including judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court; and with members of the legal profession, including from the Bar Association. He will also meet with representatives of the prosecutor's office (procuracy), law professors and several representatives of human rights non-governmental organizations.
The Special Rapporteur has received a number of allegations concerning infringements on the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession in Belarus, particularly after the referendum of November 1996. Mr. Coomaraswamy says he sees the visit as an opportunity to gather first-hand information concerning the issues raised in those allegations.
A report of the mission is expected to be presented to the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Human Rights in April 2001. This is the Special Rapporteur's seventh fact-finding mission. He has previously visited Peru, Colombia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Guatemala and South Africa.
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