Belarus’ engagement with the UN human rights system at historical low, says Special Rapporteur

NEW YORK – The engagement of Belarus with the United Nations on human rights-related issues has reached its lowest historical point, a UN expert said.

“I have served this mandate for six years. Over this time, the human rights situation in Belarus has tremendously deteriorated. And so has the level of engagement of Belarus with the United Nations human rights system,” said Anaïs Marin, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus.

In her final report to the General Assembly, she demonstrates how Belarus has persistently failed to follow recommendations of UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, regarding notably the establishment of a national human rights institution; the abolition of the death penalty; ensuring separation of powers and fair trial guarantees; ending arbitrary detentions, torture and gender-based violence; guaranteeing its citizens the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association and to take part in the conduct of public affairs; and ensuring accountability for grave human rights violations. Some of the recommendations date back to the 1990s.

The report also reveals how, over the past four years, Belarus has been overtly defying international institutions in reaction to their scrutiny over the repressions of unprecedented scale and intensity that have been continuing since the last contested presidential elections in 2020. Not only has Belarus decreased its engagement with the UN human rights system; it went as far as to denounce some human rights-related treaties it did not comply with, including notably the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

While claiming to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, the Belarusian government’s engagement appears to be selective and lacking good faith. Thus, at its last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2020, Belarus reacted to many relevant recommendations by labelling them as already implemented, although it had recurrently failed to turn words into deeds throughout previous UPR cycles.

The report also describes how Belarus has ignored, to a large extent, recommendations made over the past 20 years by the International Labour Organization. In her oral address, the Special Rapporteur also drew the General Assembly’s attention to multiple procedures launched recently by participating States within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in response to the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus.

The Special Rapporteur underlined that her mandate remains crucial to uphold the human rights of Belarusians, which have been denied for several decades, and expressed hope that her successor will maintain human rights in Belarus high on the international agenda.