Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and briefed him on the issue of political prisoners, many of whom are in a critical situation. They discussed the situation of Belarusian refugees who face various restrictions while having no support from the Belarusian government.
The Belarusian leader urged Türk to make efforts to secure access for lawyers and families to political prisoners and seek the release of all unlawfully convicted individuals. She requested the continuation of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur Anaïs Marin and the expert group gathering evidence of human rights violations in Belarus.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also emphasized the need to address the issue of Belarus at the upcoming meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, where two reports related to Belarus will be presented: one on migration and the other on human rights.
