An event took place in Geneva today ahead of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Belarus at the UN Human Rights Council. The meeting allowed member states to hear directly from the human rights community and gain a clearer picture of the human rights situation in Belarus.
The pre-session featured presentations by Belarusian and international human rights organizations, who outlined in detail the scale of violations in Belarus. It was noted that Belarus has made no progress in fulfilling its human rights obligations.
The event highlighted the following issues:
- The continued and expanded use of the death penalty, including for “attempted terrorism” and “treason”;
- More than 1,300 political prisoners currently held in prisons, and nearly 4,000 politically motivated arrests since 2020;
- Systematic use of torture, inhuman and degrading detention conditions, including incommunicado detention, denial of access to lawyers, and lack of medical care;
- Liquidation of independent media and more than 1,900 NGOs, pressure on trade unions, the legal profession, and independent journalists;
- Discrimination against women, national minorities, LGBTQ+ people, and persons with disabilities;
- The absence of an independent judiciary and the dismantling of the legal profession.
Belarusian NGOs voiced demands, including the immediate release of all political prisoners, an end to torture and arbitrary arrests, a moratorium on the death penalty and its eventual abolition, restoration of judicial independence and the legal profession, cessation of repression against civil society and the media, revision of anti-extremism legislation, and equal rights for women, minorities, and vulnerable groups.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Legal Affairs, Leanid Marozau, noted:
“Unfortunately, the human rights situation in Belarus is deteriorating. Some things may not even be visible publicly, as the regime has adopted new tactics of concealing repression. We will continue to remind the world that without the release of political prisoners and an end to repression, no positive change can happen in Belarus”.
In addition to participating in the pre-session, Mr. Marozau held a series of closed meetings with international partners from Lithuania, Latvia, Switzerland, and other countries. The discussions focused on Belarus-related issues, including the human rights situation, the fate of political prisoners, and the latest developments and challenges facing Belarusian society.
