Statement at the 56th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Belarus
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott, CIVICUS
Thank you Mr President.
CIVICUS welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur and the renewal of the mandate. The human rights situation in Belarus remains dire, with authorities continuing their systematic destruction of civic space and civil society. Since 2020, 1,033 civil society organisations have been forcibly liquidated and 632 decided on self-liquidation.
Repression against Belarusian civic groups continues, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of activists, protesters, journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers. In May, 161 people were reportedly arbitrarily convicted. Those convicted are often held incommunicado and have their terms extended for alleged prison regulation violations, as seen in the case of Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk.
In 2023, several Special Rapporteurs called on Belarusian authorities to immediately release all prisoners detained on spurious charges for exercising their fundamental rights. Despite this, in April, three activists were arrested and charged with participating in an extremist organization due to their alleged affiliation with the Human Rights Center Viasna.
We are also concerned about exiled activists facing deportation or extradition to Belarus, where they risk prosecution for "extremism" or other politically motivated charge, such as Andrey Gnyot and activists from the Nobel prize-nominated Belarusian NGO, Our House.
We urge the government of Belarus to release and rehabilitate all those arbitrarily or unlawfully detained for exercising their core civic freedoms, including all members of Viasna in pre-trial detention. We also urge other states to honour their international obligations, such as the non-refoulement principle, when considering the status of Belarusian nationals.
We thank you.
Civic space in Belarus is rated closed by the CIVICUS Monitor