UN urges release of political prisoners in Belarus

UN urges release of political prisoners in Belarus

2011-09-21 16:24:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday called on the government of Belarus to release all political prisoners following reports of rights violations.

According to the UN, "serious allegations" have emerged regarding a pattern of rights violations involving freedom of speech and assembly, as well as torture after last year's elections.

Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling on Belarus to speedily accept a mission from her office, noting that previous requests for an on-site visit had remained unanswered.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, along with other senior UN officials, has repeatedly expressed concern at the violence and the detention and treatment of journalists, opposition candidates and their supporters after President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's victory in December's elections. The UN has also called for the release of the detainees.

As opposition protests surged, arguing that the poll was neither free nor fair and the results were flawed, the human rights situation deteriorated significantly, the report said.

In addition, the report cites the beating of protestors with batons, which resulted in the injury of several of them. The vast majority of the protestors and bystanders were peaceful, the report added. There were also reports of physical and psychological torture by several defendants and the alleged intimidation of defence lawyers.

Furthermore, the report explains that Belarus authorities have reportedly tightened their already highly restrictive control of the media since last December, calling on the Government to conduct an objective investigation into the circumstances of the detentions and all reported cases of torture, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The authorities have allegedly been conducting a policy of harassment against independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights defenders," the report states, also calling for an immediate end to all such acts and forms of political and administrative pressure.

Belarus is the only country in Europe that still issues death sentences and carries out executions. Also, the absence of UN human rights presence in the country, has affected clear information from the country, as much of it comes from secondary sources. Some of the allegations remain unverified.

Belarus' delegate Mikhail Khvostov said his country disagreed with those such as the European Union (EU) on what constituted peaceful demonstrations. The EU considered that the storming of buildings was a peaceful activity, while Belarus considered it to be a criminal activity, he added, stressing Belarus continued to be devoted to its international obligations to protect human rights.

A politically motivated approach to countries was not an approach that the Council or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should follow, he stressed.

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