Mon Sep 23 17:10:13 UTC 2024: ## Belarus Accused of Widespread Human Rights Abuses by UN Investigators
**GENEVA** – The United Nations has accused the Belarusian government of Alexander Lukashenko of creating a “pervasive climate of fear” by systematically repressing dissent. In a scathing report presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, investigators detailed a litany of abuses, including torture, arbitrary detention, and the suppression of basic freedoms.
The report, the first oral update by the UN’s newly formed Expert Group on Belarus, highlighted a pattern of escalating repression since 2020, when nationwide protests erupted following Lukashenko’s contested re-election.
“Measures of repression and intimidation aimed at suppressing dissent continue unabated in Belarus,” said Karinna Moskalenko, chair of the Expert Group. “Individuals perceived as political opponents continue to be charged and arrested under the criminal code, for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association.”
The report also highlighted the government’s harassment of Belarusians forced into exile, including asset seizures and intimidation of their relatives.
While Lukashenko recently pardoned dozens of people convicted for participating in the 2020 protests, Moskalenko noted that “they represent only a small fraction of those who have been arrested” and urged the government to release all political prisoners.
The Belarusian ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Larysa Belskaya, dismissed the report as “meddling in our domestic affairs” and insisted that Belarus “does not accept interference in its domestic affairs.”
Western countries strongly condemned the Belarusian government’s actions, calling for an end to its repressive policies and the immediate release of all political prisoners. They also denounced Belarus’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and its complicity in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
“We demand an end to the Belarusian government’s repressive policies and urge the immediate release of all political prisoners,” said Michele Taylor, US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council.
In a powerful address via videolink, exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband Syarhei is imprisoned, spoke for the thousands of political prisoners and called for their release.
The UN report and subsequent statements by Western governments paint a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Belarus, raising serious concerns about the government’s commitment to fundamental freedoms and its future trajectory.
First Piper 