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Human rights defenders meet with UN special rapporteurs in Geneva

A delegation of Belarusian human rights defenders met with UN special rapporteurs in Geneva last week to discuss the situation in Belarus, BelaPAN said.

The delegation, which included representatives of the Vyasna human rights group, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the Center for Legal Information, the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Salidarnasts group, held the meetings at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during the June 29-30 visit.

The delegation met with the UN special rapporteurs on freedom of assembly and association, torture and human rights defenders. The UN representatives confirmed that they were closely following the situation in Belarus, in particular in the context of the UN Human Rights Council's recent resolution.

Adopted on June 17, the resolution condemned human rights violations before, during and after the December 2010 presidential election in Belarus, and urged the Belarusian government to end what it called the persecution of opposition leaders.

The document deplored “the use of violence against, arbitrary arrests, detention and the politically motivated conviction of opposition candidates, their supporters, journalists and human rights defenders.”

It also condemned abuses of due process, including the right to a fair trial for those charged in connection with a post-election demonstration that took place in central Minsk after the closure of the polls on December 19.

The Council also urged the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, respect freedoms of expression and association, and “cease the detention and expulsion of international monitors.”