‘It is of great concern that the authorities are criminalizing human rights work at a time when the role of human rights defenders is most needed’
The already dire rights situation in Belarus is deteriorating further, a UN expert warned Thursday, a day before Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is expected to be sentenced to over a decade in prison.
“The situation of human rights… worsened dramatically,” special rapporteur on Belarus, Anais Marin, said on the sidelines of the United Nation Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“It’s going from bad to worse,” she added.
Marin and the UN rights office are due to present reports to the council this month on the violations committed in the country surrounding the presidential elections in 2020 – when Belarus was gripped by months of unprecedented anti-government protests after the vote resulted in a sixth term in office for President Alexander Lukashenko.
The independent expert said she was concerned that “the continuously worsening human rights situation in Belarus could fall below the radar,” as there have not been large-scale protests in the eastern European country for over two years “because independent voices… have all been silenced.”
Marine pointed out that “at least 1,400” political prisoners are detained in Belarus, including 32 journalists and media workers.
A stark example of the crackdown is the expected harsh verdict in the trial against Bialiatski, the founder of Viasna, the authoritarian country’s most prominent rights group. He went on trial earlier this year along with two other associates for allegedly smuggling cash into Belarus to fund opposition activities.
“It is of great concern that the authorities are criminalizing human rights work at a time when the role of human rights defenders is most needed,” Marin said.
