The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday were told of the "systematic character
of the serious repression of all human rights in Belarus" by the expert it
appointed to investigate the former Soviet state.
Miklos Haraszti told the Geneva-based body that the government in Minsk, headed
since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko, is the only parliament in Europe
without opposition.
It is also the only country in Europe that retains the death penalty and
Haraszti had previously reported "as a possible positive development that no
executions had reportedly carried out during the reporting period."
"However, in April 2014, two new executions were carried out in secret," he
said. "Those facing the death penalty, and their relatives or lawyers are
neither informed of the scheduled date of execution nor where the body is
buried. In one of the cases, the mother of the executed Pavel Sialiun was not
notified of the decision to reject his plea for pardon or the date of
execution."
He also said there was increased repression before and during Belarus's recent
hosting of the World Ice Hockey Championships and that students were forced to
work on the construction of the Chizhovka Arena in Minsk and that with up to 80
% of the economy state-planned there is "severe suppression of the right of
independent labour unions to organize."
Haraszti, a Hungarian professor, journalist and human rigths advocate, held out
little hope at the end of his presentation to the 47-nation Council that next
year's presidential election would result in an improved human rights
situation.
"Chronic restriction of human rights has led to recurrence of violence over the
last 15 years, typically at times of elections and the announcement of their
preordained outcomes," he said. "During the recent local elections in March
2014, the right to elect was in practice again denied, as 88 % of
constituencies were uncontested."
Source: UN Tribune, June 18, 2014
