Human Rights in Belarus

Human Rights In Belarus

Since the election of Belarus' first president (Aleksandr Lukashenko) in July 1994, Lukashenko has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place. Belarus, “republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship”, is viewed as a rogue state by the United States and European democracies—one whose conduct is out of line with international norms of behavior, and whose regime is considered to violate human rights. Some examples were the harassment of the Union of Poles in Belarus (which represents ethnic Poles in the region) and the abduction, unlawful detainment and torture of American attorney Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant (and journalist) Vladlena Funk during the US-Belarus hostage crisis of 2008-2009. Religious, political and journalistic activity is tightly controlled. Other alleged human-rights violations include the digging-up of a Jewish cemetery to build a sports stadium. Concerns have also been raised by the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ), among others, of Lukashenko’s alleged use of neo-Nazis to intimidate opposition supporters during general elections. There have also been accusations of spying on ordinary citizens and minority groups in what commentators have called a manner reminiscent of the Soviet Union.

The US Department of State repeatedly criticized the Lukashenko regime, describing it as “a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship that blatantly ignores human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Assessments by the United Nations, the United States and European and Euro-Atlantic organizations demonstrate Belarus’s disregard for human rights, the subservience of Belarusian courts to Lukashenko’s administration and members of Lukashenko’s inner circle, and the use of the Belarusian judiciary as a tool for accomplishing improper political objectives and accommodating the interests of the regime. The United Nations Human Rights Council noted that the Belarusian political system is “incompatible with the concept of human rights”. Belarus has been called “the last true remaining dictatorship in the heart of Europe” by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Belarus is subject to US sanctions for “undermining democratic process and constituting an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”. It is also subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union for human-rights violations. Belarus has been determined to be a habitual violator of international human-rights laws and accepted norms of international behavior by the UN, the US, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As stated by the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus, “it is impossible to believe that all these people are wrong or biased.”