Mass human rights violations in Belarus require an assessment from the perspective of applicable international criminal law – OHCHR report

March 9, BPN. The mass human rights violations in Belarus that have been taking place since August 2020, involving state authorities, require “further assessment of the available evidence from the perspective of applicable international criminal law.” This is stated in a press release on the report published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on March 9.

The report notes “widespread and systematic nature” of the human rights violations identified in Belarus,” defined by “collective execution by multiple State organs.”

“The fundamental human rights of tens of thousands of people in Belarus have been violated and the lives of countless others negatively affected by the Government’s continued crackdown on opponents, civil society, journalists and lawyers, without yet seeing the perpetrators held accountable,” the report says. “The examination highlights the inability of victims to access justice.”

The report details the findings of OHCHR’s examination of the human right situation in Belarus from August 9, 2020 to December 31, 2021, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. It is based on 145 first-hand interviews, as well as analysis of a wide range of information and evidence.

The report notes that after Aliaksandr Lukašenka declared electoral victory on 9 August, hundreds of thousands rallied to voice their opposition peacefully, meeting a “massive and violent crackdown.”

Between May 2020 and May 2021, at least 37,000 people were detained, including about 13,500 between August 9 and August 14, 2020. Many of them were placed in administrative detention for up to 15 days.

OHCHR notes an increase in the number of political prisoners in Belarus, persecution of lawyers and journalists, massive closures of NGOs and changes in legislation “that further curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms.”

The OHCHR report found that “individuals were targeted following a consistent pattern of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arrests, detention – including incommunicado detention – torture or ill-treatment, rape and sexual and gender-based violence and the systematic denial of due process and fair trial rights.”

The report also states that, along with the lack of investigations, “there was an active policy to shield perpetrators and prevent accountability, reflected in the level of reprisals, intimidation of victims and witnesses, attacks on lawyers and human rights defenders.”

The current situation “contravenes Belarus’ obligations under international human rights law” the report stresses.