“Viasna” Head Comments on the UN Resolution

16.04.2004.

On 15 April the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted the resolution that condemns human rights violations in Belarus. The Commission established the post of special reporter on Belarus, who is to study the situation of human rights in Belarus and present a report at the next session. The head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski thusly commented on this event to RFE/RL: “It is the second resolution on Belarus. I should remind that last year the UN Commission on Human Rights also adopted a resolution on Belarus, which was quite surprising.

The countries that created and adopted this resolution are of the opinion that this year the situation of human rights hasn’t improved. The resolution was initiated by the EU countries and the USA.

It mentions the things that are well-known to Belarusian citizens: the pressure of the authorities on development of NGOs, the political life of democratic parties in Belarus, the unsatisfactory investigation of the cases of the missing persons, the present troubles of European Humanities Institute and the liquidation of Yakub Kolas National State Humanities Lyceum.

The most interesting moment in the resolution is in the sixth point. It is the proposal to introduce the post of the special reporter on human rights in Belarus from the UN Human Rights Commission.

This position is usually introduced only for countries with total human rights violations. I think that this step is a direct evidence of the growing concern of the world community concerning the situation of human rights in Belarus.”

23 countries voted for the resolution, 13 – against, 17 – abstained from voting.