David Cameron: Strasbourg Court should hold Belarusian government to account

The British Prime Minister rebuked Minsk over cruelty to opposition.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, gave a speech on January 25 in Strasbourg at the European Council meeting on the reform of the European Court of Human Rights and blamed the authorities of Belarus for cruelty and violation of the rights of opposition representatives. The British PM thinks the Council of Europe and its bodies should react to these facts, Telegraf reports.

“We should remember that oppression and brutality are not just facts of Europe’s past. As we sit here today, in Belarus there are people being thrown into prison for their political beliefs. Dissidents’ voices are being silenced and their rights are being crushed. What is happening less than a thousand miles from here underlines the continuing importance and relevance of the Council, the Convention and the Court,” David Cameron said.

According to the British prime minister, the situation in Belarus reminds that now, more than ever, the European community needs a Court that is a beacon for the cause of human rights. However, as David Cameron says, the ability of the Court to play its vital role is under threat.

“Upholding and promoting human rights is not something governments and courts can do alone. It is something we need all our societies to be engaged with,” David Cameron stated. He stressed the Strasbourg Court should hold governments to account when they fail to protect human rights.

We remind that political opponents of Lukashenka, convicted in the case of December 19, still remain in prison. Among them are presidential candidates Mikalai Statkevich and Andrei Sannikov, coordinator of European Belarus civil campaign Zmitser Bandarenka and co-chairman of the organizing committee to create Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Pavel Sevyarynets.

Relatives and lawyers of imprisoned oppositionists have repeatedly reported about pressure on the persons involved in the December 19 case. According to the, the pressure has increased recently against the background of demands from the West and international human rights organizations to release the oppositionists.

According to Andrei Sannikov’s wife Iryna Khalip, the politician has been tortured and threatened since November 2011 to force him to apply to Lukashenka for a pardon.