Viasna doesn't share Paleckis's optimism

The human rights situation in Belarus is consistently bad with a tendency to deteriorate.

Human rights activist Tatsiana Raviaka spoke to charter97.org about the report by European Parliament's Special Rapporteur on Belarus Justas Paleckis that notes a discernible improvement of the human rights situation in Belarus.

“Viasna human rights centre doesn't share Paleckis's optimism. Of course, we'd like the situation of human rights to improve, but we see the reality we live in and record. We have other conclusions. The human rights situation is consistently bad. A tendency to deteriorate has become clear in the last two months. We spoke about stability or, perhaps, a standstill in early spring, but now we observe a tendency to deteriorate,” Tatsiana Raviaka thinks.

The human rights activist hopes the EU and its bodies, including the European Parliament, will not forget the conditions for resuming the dialogue set for Belarus two years ago. The main conditions for the dialogue is the release of political prisoners. If it is lifted, the EU should say it clearly. If it happens, we will proceed from the new reality. But it has not happened yet. I hope the assessment by Belarusian human rights activists will be heard in the EU,” the human rights defender said.