Mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus extended for one year

The United Nations Human Rights Council has extended the mandate of Miklos Haraszti for one year.

Members of the UN Human Rights Council voted today in Geneva on extending or ending the mandate of UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklos Haraszti.

Delegations of 26 countries voted in favour of extending Miklos Haraszti's report, 3 countries voted against and 18 abstained.

Charter97.org has learnt the news from human rights activists.

Under the rules, such decisions are taken by a simple majority vote.

On June 4, the UN Human Rights Council discussed the report on Belarus prepared by Special Rapporteur Miklos Haraszti. The document described the situation of human rights in Belarus in 2012.

The Special Rapporteur noted in the report that the situation of political prisoners was of deep concern.

“Their conditions of detention, combined with the allegations of physical and psychological pressure that they face, can be seen as amounting to ill-treatment or even torture,” he said.

He reminded he didn't have the opportunity to visit Belarus because the authorities refused to issue him an entry visa.