Tatsiana Raviaka: Extending mandate of UN Special Rapporteur is political sign

The international community shows concerns about the situation in Belarus.

Tatsiana Raviaka, a member of the council of Viasna human rights centre, spoke to charter97.org about extending Miklos Haraszti's report for one year by the UN Human Rights Council.

”We are happy to hear that the UN Human Rights Council has extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus. Human rights activists have shown their interest and have actively lobbied for this decision. It is very important for us to see that the report gives an objective assessment of the human rights situation. It is a balanced and politically unbiased document, unlike the report by Mr Justas Paleckis,” the human rights defender noted.

She stressed the report was made by the specialist in human rights. The document contains the analysis of legislation nad the practical application of legislation and describes real cases reflecting significant restrictions of rights in the country.

“We find very important the fact that the situation of human rights will be in focus of the international community in the nearest year. I'd like to turn attention to the fact that 26 countries voted in favour of extending the mandate, while 3 voted against and 18 abstained. It gives us confidence that until the expiration of the mandate the parties interested will be receiving objective information about the situation in Belarus that will, in turn, influence decisions on developing relations with our country taking into consideration the level of respect for human rights. The resolution is adopted by the Council consisting of national delegations, so it is, to some extent, a political decision. The document may be regarded as a human rights and political signal from the international community about concerns over the situation of human rights in Belarus,” Tatsiana Raviaka is sure.