Miklos Haraszti: Ready to cooperate with all sides

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Belarus Miklos Haraszti calls on the Belarusian government to cooperation to improve the situation of human rights in the country.

This is said in his statement spread by the Human Rights Council's press service on June 14, BelaPAN reports.

At the meeting on June 13 in Geneva, the Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus. Hungarian Miklos Haraszti was appointed Special Rapporteur in September 2012. “Human rights are systematically restricted in Belarus through different measures: decrees, policies and practice,” Haraszti said. “The fulfilment of human rights remains purposefully blocked by a governance system that is devoid of any checks and balances.”

Haraszti recalled that during his first mandate he had not been able to visit Belarus and talk to officials, having received no response to his requests from the government.

According to Haraszti, he gathered facts by talking to a great variety of Belarusian sources – politicians, human rights defenders, activists and journalists – during several trips to neighbouring countries. The Special Rapporteur noted that the report mentioned the main problems of concern, in particular enforced disappearances; arbitrary arrests and detentions; harassment of imprisoned political opponents and human rights defenders; the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and the death penalty.

The unconditional release of political prisoner is a problem that must be solved immediately. Haraszti detailed the measures to improve the human rights situation: guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and bar associations; establishing judicial procedural safeguards; abolishing the system of arbitrary arrest and detention; replacing the permission-based regime with a notification-based registration for assemblies, associations, and the media; decriminalising the work of independent NGOs (article 193.1 of the Criminal Code); and creating an independent National Human Rights Institution. “True stability and economic prosperity for a country rest on full respect for human rights,” Haraszti said. “In my life, I have seen many times that if there is political will in these areas, progress can be mutually rewarding for government and society.”

The Special Rapporteur underlined he was ready to cooperate with all sides to improve the situation of human rights in Belarus. It's worth noting that official Minsk found the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur political. The Belarusian authorities don't recognise it and don't see prospects for cooperation.