Belarusian human rights activist appeals to UN in Geneva

On March 5, the Belarusian human rights activist, Ales Byalyatski, spoke at the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. As BelaPAN reports, vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights, the chairman of the Human Rights Centre Viasna closed by the Belarusian authorities, Byalatski noted that in many countries human rights defenders are not allowed to work.

"Human rights defenders face many obstacles in their activities: threats, attacks, ill-treatment, killings, forced disappearances, illegal tracking, arbitrary detention," said Byalatski. " There are laws labelling their legitimate activities as anti-state and calling them a humiliating and false name of foreign agents, as it is done in Russia. They have their access to financing blocked or their legitimate activity criminalized."

Byalyatski said that "repressive regimes put peaceful activists behind bars on various trumped-up charges". He recalled that the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognized his detention as direct result of the violation of his right to freedom of association. "Manipulations of the domestic legislation against human rights defenders cannot hide from the international community gross violations of human rights," said Ales Bialiatski.

The human rights activist stressed: the United Nations Human Rights Council must protect the living space of the civil society, using all means at its disposal to put pressure on those who abuse power and to call them for justice.

The human rights activist Ales Byalyatski spent more than a thousand days in the colony and was released in June 2014. He was tried for concealment of income, but human rights organizations believe that the reason for the prosecution was the social activities of Beliatski. Therefore, he was recognized as a political prisoner.

Photo: spring96.org