Belarus responds to observations of Human Rights Council

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet delivered a report on the state of human rights in Belarus. They are trying to teach Minsk how not to punish radical provocateurs and violators of public order who participated in illegal actions. The Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in Geneva explained who and why is standing behind these events.

Yuri Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN: “Repeated consideration of the situation in Belarus in the HRC against the background of real wars, internal conflicts and humanitarian disasters with thousands of deaths in other countries does not leave a sane person in doubt about the nature of what is happening and damages the reputation of the UN.

In Belarus, the overwhelming majority of citizens now lead a normal life, the government functions, enterprises and institutions operate. There is no hunger or war. There is no threat to neighbors.

It will take many hours to calculate how many times the German police used brutal force against protesters in the past year. We can safely say that force and special means have been used dozens of times. As a result, more than one thousand people were beaten and detained. And people were protesting against the restrictions due to the pandemic. The Human Rights Watch described Germany as a country where anti-Semitism and racial hate crimes are of growing concern.

Belarus demanded that the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN official stopped disseminating false information about Belarus.

Yuri Ambrazevich directly pointed out that officials entitled to use the UN logo deliberately promoted unverified facts as the organization's position, and supported the protests by their actions. Their messages, essentially fake news, were used by protest instigators to whip up hysteria. In the end, nothing was confirmed.

Who needs instability in Belarus?

Yuri Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN: “Poland supports the activities of a number of Belarusian citizens from Polish territory including administrators of telegram channels with extremist content. Their publications are aimed at overthrowing the constitutional power in the country, contain specific instructions for conducting illegal actions, and incite criminal offenses. Belarus demanded that Poland extradited these citizens and complied with international obligations."

Y. Ambrazevich: Sanctions and pressure on Belarus are a direct violation of international law

In conclusion, I want all UN members to hear me. Pressure and sanctions are the reaction of the European Union to the unwillingness of the government of Belarus to agree with the assessments of Brussels following the results of the presidential elections in our country. This is a direct violation of international law. Sanctions can only be imposed in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council."