Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

Minsk gives lesson of respect for human rights

Belsat

Hardly had Europe forgotten the MFA’s recent report on human rights violations in European countries, Canada and the USA in 2012, the Belarusian diplomats delivered another blow to the ideological opponent.

Yauhen Lazarau, Deputy Head of the Department for multilateral diplomacy, made a statement to the 22th session of the Human Rights Council being held in Geneva, Switzerland, during an interactive dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He called on the United Nation to turn attention to EU and U.S. sanctions towards several countries. Mr Lazarau also emphasized that Belarus traced over 200 gross violations in the EU, Norway, Switzerland, USA and Canada in its report on human rights violations, while the High Commissioner and her abundant staff had mentioned none. The top official accused the opponents of double standards; according to him, it is the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that gets to the root of the problem of human rights observance. Most of the attention is paid to the countries of the South, while cases of human rights violations in the so called "realized democracies" are left without attention, he stressed.

The Belarusian delegation stated that the High Commissioner Office’s overwhelming dependence on funding from the EU and US virtually paralyses its activities and forces to advance these countries’ agenda, whose major elements being blackmailing and intimidation.

Belarus proposed to the High Commissioner to formally initiate the consultations on the issue of increasing the Office’s financing from the UN budget. Mr Lazarau also expressed hies readiness to assist the High Commissioner in detecting human rights violations.

It is to be recalled that in its report The Ministry discovered the facts of violations of almost all rights laid down in international agreements, starting with racial discrimination and ending with contemporary forms of slavery. Belarus’ western neighbours and the states supporting civil society in our country were especially pecked in the report.