Thank you, Mr President,
We thank the EU for its leadership on this resolution. We are seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Belarus, which the Special Rapporteur recently called catastrophic.
The regime continues to target civilians, independent journalists, trade unions, and human rights defenders in its brutal ongoing crackdown on civil society. Through a broad policy of arrest and arbitrary detention the regime is holding almost 1,500 of its citizens as political prisoners, many of whom are subject to torture and cruel and degrading treatment. In recent months, many political prisoners have been starved of contact with the outside world, with no ability to speak with relatives or update on their condition. Tragically, earlier this week, Ales Pushkin, imprisoned for his political beliefs, died in detention in Belarus.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur is one of the only remaining outlets to shine a light on the human rights situation in Belarus. We have seen at this session through interactions with numerous Belarusian human rights defenders the importance they place on the mandate. Mr President, this Council must not let them down.
We urge the Belarusian authorities to engage faithfully with the mandate and regret the attitude of 'disdain' shown towards international human rights mechanisms as described by the Special Rapporteur.
We hope that the Human Rights Council can adopt this important resolution by consensus.
