NEW YORK - A UN expert today expressed concern about the human rights situation of workers in Belarus.
"Belarus is not the worker's paradise authorities say it is, despite their proclaimed commitment to economic and social rights," said Nils Muižnieks, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, at the UN General Assembly today.
In his report, Muižnieks found pervasive discrimination and harassment based on political motives in both the public and private sectors. He also found unjustified restrictions on access to professions based on political motives and the use of hard, dangerous forced labour for meagre or no pay as a form of punishment for persons unjustly incarcerated. The Special Rapporteur also deplored the wholesale destruction of trade union rights, and detailed violations of workers' rights.
The report follows a two-year engagement of the mandate with the International Labour Organization, which has put Belarus under enhanced scrutiny under article 33 of its Constitution due to violations of trade unions' rights.
Muižnieks urged Member States not to be misled by recent releases of political prisoners. He recalled that over 1,100 people continue to be detained arbitrarily in Belarus and that some of those released have been deported and had their passports confiscated - leaving them at risk of statelessness and afraid of returning to Belarus.
