GENEVA: Serious human rights violations remain rampant in Belarus, United Nations investigators said Friday, adding that some of the abuses by President Alexander Lukashenko’s government amounted to crimes against humanity.
“The government of Belarus has committed widespread human rights violations against the country’s civilian population, some amounting to crimes against humanity, as part of a brutal effort to quash all opposition” to Lukashenko’s rule, a UN group of independent experts said in a statement.
Publishing its first report since its establishment nearly a year ago, the group said it had documented “egregious violations,” including widespread torture, and warned that arbitrary arrests and detention on politically motivated grounds had “become a fixture of the tactics of Belarusian authorities.”
Among its conclusions, the report said “the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds has been committed against Belarusians perceived as being critical of, or opposed to, the government.”
The expert group was created last April by the UN Human Rights Council, and tasked with investigating and establishing “the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Belarus” since May 1, 2020.
The experts, who are independent and do not speak for the United Nations, were also asked to “collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of such violations and abuses and, where possible, to identify those responsible,” to help bring them to justice.
Belarus was gripped by months of unprecedented anti-government demonstrations after an August 2020 election resulted in a sixth term for Lukashenko — a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lukashenko went on to win a seventh term last month in what critics termed a “sham election.”
The 2020 protests were followed by a brutal crackdown.
The UN experts said they conducted nearly 200 interviews in person and remotely with victims, witnesses and others in exile, and examined a large trove of video, photo and other documents for their report.
They said they had gathered “ample evidence” that men and women arrested on politically motivated grounds between 2020 and 2024 “were subjected to torture and ill-treatment at all stages of their detention.”
They reported beatings, electric shocks and rape threats against both detainees and their partners.
“Security forces displayed marked brutality toward LGBTIQ+ individuals, using physical violence and dehumanizing language,” the experts said.
People detained on politically motivated grounds in penal colonies across the country had meanwhile “described a discriminatory regime of detention designed not only to punish them, but also to crush any form of political resistance,” the report said.
It also highlighted how the Belarusian government last year adopted measures that “purged most potential sources of dissent and opposition,” including through enhanced digital surveillance used to monitor online activities, often leading to prosecutions.
Last year alone, at least 228 civil society organizations were “liquidated,” it said.
The experts called on the Belarusian government to immediately release all those unlawfully or arbitrarily detained, and to promptly launch independent and transparent investigations into all abuses, especially those thought to amount to crimes against humanity.
And the group called on the international community to help ensure accountability for the abuses, including through universal jurisdiction.
Belarus committing ‘crimes against humanity’: UN investigators
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Belarus committing ‘crimes against humanity’: UN investigators
- “The government of Belarus has committed widespread human rights violations against the country’s civilian population,” a UN group of independent experts said
- The report said: “the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds has been committed against Belarusians perceived as being critical of, or opposed to, the government“
UPDATE 2-Walk for peace: Buddhist monks arrive in Washington after 2,300-mile journey
- Monks started in Texas, walked through nine states
- Walkers trod daily through frigid winter weather
WASHINGTON: Draped in burnt-orange robes, two dozen Buddhist monks arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday on a 2,300-mile “Walk for Peace,” a self-described spiritual journey across nine states that has been cheered on by crowds of thousands. “People want this,” said Joan Donoghue, 59, from Silver Spring, Maryland, who had come out with four of her friends on Tuesday to see the monks. “I went on Sunday in Virginia and I waited outside for a long time and I talked to so many people and they all said the same thing: that our country needs this. We feel divided and people want more kindness and more compassion and more peace.”
The monks began their walk in Texas more than three months ago, at times braving frigid winter temperatures, sometimes with bare feet, to raise “awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.” The marchers continued on despite a powerful winter storm that spread a paralyzing mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England, compounded by bitter, Arctic cold gripping much of the US Accompanied by Aloka, a rescue dog from India who has gained a following on social media as “the Peace Dog,” their journey comes at a time of growing tensions in the US President Donald Trump’s tough immigration policy has seen surges of immigration agents and National Guard troops deployed in some cities, with both American citizens and immigrants killed by federal agents.
“We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us,” said Bhikkhu Pannakara, spiritual leader of the Walk for Peace. “The Walk for Peace is a simple yet meaningful reminder that unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole.”
They will spend Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington and end their journey in nearby Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday.
The walk has garnered support from millions of people on social media, with many sharing messages of support for the monks. Supporters have braved snow and rain to meet and offer flowers to the monks as they passed through their cities. In Washington, hundreds of people came out to see the monks as they walked along a road informally known as Embassy Row because of the high number of embassies and diplomatic residences.
Coleman O’Donoghue, 62, of Washington, caught the attention of many of those onlookers as he carried a large flag with the peace symbol on a sea of blue. Tuesday was the fourth time he and his wife, Bonnie, had seen the monks.
“They are beautiful distraction from the chaos that is taking place in the city, the country and in the world right now,” O’Donoghue said. “It gives everyone a second to pause and think about something that is not as stressful as what the chaos is creating.”
While they waited hours just to see the monks for less than a minute, many of the spectators said the camaraderie and good energy made the experience worthwhile.
Julie Segor, 58, of Washington, made friends with a couple she met while waiting. Carl, 61, and Christine Varner, 65, of Maryland, pooled their flowers and fruit with her to give to the monks as they passed.
“It was a shared common interest to see the monks on the peace walk and give them some fruit and flowers,” Christine said.
During their stop in North Carolina, the state’s governor, Josh Stein, thanked the monks for bringing hope to millions with their message of peace, equality, justice and compassion.
“You are inspiring people at a time when so many are in need of inspiration,” Stein said. The Walk for Peace has made stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The monks met with spiritual and other leaders after arriving in Washington. They also held an interfaith ceremony at the National Cathedral.
During the ceremony at the cathedral, Kimberly Bassett, the District of Columbia’s secretary of state, presented the monks with a proclamation honoring them on behalf of the Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“Today may mark the end of a 2,300-mile walk but it is not the end of our journey for peace. Your pilgrimage has brought people together across cities, states and communities,” Bassett said.
Although the walk has been positive, it has not been without obstacles. While walking through Dayton, Texas, a truck struck the monks’ escort vehicle, injuring several people, according to local media. Two monks sustained serious injuries and one had his leg amputated.
Despite the accident, the group continued to trek across the US to honor not only their original message of peace but also their brothers.
