The 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), which opens on February 24 in Geneva, will host an interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Belarus, according to the organization’s website.
It is scheduled for March 19, along with similar events on North Korea and Myanmar. The difference is that the relevant special rapporteurs will provide information on the two countries mentioned, while a specially created group of independent experts will provide information on Belarus, which recently prepared its first report.
In particular, it states that the Government of Belarus has “committed widespread human rights violations against the civilian population”. These violations, according to the group, are “part of a tough effort to suppress any opposition to the leadership of president Aliaksandr Lukashenka.” At the same time, “some of these violations amount to crimes against humanity.”
The Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus was established by the HRC on April 4, 2024 “for a renewable period of one year” to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged violations and harassment of human rights and violations committed in Belarus since May 1, 2020.
