GENEVA, NOVEMBER 2 – The brutal repressions against peaceful demonstrators in Belarus should come to an immediate stop and political prisoners should be released without conditions, Italy in Geneva advised during the 36th session of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review, a verification mechanism among member states of the United Nations on the state of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Addressing the Periodical Review, the Italian Permanent Representative, Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado, called for “a meaningful and inclusive national dialogue; credible, transparent, independent and impartial investigations into human rights violations and abuses committed in the run-up, during and after the 2020 presidential election; and enhanced efforts to guarantee freedom of expression and association, as well protection of the media, journalists and human rights defenders”.
Italy also recommended that Belarus consider introducing a moratorium on executions in view of the total abolition of the death penalty and measures to criminalize domestic violence.
About 300 people were still arrested yesterday in Minsk and in the Minsk region for participating in protests against the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko, according to the Belarusian Interior Ministry. According to reports of the online site UN Watch, 51 countries out of 92 (55%) praised Belarus for respecting human rights: among them Syria, Venezuela, China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and Egypt.
During the current Review session, which will end on November 13, the Council will also examine the human rights situation in Liberia, Malawi, Panama, Mongolia, Maldives, Andorra, Honduras, Bulgaria, Marshall Islands, United States, Croatia , Libya and Jamaica. (@OnuItalia)