09.11.2012
European Union’s unilateral sanctions violate human rights in other countries
MINSK, 9 November (BelTA) – The international community should be comprehensively informed about systemic manifestations of racial discrimination, hatred, and violence with regard to migrants in Austria, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, France, Switzerland, and Sweden. The opinion was voiced by Mr Yevgeny Lazarev, Deputy Head of the Central Office for Multilateral Diplomacy, Head of the Global Policy and Humanitarian Cooperation Office of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, as part of the general discussion about the operation of special rapporteurs and UN representatives for human rights at the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told BelTA.
Yevgeny Lazarev drew attention to the operation of special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council. In his words, Belarus interacts with thematic procedures of the Human Rights Council in a constructive manner, with requested information about the situation in the country provided. Meanwhile, the Belarus representative remarked that some special procedures fail to draw sufficient attention to the human rights situation in Western countries, primarily the European Union, the USA, and Canada.
According to the Belarusian delegation, special procedures fail to sufficiently inform the Human Rights Council about multiple violations of the freedom of speech, including at the legislative level, in the UK, Poland, Lithuania, Canada, and the USA. Yevgeny Lazarev reminded about systematic abuse of force by police during crackdowns on protest actions and peaceful demonstrations in Poland, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, and the USA.
Speaking about the establishment of the post of the European Union special representative for human rights, Yevgeny Lazarev urged the civil servant to at last notice the European Union’s blatant violations of human rights in other countries by the introduction of unilateral sanctions.
The Belarusian delegation underlined that the trust of nations in the special procedures depends a lot on their real actions in response to violations of human rights in all the countries without exceptions. In turn, willful disregard for human rights violations in countries of the European Union and America leads to impunity and new violations.
Yevgeny Lazarev drew attention to the operation of special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council. In his words, Belarus interacts with thematic procedures of the Human Rights Council in a constructive manner, with requested information about the situation in the country provided. Meanwhile, the Belarus representative remarked that some special procedures fail to draw sufficient attention to the human rights situation in Western countries, primarily the European Union, the USA, and Canada.
According to the Belarusian delegation, special procedures fail to sufficiently inform the Human Rights Council about multiple violations of the freedom of speech, including at the legislative level, in the UK, Poland, Lithuania, Canada, and the USA. Yevgeny Lazarev reminded about systematic abuse of force by police during crackdowns on protest actions and peaceful demonstrations in Poland, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, and the USA.
Speaking about the establishment of the post of the European Union special representative for human rights, Yevgeny Lazarev urged the civil servant to at last notice the European Union’s blatant violations of human rights in other countries by the introduction of unilateral sanctions.
The Belarusian delegation underlined that the trust of nations in the special procedures depends a lot on their real actions in response to violations of human rights in all the countries without exceptions. In turn, willful disregard for human rights violations in countries of the European Union and America leads to impunity and new violations.