HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN BELARUS

May 28: OSCE Rapporteur's Report on Belarus, by Professor Emmanuel Decaux (published June 16, 2011)

May 27: Statement by President Obama on the Recent Convictions of Political Prisoners in Belarus (PDF 9kB)  [Русский]

MOSCOW MECHANISM Rapporteur Begins Fact-Finding Mission Regarding the Post-Election Human Rights Situation in Belarus

VIENNA, May 9, 2011 – Emmanuel Decaux, Professor of International Law at the University of Paris, began work on May 6 as the OSCE rapporteur for a mission to examine the human rights situation and implementation of OSCE commitments in Belarus following the December presidential election on December 19, 2010.

The process was launched on April 6, 2011, when 14 OSCE participating States invoked the Organization’s "Moscow Mechanism".

The Mechanism, agreed by consensus by all 56 OSCE States, allows for deployment of an independent, impartial fact-finding mission if one State, supported by at least nine others, "considers that a particularly serious threat to the fulfilment of the provisions of the [OSCE] human dimension has arisen in another participating State".

Professor Decaux has announced that he welcomes any information relevant to his mission. He can be reached at edecaux@u-paris2.fr All sources will remain confidential.

[Русский]

April 6, 2011: 14 participating States ask for a fact-finding mission to Belarus

The U.S. and 13 other participating States requested that impartial, international experts undertake a fact-finding mission to Belarus to address questions regarding particularly serious threats to human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law that followed the Dec. 19, 2010 presidential election.  This request was made by invoking the Moscow Mechanism.

• May 27: Statement by the President on the Recent Convictions of Political Prisoners in Belarus (PDF 9kB)

• May 19 Statement delivered by the Czech Republic at the OSCE Permanent Council on behalf of 14 countries invoking the Moscow Mechanism (PDF 28kB)
• April 6 Letter to Ambassador Alyaksandr Sychov, Head of the Delegation of Belarus to the OSCE (PDF 93kB)
• April 6 Letter to Ambassador Lenarcic, Director of ODIHR (PDf 88kB)
• Republic of Belarus Presidential Election, December 19, 2010, OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report (PDF 905kB)
• OSCE Press Release, March 7, 2011: OSCE Human Rights Office to Observe Belarus Trials (PDf 65kB)

Archive of USOSCE Statements on Belarus: 2012

• July 26: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
• July 12: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
• June 21: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
• June 7: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
• May 24: Right of Reply: Response to Statement by Belarus “Regarding the Expansion of the Powers of the Security Agencies in the United States of America and Canada”
• April 19: Statement on Release of Political Prisoners in Belarus
• March 22: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (77kB)
• March 1: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (75kB)

• February 16: Response to Belarus on Internet Freedom in the United States (71.5kB)

• February 9: Statement on the Final Human Rights Assessment of the Events of 19 December 2010 in Minsk, Belarus (81kB)

• January 26: Statement on Byalyatski Appeal in Belarus (75kB)

• January 19: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (66kB)

Archive of USOSCE Statements on Belarus: 2011

• December 22: Statement on Belarus: One Year Later (107kB)
• December 15: Joint Statement on the Situation in Belarus (PDF 73kB)
• November 24: Statement on Conviction of Belarusian Human Rights Activist Ales Byalyatski (PDF 65kB)
• November 17: Statement on the Judicial System and Legal Amendments in Belarus (PDF 80kB)
• November 10: Statement on Politically-Motivated Prosecution in Belarus (PDF 80kB)
• October 27: Response to Statement by Belarus Regarding Peaceful Assembly in the United States and the EU (PDF 64kB)
• October 20: Statement on the Passage of Draconian Legal Amendments in Belarus (PDF 41kB)
• September 1: Response to Belarus on U.S. Sanctions
• July 7: Statement on Freedom of Assembly in Belarus (PDF 70kB)
• June 16: Response to the Report by Professor Emmanuel Decaux (PDF 99kB)
• June 2: Statement on the Continuing Situation in Belarus (PDF 41kB)
• March 31: Statement on the Occasion of the Closing of the OSCE Office in Minsk (PDF 70kB)
• March 24: Statement on the Continuing Situation in Belarus (PDF 70kB)
• March 17: Statement on the Continuing Situation in Belarus (PDF 73kB)
• March 10: Statement on the Continuing Situation in Belarus (PDF 70kB)
• March 3: Statement on the Situation in Belarus (PDF 53kB)
• February 17: Statement on the Continuing Situation in Belarus (PDF 134kB)
• February 3: Statement on Belarus Sanctions (PDF 152kB)
• January 27: Statement on Closure of OSCE Office in Belarus (PDF 66kB)
• January 13: United States Statement on Belarus (PDF 107kB)

Other Recent State Department Statements on Belarus

• May 14: Statement on Conviction of Belarusian Presidential Candidate