Repression in Belarus: joint statement to the OSCE Ministerial Council 2025 - Dec 5

The UK joins other OSCE participating States in calling for an end to human rights violations in Belarus.

"Thank you, Mr Chair,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following participating States that are members of the Informal Group of Friends of Democratic Belarus: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and my own country Sweden.

The following participating States are also joining this statement: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, San Marino, and Switzerland.

In the 1991 Moscow Document, all OSCE participating States agreed that the commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned. This commitment has subsequently been reaffirmed, including at the level of heads of state and government in 2010 in Astana.

Over five years have passed since the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus in 2020. Since then, the brutal repression and human rights violations have continued systematically and unabated, as documented by numerous international human rights bodies and civil society organizations, targeting political opposition, human rights defenders, civil society, journalists and other media actors, and many more.

We strongly condemn these violations, which target all segments of Belarusian society. We also strongly condemn the Belarusian authorities' involvement and complicity in Russia's unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. We call on the Belarusian authorities to ensure that no Ukrainian children are forcibly transferred to or through Belarus' territory and to provide full transparency on any such cases.

Mr Chair,

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism was invoked in 2020 and again in 2023 in light of a large group of countries' deep concern over ‘threats to the fulfilment of the provisions of the human dimension posed by human rights violations and abuses in Belarus'.

The Moscow Mechanism report from 2023 found that Belarus had taken a large number of actions that infringed political rights and the democratic process, freedoms of assembly and association, freedom of expression and the right of access to information, the rights to liberty and security, the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to a fair trial, and the right to effective remedies. Regrettably, Belarus has not made any progress on the recommendations of the 2020 nor the 2023 report, thereby underlining its persistent disregard for their international obligations and OSCE commitments.

In July 2024, 38 participating States expressed their deep regret over Belarus' failure to implement the said recommendations, and therefore invoked the OSCE Vienna Mechanism to ask several pressing questions to Belarus.

As we have raised repeatedly in the Permanent Council during this year, Belarus has still not provided a substantial response to the concerns expressed.

On the contrary, the persecution and intimidation campaigns against all segments of society continue, and as highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, the overall human rights situation has continued to deteriorate over the past year, with new forms of repression added.

As of today, 5 December, Viasna has documented 1218 political prisoners. The conditions in detention are appalling, with numerous credible reports about terrible conditions and brutal treatment, including incommunicado detention. The UN Committee Against Torture has come to the inescapable conclusion that torture is a systematic practice in Belarus and women deprived of liberty are subjected to gender-specific ill-treatment. While the release of some political prisoners is a welcome development, we remain deeply concerned that Belarus continues to imprison and detain many more. We are also aware that many former prisoners upon release have been forced to leave Belarus or remain under surveillance and repression, which in practice extends their punishment beyond imprisonment, often leading to exile. We continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, Maryia Kalesnikava, Mikalai Statkevich, Viktar Babaryka, Maksim Znak, Pavel Seviarynets and Andrzej Poczobut, and their effective rehabilitation. We reiterate our call on Belarusian authorities to refrain from new detentions and to stop persecuting individuals for exercising their human rights and freedoms. The death penalty is contrary to the inalienable right to life and we call on Belarus to establish a moratorium as a first step towards abolition.

The presidential election in January 2025 took place in the context of widespread repression, with continued pressure on civil society, arbitrary detentions and human rights violations, severe restrictions of political participation and a lack of credible opposition candidates.

We recall that ODIHR made efforts over several months to engage with the Belarusian authorities on election observation. The Belarusian authorities' late invitation –only ten days before the presidential elections – prevented ODIHR's access to key stages of the election process, making meaningful observation impossible. In this context, we reaffirm our full support for ODIHR's independent election monitoring and its globally recognized methodology. It is a valuable tool for the promotion of human rights and democracy across the OSCE area.

Mr Chair,

We urge Belarus to fully implement its international obligations and OSCE commitments in the field of human rights and democracy. Belarus must also stop its support for Russia's illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine.

We will continue to support the Belarusian people's aspiration for a free, democratic and independent Belarus.

Thank you."