UN experts say Belarus justice system used to target Lukashenko opponents

The experts say courts, police, security services, prosecutors, and prison authorities work together to silence real or perceived government critics.United Nations experts have found that Belarusian state institutions have worked together to repress government critics through arrests, imprisonment, and surveillance since 2020.In a report to be presented to the UN-human-rights-council" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="3938" data-entity-type="organization">UN Human Rights Council this week, the independent experts said courts, police, security services, prosecutors, and prison authorities had worked together to silence real or perceived opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘A concession to Zelenskyy’s ultimatum’: Ukraine’s triumph over Belaruslist 2 of 4Mutual defence: The alliances that preceded Turkiye-Pakistan-Saudi pactlist 3 of 4Putin and Lukashenko monitor joint Russia-Belarus nuclear exerciseslist 4 of 4UK, Canada impose sanctions on Belarus’s Lukashenkoend of listThe experts said they found “systematic” violations of international human rights obligations from arrest through to detention, conviction, and post-release supervision.They cited arbitrary arrests, torture, denial of legal safeguards, closed trials, and the continued harassment of former detainees.“The patterns of violations described in this paper continue to the present day,” the report said.It added that the judiciary had played a key role by legitimising abuses and denying victims effective remedies.According to the report, Belarus has previously rejected UN criticism of its human rights record and did not cooperate with the experts, who said requests to visit the country and engage with authorities went unanswered.The experts said Belarus violated multiple international treaties. They reiterated earlier findings that some abuses committed since May 2020 could amount to Crimes Against Humanity, including persecution and imprisonment.The findings come three years after mass protests erupted following the August 2020 presidential elections, which saw Lukashenko win once again. The opposition and Western governments condemned his electoral success, calling the vote rigged.