Souhayr Belhassen: “We hope one day guilty in disappearance of Belarusian opposition leaders will come to trial”

The Belarusian opposition is facing mass repressions today. People are kidnapped in the streets, beaten and unlawfully arrested. But the total unlawfulness in Belarus is seldom discussed in the world.

The world human rights community pays great attention to violation of human rights in Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. Does the world remember about the prisoners of conscience in Belarusian prisons? Charter’97 has asked Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation for Human Rights, what she thinks of this question. The human rights activist is leaving Minsk today. During her visit in Belarus she has met with the civil society representatives.

- it’s not exactly so, indeed. We are paying great attention to the situation in Belarus. Firstly, the international Federation for Human Rights uses its system of urgent appeals with the help of a special program Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, which is joint program with the World Organization Against Torture. We spread regular reports on the violation of human rights in Belarus. On the last session of the UNO Human Rights Committee the International Organization for Human Rights represented by its Vice-President Ales Bialiatski, has raised a question about the situation with the human rights in Belarus. This issue was also discussed on the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. We inform regularly the institutions of the European Union concerning the situation here.

If I am here in Minsk, it is because the situation in Belarus is one of the most repressing in the region. I want to express the solidarity of the International Federation for Human Rights with the democratic movement of resistance, in which the civil society of Belarus is talking part.

You have spoken about Guantanamo… Unfortunately, the situation in Belarus is not the only bad situation in the world. But the fact we are fighting for the Guantanamo prison to be closed doesn’t exclude the fact we are fighting for the human rights in Belarus. We hope one day the guilty in disappearance of the Belarusian opposition leaders will come to trial, - Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation for Human Rights declared.