European Parliament’s committee has severely criticized Paletskis’ report

The scandalous report in the situation in Belarus has been considered by the European Parliaments Committee on external relations.

Today’s discussion was heated and emotional. The author of the report, European Parliament delegation for the relations with Belarus reporter Justas Paletskis, told journalists about that, BelaPAN reports.

“I waited for a heated and emotional discussion of the report. That is exactly what happened”, - the MEP claimed.

Justas Paletskis noted that in the course of today’s discussion a lot of criticism was voiced over the statement of “discernible improvement of the human rights situation”.

“I already said that this wording was poor and it will be changed”, - he noted. The MEP reminded that he had made the conclusion on the improvement of the situation based in the information, published on the web-site of the human rights center Viasna, which said that in Belarus three times less repressions, arrests, detentions, searches were registered in 2012 than in 2011. At the same time the human rights activists’ statement that “the atmosphere of intimidation has decreased the civil activity” has not made it into the draft report “due to the need to shorten” the document’s text, Paletskis explained.

In the course of the next week amendments can be introduced into the report on Belarus. As Justas Paletskis informed, he has a number of meetings planned with his colleagues form the European Parliament, at which addenda and corrigenda to the document will be discussed.

The special reporter also said that he already received the amendments to the report from the head of the Belarusian Legal Transformation Center Alena Tankachova.

“I managed to go through these materials before the session. Tankachova sent me a very well-prepared material, which will be considered in further work on the report”, - Paletskis assured.

According to his information, the next discussion of the report at an External Relations Committee session is scheduled for 8 July, and in September the document will be offered for consideration by the European Parliament’s plenary session.

“I think there will be a heated discussion then as well, - Paletskis believes, - We will need to find a compromise between the MEP, who believe that there is a possibility to establish a dialogue with Minsk before the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on the condition of the release of political prisoners, and the ones, who thinks that other conditions must be satisfied apart from the release of political prisoners”.

We would remind that the report was prepared for the European Commission, European Council and the European External Action Service as the result of Justas Paletskis’ visit to Minsk on 18-21 March, and caused mixed reaction in Belarus. Representatives of opposition and human rights activists have severely criticized the report’s words that there was a discernible improvement of the situation with human rights in 2012. Paletskis in his turn states that he made such a conclusion based on the information from Belarusian human rights activists. Later the MEP recognized that the wording was poor and would be changed.

A MEP for Poland Jacek Saryusz-Wolski questioned Paletskis’ credentials. He said that the author of the scandalous report on the situation in Belarus went to Minsk on his own initiative or by the invitation of Belarusian authorities.

We would remind that Justas Paletskis was mentioned in lord Bell’s plan on improving Lukashenka dictatorship’s image. The report contained a paragraph ‘Direct lobbyism’, which mentioned the work with certain specific EU’s officials and politicians.