Probable reason for sanctions suspension is Lukashenka's stance on Ukraine – UN Rapporteur on Belarus
Miklos Haraszti, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, believes that sanctions against a number of Belarusian citizens and businesses might have been suspended due to Lukashenka’s relatively idependent stance on the issue of the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Donbas. Mr Haraszti has commented on another thaw in relations between Minsk and the West in an exclusive interview for Belsat.eu.
At a recent session of the UN General Assembly Miklos Haraszti presented a report. First, he mentioned Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich’s winning the Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, and then he raised the issue of the presidential election that could be praised ‘for the lack of violence against the opposition’. At the same ime, Haraszti stressed that the repression of human rights and freedom of expression is still in progress.
“The only good news is that on the eve of the so-called elections, the political prisoners were released, and no violence was used by the authorities. But there is absolutely no change regarding human rights — it is still up to reforming, just as it has been demanded for decades now,” he believes.
It’s all about geopolitics?
Miklos Haraszti puts down the suspension of sanctions against Minsk to the country’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“Even if the formal occasion for the suspension was the release of the prisoners, I find it important to distinguish between geopolitics and human rights. I see the suspension of the sanctions as a geopolitical move, honoring President Lukashenka’s relatively independent line vis-à-vis Russia’s annexation of Crimea and similar developments in East Ukraine,” Haraszti told belsat.eu.
“Diplomacy should serve geopolitical stability, but it never should subscribe to President Lukashenka’s own formula of stability, the oppression of civic and political liberties. Just as four years ago the sanctions had been carefully crafted to avoid making harm to the people, their suspension today also should serve the people of Belarus, and avoid assisting ‘autocracy’,” he believes.
No progress over 20 years
For more than 20 years the West and international organisations led by the United Nations have been observing the human rights situation in Belarus, imposing sanctions on the regime but there has been no improvement. Furthermore, from time to time the situation deteriorates. And the current suspension is not an indulgence to Minsk:
“The government should comply with its international human rights obligations; this demand is as valid as has been in the last 20 years. Therefore human rights scrutiny mechanisms should be steadfastly maintained, and international assistance to the oppressed media and the civil society should also be continued,” the UN Special Rapporteur says.
Yauhen Balinski, belsat.eu
