UN Special Rapporteur: Human Rights Situation in Belarus is Catastrophic

The UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus has described the human rights situation in the country as "catastrophic." Anaïs Marin told the UN Human Rights Council that the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, has purged civil society of all dissenting voices and the situation is continually worsening. She added, "The lack of accountability for human rights violations creates an atmosphere of terror for victims and their families." Anaïs Marin, a French national, has served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus for five years. She reminded the council that two years ago, following the crackdown on protesters in 2020, she warned them about the "disregard for human life and dignity" in Belarus. In her annual human rights report, she stated that over 1,500 people are still detained on political charges and their conditions are being "deliberately" made harsher in prison. Marin noted that no one in Belarus has been held accountable for the arbitrary detention of tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in 2020, and the violence or torture many of them experienced has forced hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens into exile. She added that independent media in Belarus are labeled as "extremist" and academic freedoms are systematically attacked. It has been 67 days since anyone has heard from Viktor Babaryko, a former banker who intended to run in the 2020 presidential elections. He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison on corruption charges and was supposed to testify in his son's trial but did not appear. State media in Belarus reported that his son was sentenced to eight years in prison. His son, Edward Babaryko, who headed his father's election campaign, was found guilty of tax evasion and "participation in creating discord and social hostility." Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, also tweeted on Monday, July 3, that she received an anonymous message claiming her imprisoned husband, who is also an opposition figure, had died, although there is no evidence to support this claim. Her husband, Sergey Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger and opposition activist, was arrested in 2020 after announcing plans to compete against Alexander Lukashenko in that year's presidential election. Consequently, his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, stepped into the electoral arena and garnered significant support. Alexander Lukashenko's victory in the presidential election sparked the largest protests in modern Belarus's history. He denies any election fraud. Zelensky issued an order to strengthen Ukrainian forces at the Belarus border. Iran and Belarus are on the verge of "full membership" in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Russia is delivering tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.