Belarus in EU's 2020 Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World
1. Overview of the human rights and democracy situation: The situation in Belarus has deteriorated dramatically in 2020, leading to a profound human rights crisis. The acts of state violence, unprecedented repression and torture were applied on a mass scale following the falsified presidential elections of 9 August 2020. There were important setbacks in the area of political and civil freedoms, as manifested by thousands of politically motivated administrative and criminal cases. More than 33,000 peaceful protesters have been arbitrarily detained in connection with peaceful protests. By the end of 2020, there were more than 160 political prisoners, a number that is constantly growing. There are hundreds of reports of enforced disappearances and of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in police custody or detention. The systemic deficiencies discredited the legal system and the rule of law, which systematically violated domestic and international law. Law enforcement and judiciary used and abused procedural, administrative, and criminal laws for repressing dissent voices. The authorities did not carry out independent investigations of the numerous human rights violations. In general, the authorities have failed to comply with international standards in relation to fair trials and due process, and they have grossly violated the right of legal defence, and representation. The activities of civil society and human rights defenders are seriously hampered. Any political activism was criminalised and became dangerous. Independent media was constantly under attack. The current human rights crisis takes roots in systemic problems that have remained unaddressed over a long period. The death penalty remains in force, and three new verdicts were pronounced in 2020.
2. EU action – key focus areas/ bilateral engagement: Since the falsified elections on 9 August 2020, the widespread popular protests and the brutal repression, the situation has been at the very top of the EU agenda. The brutal human rights violations became part of a broader, political crisis. The EU called for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis through an inclusive national dialogue with the society. The deteriorating situation was addressed by theEU Foreign Affairs Council and by the Heads of State and Government in the European Council throughout the rest of the year. There were frequent statements of the EU and its Member States and by the HR/VP on the human rights violations, for instance on arbitrary arrests and detentions on 7 September 2020 and on the death of Raman Bandarenka in the hands of the police on 13 November 2020. The situation in Belarus was also raised in contact with international interlocutors, including the UN Secretary General.
On 12 October, the EU adopted Council conclusions on Belarus, strongly condemning the continued violations of human rights and setting out the parameters to revise the EU-Belarus relations. Three sanction packages have been adopted against those responsible for the election falsification and for the brutal repression, including Aleksandr Lukashenko and prominent businesspersons and companies.
At the same time, the European Parliament has been very vocal on the need to end the human right violations and to support the Belarusian population in its demand for democracy. The HR/VP addressed the European Parliament’s Plenary Assembly on the situation in Belarus on several occasions, and the 2020 Sakharov prize was attributed to the democratic opposition in Belarus, represented by the Coordination Council, ‘an initiative of brave women, as well as prominent political and civil society figures’. The EU Special Representative for Human Rights addressed the situation with high priority focusing on improving the situation of political prisoners and ensuring their release.
On the ground in the country, the EU delegation and EU diplomats organised numerous activities in support of the peaceful demonstrators and civil society, and the EU frequently issued local statements, often in cooperation with like-minded countries such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, condemning the serious human rights violations.
3. EU financial engagement: In line with the Council conclusions on Belarus of 12 October 2020, The EU has redirected assistance from the central level to non-state actors and considerable support has been given to civil society and independent media. As of August/September 2020, EUR 3.7 million EU financial support has been mobilised for the victims of repression and independent media after the presidential elections in Belarus. Further, on 11 December 2020, the Commission adopted a EUR 24-million assistance package, which will directly benefit the Belarusian people, in particular civil society, young people and SMEs, as well as improve health capacities.
4. Multilateral context: The EU has played an important role in raising the human rights violations in Belarus in international fora. On 4 September, the EU made a statement on human rights in Belarus in the UN Security Council in an ‘arria formula’ meeting. On 18 September, an urgent debate on Belarus took place at the UN Human Rights Council with the adoption of an EU-led resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus. The EU delegation 32 in Geneva coordinates the discussions in view of ensuring follow-up mechanisms. On 26 October, an EU-US co-drafted joint statement on the situation in Belarus was joined by 53 Member States and observers in the UNGA Third Committee. On 2 November, Belarus underwent its third universal periodic review at the UN HRC, where it was criticised by many country representatives for post-election human rights violations. The Council of Europe also made several statements expressing concern about the situation, and within the Council of Europe, the EU made statements on the human right situation and on the safety of journalists and freedom of expression. In the OSCE framework, EU Member States were instrumental in activating the Moscow Mechanism. This resulted in a report on ‘Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020’. The report clearly confirms that there is overwhelming evidence that the presidential elections of 9 August 2020 were falsified and that massive and systematic human rights violations have been committed by the Belarusian authorities against peaceful demonstrators. The report also calls for the establishment of an independent international body for the in-depth investigation of human rights violations in the context of the presidential elections. The EU actively supported the on-going initiatives to gather evidence on the human right violations and hold the perpetrators accountable.
