21/04/2015 Political Affairs and Democracy
“Belarus has recently shown signs of opening-up, which I hope will be followed by concrete steps that could lead to an improvement of the human rights situation and the normalisation of relations with the Council of Europe,” said Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE) today, when opening a hearing in Strasbourg on the situation in Belarus.
In an introductory memorandum made public today, the rapporteur stressed that, although major concerns subsisted with regard to human rights, it was necessary to establish constructive dialogue between PACE and the authorities of Belarus. “The presidential elections scheduled for November 2015 will be a litmus test for the Belarusian leadership to prove the seriousness of their intentions to align themselves with Council of Europe standards in the sphere of democracy and human rights,” said Mr Rigoni.
He also urged the authorities to reconsider their position on the question of the death penalty and to introduce an immediate moratorium with a view to permanent abolition.
“The Belarusian authorities are striving to bring national legislation into line with European standards and are co-operating with numerous Council of Europe bodies. Our National Assembly is in favour of stepping up dialogue with PACE on a basis of mutual respect,” said Nikolai Samoseiko, Chairman of the Standing Committee on international affairs of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly.
Alaksandr Łahviniec, Vice-President of the Movement for freedom, stressed that “the nature of the regime in place has not really changed. Despite the reforms, the Electoral code does not comply with international standards, particularly with regard to vote-counting procedures, and the right to freedom of assembly and association is not always respected in Belarus”.
Valiantsin Stefanovic, Deputy President of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, expressed his concern over violations of freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests and detention and attacks on human rights defenders, and pointed out that the country was still detaining political prisoners.