UN expert slams Belarus’s ‘purge’ of dissent

Geneva: Belarus’s dramatic forced landing of a passenger plane to arrest a regime critic is part of an effort to "purge" the country of all dissent, a top UN expert warned Monday.

Belarus is facing "a form of purification that recalls the practices of totalitarian regimes," warned Anais Marin, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the country.

She recalled to the UN Human Rights Council the May 23 forced landing of a Ryanair Greece-Lithuania flight in Minsk, which allowed Belarusian authorities to arrest dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. "This incident... illustrates the authorities’ willingness to end all forms of dissent, by purging society of elements it deems undesirable," Marin said.

She added that Belarusians who do not share regime views must currently choose between self-censorship, resistance exposing them to arrest, or flight. Belarus’s ambassador, who has vehemently opposed recent criticism of his country before the council, opted not to speak at Monday’s event.

A long line of other country representatives meanwhile chimed in to voice concern. Speaking on behalf of 46 mainly Western countries, Polish ambassador Zbigniew Czech said Pratasevich’s arrest was "designed to have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression".

US representative Ben Moeling said the incident showed that "the regime’s repression knows no bounds". Presenting her latest report, Marin said the situation had deteriorated from the "already catastrophic" one when she last addressed the council in September.

At the time mass demonstrations were still going on against President Alexander Lukashenko’s three-decade rule, after he claimed a sixth term in power following an election opponents say was rigged.

While the demonstrations have subsided, the government continues to jail independent journalists and activists. Marin pointed out that three of Lukashenko’s opponents during last year’s vote were among some 530 people currently considered to be prisoners of conscience in Belarus.

Over the past year, Marin said more than 35,000 people had been arbitrarily detained for peaceful assemblies or showing solidarity with the victims of rights abuses. Thousands more suffered violence, humiliation and intimidation from law enforcement officers, she said, adding that she had received information pointing to near "systematic" torture of the detained.

"These extremely serious violations have led to no prosecution in Minsk," she said, decrying "persistent impunity". While rights activists and journalists had been targeted for decades, Marin warned that "the current wave of repression touches absolutely the entire population, sparing no generation nor social-professional category."

In addition, authorities were carrying out reprisals against the parents, children, neighbours and colleagues of those in their sights. Marin highlighted in particular the use of threats to remove children from so-called dysfunctional families "to blackmail parents" into self-censorship or to flee into exile.

The current council session, which runs until July 13, will consider a resolution tabled Monday by the European Union requesting the extension of Marin’s mandate for another year. The draft text also urges Belarus, which so far has barred the UN expert from entering the country, to cooperate with her.