HRC61 - EU Statement - Interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Expert on Belarus

HRC61 - EU Statement - Interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Expert on Belarus

United Nations Human Rights Council

61^st Session

Interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Expert on Belarus

12 March 2026

EU Statement

Mr President,

The EU thanks the Group of Independent Experts and expresses its support for their valuable work.

The EU continues to strongly condemn the gross, systematic and widespread human rights violations, restrictions to political participation and to independent media. We also express our deep concern about the closed civic space in Belarus and about the fairness and legitimacy of elections.

The EU calls for effective and impartial investigations into and accountability for all cases of ill-treatment, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and appalling detention conditions that may have led to deaths in custody. The EU will support all efforts to ensure accountability and victim's rights to justice and full and effective reparation.

The EU stresses the obligation to uphold the rights of political prisoners, including the right to due process and a fair trial, and to safeguard their human dignity, while ensuring they have access to legal representation, medical care and contact with their families.

We note the recent release of some political prisoners and will continue to urge Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release and rehabilitate all political prisoners, ensuring the resolution of judicial processes upon their release and ending all forms of harassment or pressure that may result in their forced departure, deportation or deprivation of consular services.

The EU expresses its concerns about new arrests and re-arrests of political prisoners and urges Belarus to refrain from further arbitrary arrests.

We continue to urge the Belarusian authorities to abolish the death penalty, and as a first step, to introduce a moratorium.

The EU urges the Belarusian authorities to halt their internal as well as transnational repression and to adhere to the country's international obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. In this context, the EU recalls the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus which highlights misuse of anti-extremism and counter-terrorism legislation.

The EU demands that the Belarusian authorities stop their involvement in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and halt their instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes, in complicity with Russia. We reiterate our urgent call on Belarus to immediately ensure the safe return to Ukraine of all unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

Independent Experts,

Your report mentions that the Belarusian authorities have continued to systematically violate international human rights law, and you have well documented a pattern of transnational repression. Could you elaborate on any examples of good practice addressing the arbitrary confiscation of identity documents of Belarusian citizens that were forcibly expelled to a third country?