United States Mission to the OSCE on Human Rights Situation in Belarus

Excerpt from Remarks by Ambassador Michael Kozak
at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting
Warsaw, October 5, 2012

Nearly 18 months following the invocation of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism to examine the human rights situation in Belarus following the December presidential election on December 19, 2010 and 16 months after presentation of the report of the Rapporteur to the Permanent Council, the Lukashenka regime continues to ignore its comprehensive, yet succinct recommendations. Very little progress has been made by Belarus to address the problems outlined in the report.  Instead, the Government of Belarus has continued its crackdown against political opposition, civil society, and independent media. The government arbitrarily arrested, detained, and imprisoned citizens for criticizing officials, participating in demonstrations, and defending human rights, and prevented independent media from disseminating information and materials, while imposing systematic travel bans imposed on opposition activists, human rights defenders and independent media.