The UN Special Rapporteur sent a letter of accusations to the Belarusian authorities

The United Nations has sent a letter of accusation to the Government of Belarus. This was announced by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus Nils Muiznieks. D

According to him, since his appointment to his post in October 2024, the UN has sent several requests to the government of Belarus, including those related to the holding of absentee trials.

"We have sent a so—called letter of accusations - this is a special UN term for detailed treatment of alleged human rights violations. Our questions related to the access of political prisoners to lawyers, the presumption of innocence, equality of the parties in the courts and access to information for the accused. In this document of 15-20 pages, which was also signed by my colleagues and other special rapporteurs, we raised a number of issues that cause our concern in connection with the holding of absentee trials," he said.

Muiznieks also said that the letter listed the names of 15 people whom the UN considers to have suffered from violations during the absentee trials. At the same time, he did not name their names, nor did he voice the essence of the charges. According to him, the UN is now awaiting a response from the Belarusian authorities, which will be published in mid-February 2025.

In addition, he gave an assessment of the presidential elections to be held in Belarus on January 26.

"What will happen on Sunday will not be free and fair. In an atmosphere of fear and repression, it is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to hold elections," Muiznieks said.

Western countries have been accusing the Belarusian authorities of violating human rights and freedoms for decades. One of the tools for this is the position of the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus. It is believed that the expert conducts "independent" monitoring of what is happening with human rights in the republic and regularly prepares recommendations to improve the situation. In reality, almost all special rapporteurs have never been to Belarus and receive their information from the Belarusian opposition.