‘Harassment needs to stop’: Joint Statement by EU Delegation in Belarus on behalf of EU Member States represented in Minsk and Embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland

On 17 February, the EU Delegation to Belarus on behalf of the EU Member States represented in Minsk and the Embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland issued a Joint Statement on the harassment of rights defenders, journalists, and trade union activists.

“The Belarusian authorities continue their increased harassment of the country’s civil society,” the statement said. “This needs to stop. The authorities are targeting human rights defenders, media workers, trade union representatives, and defence lawyers. Yesterday, the homes and offices of at least thirty activists, including those of Human Rights Group Viasna and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, across the country were searched. This is not acceptable.”

The statement added: “Belarusians have been persecuted for exercising their fundamental rights as they protested peacefully against the August 2020 elections, which were neither free nor fair, and continued law-enforcement brutality. Hundreds of politically motivated trials have taken place. Belarusians have been denied the most basic rights, including the right to fair trial and the right to humane treatment in custody.”

The EU Delegation and other embassies said they would continue to coordinate their measures addressing the human rights situation in the country. They urged the Belarusian authorities to release all the arbitrarily detained persons immediately and unconditionally. “Only democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and free and fair elections respecting the democratic will of the people of Belarus can guarantee a stable, sovereign, and prosperous future of Belarus,” the statement said.

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