OPEN LETTER
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Presidency of BiH
Mr Nebojša Radmanović
Chairman
Dear Mr Radmanović,
The UN General Assembly has planned in the agenda for the
session of 17 May 2007 the election of members of the UN Human
Rights Council. A candidate for a seat in this senior
institution for protection of human rights and application of
top human rights standards as warranted by the UN is also
Belarus.
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina wishes to use this opportunity to suggest through
you to the BiH Mission to the UN not to give their vote to
Belarus and to prevent this country from becoming a member of
the top institution for protection of human rights and freedoms.
Our arguments, as well as the arguments of similar
non-governmental organizations throughout the world, which are
working in the field of protection of human rights, are based
primarily on the fact that Belarus is probably the country where
there is least protection for human rights on the «Old
Continent».
Belarus does not recognize fair and democratic elections. Let me
remind you that the presidential elections in Belarus in March
2006 were undemocratic and did not correspond with international
standards regulating democratic and fair elections. Apart from
this, the freedom of expression has not been respected in
Belarus, or the freedom of media, which have been made subjects
to extraordinary pressure. Few media can be considered
independent, and these are mostly printed media. There have been
big violations of rights to association and peaceful gathering.
Only in 2006, over 1,000 people were arrested on account of
their political opinions, while a great number of human rights
groups and organizations have been put under growing pressure
and made subjects of harassment. Judiciary in Belarus is not
independent either and does not apply the standards of
democratic and free countries. Finally, it should be stressed
that the cases of missing political opponents from several years
ago have not been resolved yet, which has been an issue of
concern for the whole democratic world.
Dear Mr Radmanović,
Belarus is also a country that does not fulfil its obligations
towards the United Nations system. Belarus has ignored the UN
resolutions referring to the state of human rights in this
country. It has also disregarded findings of the Human Rights
Committee dealing with individual complaints to this body coming
from citizens of Belarus. Belarus has also refused to cooperate
with the United Nations and the special Rapporteur for Human
Rights in Belarus, whose recommendations the government of
Belarus ignored.
The state of human rights in Belarus has also been demonstrated
by the Resolution of the UN General Assembly No. 61/175, which
listed the violations of human rights in Belarus and UN findings
on the state of human rights and freedoms in this country.
For these reasons, I kindly ask you to act within the
competences of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and
prevent election of Belarus into the UN Human Rights Council, by
the BiH Mission to UN not giving its vote to this country.
Kind regards,
Srđan Dizdarević
Chairman of the Helsinki Committee in BiH
No.: 04-05/2007
Sarajevo, 11 May 2007
Cc: Haris Silajdžić, Member of BiH Presidency
Cc: Željko Komšić, Member of BiH Presidency
Cc: Sven Alkalaj, BiH Foreign Minister
Cc: Ana Trišić – Babić, BiH Deputy Foreign Minister
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