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Belskaya: The West seeks to justify terrorist activities against Belarus using HRC
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MINSK, 4 April (BelTA) – Under the cover of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), the West is trying to justify sanctions and terrorist activities against Belarus, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva Larisa Belskaya said as she delivered a speech at the Human Rights Council session in connection with the EU resolution on Belarus, BelTA informs.
“The reasons for presenting the resolution on Belarus at the ongoing session of the HRC, just like two years ago, have little to do with human rights in my country. This resolution is a smokescreen for attempts to promote geopolitical interests of individual states that tried to use the 2020 election campaign to ignite anti-government protests, to undermine the state and to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus,” Larisa Belskaya said.
She emphasized that the resolution is a revenge for the failure to stage a color revolution in Belarus, an attempt to rationalize illegal sanctions against Belarus and its people under the cover of the UN Human Rights Council and an attempt to justify the West’s support for extremist and terrorist activities aimed at destroying the Belarusian state.
“No international treaty gives the right to interfere in internal affairs of a sovereign state under the pretext of human rights. No one owns a patent for democracy. Outside the West, there are countries much more fair than Western ones. In my country, all basic human rights are ensured: the right to life and safety, the right to free education and healthcare, the right to have a job and to receive disability benefits. The Belarusian state prioritizes sovereignty and independence, peace, creation of national wealth and social justice. Like President Lukashenko said in his annual Address to the Belarusian People and the National Assembly, these are our democratic values. And we will continue to defend them,” the diplomat said.
Larisa Belskaya noted that Belarus honors its international commitments in the field of human rights and recognizes the importance of international human rights monitoring mechanisms. “Yet, such mechanisms should be objective, non-selective and they should strictly comply with provisions of international treaties. The governments of many countries that initiated and co-authored the resolution can hardly be called an example to follow when it comes to human rights. Naturally, the developments of recent years in certain countries of North America and Europe, include violent crackdowns on protests against the social and economic policy, election scandals and judicial persecution of opponents, crimes motivated by bias against race, the destruction of indigenous peoples and other ‘examples of true democracy’ should be subject to an objective investigation and accountability for those responsible for human rights violations. Maybe one day justice will prevail and such issues will be considered at the HRC and decisions will be made,” the diplomat said.
She stated with regret that Western countries are actively manipulating the human rights agenda in order to promote their interests against the backdrop of the growing geopolitical crisis and the war in Europe. The mounting pressure on developing states is aimed to force them to take the allegedly ‘right side’ of history and protect the ‘blooming garden’ of the West from the threatening ‘jungle’ of the rest of the world.
“Resolutions against Belarus, just like resolutions against a number of other states, that are raised at the HRC are used as an instrument by the West. In this paradigm, any UN member state can find itself on the receiving end of pressure and persecution only because the West is not happy with its national leader and an independent foreign policy. Belarus rejects the draft resolution. It is not about human rights, it is a weapon in a hybrid war against my country. Its provisions violate the UN Charter and a number of key decisions of the UN General Assembly,” Larisa Belskaya noted.
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