Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) – Belarus confirms its commitment to improving the national legislation and practice in the area of human rights. The statement was made by Yuri Ambrazevich, Belarus’ resident representative in the UN office and other international organizations in Geneva, head of the Belarusian delegation, who took part in the 31^st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, representatives of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BelTA.

In his speech Yuri Ambrazevich confirmed Belarus’ commitment to improving the national laws and practice in the sphere of human rights within the framework of equal cooperation and dialogue directly with nations and via international organizations. At the same time Yuri Ambrazevich expressed confidence that the development of state, political, social, and economic processes towards democratic ideals cannot proceed under external pressure and without taking into account the local reality.

Yuri Ambrazevich mentioned the important role of the Universal Periodic Review as a universal, objective, and non-selective tool of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Universal Periodic Review is believed to be able to secure incremental and steady progress in enabling all the human rights. Belarus successfully passed the second cycle of the Review in May 2015.

The head of the Belarusian delegation called upon the Human Rights Council to take an active part in the implementation of sustainable development goals and to step up the efforts to provide technical aid and build up potential on the basis of consultations with interested countries and taking into account the already existing programs of cooperation with other UN agencies.