US, 37 countries unite against Belarus’ Lukashenko regime for human rights abuse
TCN Service/Washington DC
The United States and 37 other countries have united against Belarus’ Lukashenka regime for human rights abuse after the August 2020 presidential elections.
These countries have also agreed to invoke OSCE Moscow Mechanism requesting that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) establish an expert mission. The mission will examine the dire and continuous deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus.
“This invocation follows OSCE’s November 2020 Moscow Mechanism Mission Report, which documented the Lukashenka regime’s systematic human rights violations and abuses before, during, and following the fraudulent August 9, 2020 presidential election.
That report called on the Lukashenka regime to hold presidential elections again based on international standards and undo injustices caused to opposition, civil society, and ensure accountability for victims of abuses,” US Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
Patel said the new invocation will establish an expert mission to look into the human rights situation in Belarus and mounting evidence of the Lukashenka regime’s brutal crackdown on Belarusian society since 2020.
These also includes allegations of serious abuses linked to the Lukashenka regime’s complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
“We encourage the Belarus authorities to cooperate fully with the expert mission and facilitate its work. The United States and our partners will continue our efforts to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for its human rights violations and abuses,” he added.
