Oral statement delivered during the interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Experts on Belarus
UN Human Rights Council, 57th Session
(23.09.2024) Today at the UN in Geneva on the occasion of the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, it took place the interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Experts on Belarus. On this occasion, Connection e.V. together with War Resisters’ International prepared and delivered in the plenary a statement addressing the repressions of grass-roots civil society organisations and the stigmatisation and humiliation of conscientious objectors to military service. Connection e.V. and War Resisters’ International urge Belarus to respect the human right to conscientious objection to military service and call on the other Member states to grant asylum to those seeking protection abroad.
You can watch the presentation of the GIE updates and the statements of Member states and civil society representatives here.
Statement by WRI and Connection e.V. as pdf-file
Madam Vice-President,
War Resisters International (WRI), together with its partner Connection e.V., thanks the Group of Independent Experts for its update.
As expressed during the last session during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur we are concerned about [the “overviewing of how] repressive laws and policies [have purged civic space by selectively] targeting grass-roots civil society organizations”1 and human rights defenders like, for instance, Our House and Olga Karatch who assist conscientious objectors to military service.
In Belarus, apart from criminal liability2, the authorities, including military enlistment offices, use stigma and public censorship against conscientious objectors, and jeopardize the safety of their personal data. Other young people are forcibly brought to observe the trials of conscientious objectors, which often take place in an atmosphere of humiliation for the conscientious objectors, in order to discourage them from applying.3
It has been reported that the lists of conscientious objectors are published in the state media, including personal details such as home addresses, increasing public hate speech against them. This generates pressure on their relatives, especially in small villages, [and supports the widespread stereotype that “if you have not served in the army, you cannot be considered a real man”].4
Websites and Telegram channels assisting conscientious objectors are declared extremist and extremism is punishable by up to 7 years in prison in Belarus.5
WRI and Connection e.V. call on this Council to ensure the universality and non-derogability of human rights and the protection of those whose life is threatened in the country of origin; urge Belarus to respect the human right to conscientious objection to military service and the General Assembly resolution on death penalty6; and individual Member states to grant asylum to Belarusian conscientious objectors who seek protection abroad, in line with UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection7.
Thank you.
Footnotes
1 A/HRC/56/65, par. 6.
2 “Evasion from call-up to military service on the mobilisation (Art. 434), evasion of regular call-up to active military service (Art. 435), failure of a reservist or person liable for military service to appear for military training or special classes (Art. 436), avoidance of military registration by a conscript or person liable for military duty (Art. 437).” European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, Annual report, p. 46-47.
4 https://euroradio.fm/ru/v-ushachskom-rayone-rayonnaya-gazeta-opublikovala-spisok-uklonistov-ot-armii
6 https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N22/764/50/PDF/N2276450.pdf?OpenElement
7 UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No.10: Claims to refugee status related to military service within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
Connection e.V. and War Resisters’ International: Oral statement given at the Gruop of Independent Experts on Belaurs, 57th Session. September 23, 2024
Keywords: ⇒ Belarus