VIENNA, December 5. /TASS/. Minsk should support the presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in its attempts to promote national dialogue in Belarus, 37 OSCE member states said in a joint statement on Friday.
The statement was delivered on behalf of the signatories by Paivi Laivola de Rosiere, Permanent Representative of Finland to the OSCE, at the OSCE Ministerial Council on Friday. Russia is not on the list of signatories.
"We urge Belarus to engage in dialogue within the OSCE and lend our full support to the current and incoming OSCE Chairs and their efforts to facilitate a national dialogue in Belarus. We stand ready to support and facilitate an inclusive national dialogue in order to resolve the present crisis in a sustainable way, safeguarding Belarus’s sovereignty and independence, as well as its safe, democratic and prosperous future," the document says.
"For the past several months, we have witnessed serious and ongoing violations and abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus since the fraudulent Presidential election of 9 August 2020. Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur Professor Wolfgang Benedek’s report provided us with a large number of evidence-based accounts of peaceful protesters who were violently attacked and tortured by the authorities, simply for insisting on free and fair elections and a better, democratic future for their country," it says.
Number of violations grows
The 37 OSCE member states believe that "according to credible reports, the number of arrests of peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights defenders is estimated at 30,000 since the Presidential election."
"The number of politically motivated criminal cases is reaching 900. The list of political prisoners continues to grow and contains more than 100 names. There is no indication that the authorities are investigating the thousands of well-documented reports of police brutality and torture filed since mid-August or the killings of protesters. We condemn the use of force against Belarusians exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms," the document says.
The signatories also believe that the Belarusian authorities were violating OSCE principles and commitments on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and democratic principles of government.
An OSCE Moscow mechanism report, published on November 5, says that the presidential election in Belarus was rigged, while the country’s law enforcement bodies committed mass and systematic human rights violations when responding to peaceful demonstrations. The document recommends that the authorities cancel the election results and order a re-vote, stop torture and violence against peaceful protestors and ensure safety and unhampered work of journalists.
Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped.