ベラルーシの人権状況「破滅的」　国連特別報告者

【ジュネーブＡＦＰ＝時事】国連人権理事会のベラルーシ担当特別報告者、アナイス・マラン氏は４日、同国の人権状況は「破滅的」であり、さらに悪化しつつあると警告した。（写真は国連人権理事会の様子）
　マラン氏は人権理の会合で、ベラルーシのアレクサンドル・ルカシェンコ政権は市民社会から反政権的な言論を意図的に一掃しようとしていると指摘。「（人権）状況は破滅的だ。しかも不幸なことに悪化の一途をたどっている」と語った。
　その上で、「ベラルーシ政府は既に制限されている市民の自由を剥奪することを狙い法改正した。その結果、政治的な動機に基づいた訴追や判決言い渡しが急増している」と説明。「人権侵害に対する責任の欠如により、被侵害者やその家族が恐怖に支配される風潮が広がっている」と述べた。
　マラン氏がこの日公表したベラルーシに関する年報によると、同国では１５００人以上が政治的動機に基づいて訴追・拘束されている。また２０２０年以降、恣意（しい）的な逮捕件数は１日平均１７件に上っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/07/05-15:14）

The human rights situation in Belarus is catastrophic, and only getting worse, the United Nations special rapporteur on the country said Tuesday.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime in Minsk is deliberately purging civil society of its last dissenting voices, Anais Marin told the UN Human Rights Council.
The situation remains catastrophic. Unfortunately, it keeps on worsening, said the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus.
The Belarusian government amended an already restrictive legislation aimed at dismantling civic freedoms, leading to a surge in politically-motivated prosecutions and sentencing.
The lack of accountability for human rights violations fosters a climate of fear among victims and their families.
Marin has been in post for five years and reminded the council that she alerted them two years ago to the totalitarian turn taken by Minsk, evidenced by the disregard for human life and dignity during the crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2020.
In her annual report, the French political scientist said more than 1,500 individuals were still being detained on politically-motivated charges, with a daily average of 17 arbitrary arrests since 2020.
I have good reasons to believe that prison conditions are deliberately made harsher for those sentenced on politically-motivated grounds, by placing them in punishment cells for petty infraction to prison rules, said Marin.
No-one has been held accountable in Belarus for arbitrarily detaining tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in 2020, nor for the violence or torture many of them have been subjected to.
This general impunity, and the climate of fear resulting from ongoing repression, have compelled hundreds of thousands of Belarusians into exile.
- Media, academics, schoolchildren -
Human rights defenders face ongoing persecution, she said, with more than 1,600 undesirable organisations forcibly dissolved, including all remaining independent trade unions.
This illustrates a deliberate state policy of purging civic space of its last dissenting elements, she said.
Marin said independent media outlets had been labelled as extremist organisations, while academic freedom is systematically attacked.
Ideological control and disciplinary measures restrict freedom of opinion and their expression, she said.
Primary and secondary education is also subject to ideological control, with children discouraged from expressing their own opinions and facing threats and consequences for holding dissenting views.
As for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, individuals face challenges when trying to speak out against it or question Belarus's role in facilitating the 2022 invasion.
Anti-war actions led to numerous detentions and arrests, some on charges of planning terrorist attacks -- a crime which can now be punished by death, she said.
Belarus was immediately offered the Human Rights Council floor to respond, but was not present.