The establishment of the High Commissioner’s new mandate is a response to the serious and escalating human rights violations taking place in Belarus and surrounding the August 2020 presidential elections. The mandate should provide a complementary and expert international mechanism to regional accountability processes already under way.
Furthermore, it should assist in the identification of those responsible for the most serious violations for future prosecution. With the mounting human rights crisis in Belarus, the Council’s action today is timely. It will require ongoing assistance and systematic follow-up by Human Rights Council members and the Office of the High Commissioner.
In order for this new accountability mandate to meaningfully and substantively address the human rights crisis in Belarus, it is critical that the Office of the High Commissioner receives the assistance it will need to:
1. Ensure that this new mandate is sufficiently funded.
2. Appoint credible international experts with sufficient experience and expertise, including in international criminal law to fully and completely examine all alleged human rights violations committed in Belarus since 1 May 2020.
3. Operationalise the mandate with the requisite investigators, forensic experts, gender
specialists, and legal analysts.
4. Provide a sufficient operational window for the mandate.
5. Report immediately and publicly to the Council on non-cooperation by the Belarusian
authorities in the accountability mandate’s work.
6. Commit to sharing advanced copies of its interim oral report and comprehensive written report with Belarusian, regional, and international civil society in the same manner and at the same time it is shared with member States and Belarusian authorities.
This is an important moment for the United Nations. The Belarusian people demand accountability for past and on-going human rights violations. Member States and the Office of the High Commissioner must ensure that this new mandate meets these demands.