A new United Nations report has slammed Belarusian officials for acting with "complete impunity" in systematically crushing dissent after a disputed presidential election in August 2020 handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka victory, while keeping those whose human rights were violated from seeking justice.
The report, published on March 9, said information collected showed that "torture and ill-treatment were widespread and systematic," with individuals targeted for their real or even perceived opposition to the government or the election results.
The Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
"The examination not only lays bare the violations inflicted on people trying to exercise their fundamental human rights, but highlights the inability of victims to access justice," UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.
"The authorities' extensive and sustained actions to crush dissent and repress civil society, independent media, and opposition groups, while at the same time shielding perpetrators, points to a situation of complete impunity in Belarus," she added.
Many Belarusians have faced trials linked to mass protests following the vote, in which Lukashenka claimed reelection even though the opposition says the poll was rigged.
The protests were met with the sometimes violent detention of tens of thousands of people. Much of the opposition leadership has been jailed or forced into exile. Several protesters have been killed and there have also been credible reports of torture during a widening security crackdown.
Belarusian authorities have also shut down several nongovernmental organizations and media outlets.
The UN report said that between May 2020 and May 2021 alone, some 37,000 people were detained, many of them ending up in administrative detention for up to 15 days.
It added that lawyers who defended dissidents, spoke out about human rights violations, or brought cases to UN human rights mechanisms were detained, intimidated, faced disciplinary sanctions, or were even disbarred.
Beside the lack of investigations into rights violations, “there was an active policy to shield perpetrators and prevent accountability, reflected in the level of reprisals, intimidation of victims and witnesses, [and] attacks on lawyers and human rights defenders,” the report says.
The West, which has refused to recognize the official results of the presidential election and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader, has imposed several rounds of sanctions against his regime.