Belarus' representative at UN council says Belarusian children go to school

On May 12 at the session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, a report on the human rights situation in Belarus was heard. The universal periodic reports gives the countries of the world a unique opportunity to present achievments in the human rights field.

But Belarus Permanent Representative at the UN Mikhail Khvostov used most of his time to talk about the achievements in the economic, social and educational fields, on gender rights and especially about successes in tackling the trafficking in people He said: "Belarus' education level is one of the highest in the world: 99.7 percent among adults and 99.8 percent among the youth. The general basic education has covered 100 percent of children".

When  asked about the infringement on the right of speech and expression, electoral standards, the detentions of journalists and political activists, Mikhail Khvostov dodged the topic or tried to talk about the compliance of the Belarusian laws to the international standars.

After the presentation of the report, diplomats from over 50 countries had a couple of minutes to express their views and recommendations on how to improve the human rights situation in Belarus. The representatives of North Korea, Cuba, Lybia, Iran, Oman and other authoritarian countries hailed Belarus and avoided any criticism.

The representatives of Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and other sn democracies criticized the lack of progress in the field of political and civil rights and urged Belarus to abolish death penalty, to ensure a real freedom of assembly and the media and to sign a convention against forced disappearences.

On May14 , the Working Group will pass a report on Belarus. Within two weeks, it can be edited. The final report will be passed during the plenary session of the UN Human Rights Council.


Photo: innercitypress.com