Declaration of Committee on International Control over the Situation with Human Rights in Belarus

We the representatives of non-governmental organizations from the OSCE area and international civil networks and organizations,

• aking into consideration that reports about grave and systematic violations of human rights, including freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, freedom of assembly and association and freedom of expression, the right to a fair and impartial trial continue to come from the Republic of Belarus;
• without making any judgments on the results of Presidential elections and on the electoral process;
• being concerned about reports of cases of pressure and persecution of human rights defenders and human rights organizations;
• underlining that in accordance with the OSCE principles reinforced at the OSCE Summit of heads of states and governments which took place in Astana on 1-2 December 2010, human rights are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned;
• and deeply believing that public accord and development in the Republic of Belarus, as in any other country, are impossible without the rule of law, observance of all international human rights standards and continuation of active work of human rights defenders, environmental, youth and other civil organizations,

We declare the establishment of the Committee on International Control over the Situation with Human Rights in Belarus (further - the International Committee).

The main aims of the International Committee are:

• permanent monitoring and international control over the situation with observance of fundamental human rights and the situation of the human rights defenders and human rights organizations in the Republic of Belarus;
• development and promotion of recommendations to national authorities of Belarus and international intergovenmental organizations on normalization of the situation in Belarus and bringing situation in the country into conformity with international obligations undertaken by the government of the Republic of Belarus and the national legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

For working on the territory of the Republic of Belarus the International Committee has formed the long-term International observation mission, which includes members of human rights organizations from around the OSCE area, representatives of the international organizations, as well as independent experts. Mission will conduct monitoring of both of the actions of Belarus authorities in case of violations of human rights by them or any radical society groups potentially able to create threat to its observance.

We appeal to our colleagues from civil society organizations in Belarus to cooperate actively with the International Committee and assist it in realizing its goals.
We appeal to the authorities of the Republic of Belarus to assist the International Committee in forming an objective assessment of the situation with human rights in Belarus.

We urge colleagues from human rights and civil society organizations of CIS countries, Western Europe, as well as other countries of  the OSCE area to join the initiative.

27.12.2010
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International Youth Human Rights Movement (YHRM),
International Network of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly,
International Civil Initiative for OSCE (ICI OSCE)
Moscow Helsinki Group - MHG (Russia),
International Youth Resource Centre - IYRC (Ukraine),
Center for Civil Liberties - CCL (Ukraine),
Freedom, Legality and Rights in Europe (FLARE)
International Helsinki Association,
Network for Civil Society Cooperation in Eurasia Region (Eurasia IDEA network),
Public Movement "Multinational Georgia" (Georgia),
Kharkiv Regional Foundation "Public Alternative" (Ukraine),
Interregional Human Rights Protection Group - Voronezh / Chernozemie (Russia),
Komi Human Rights Commission "Memorial " (Russia),
All-Ukrainian youth NGO “Foundation of Regional Initiatives” (Ukraine),
Civil Defense Fund (Lithuania),
Project “No Borders” of the Social Action Center (Ukraine),
Human Rights Institute (Russia),
Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia),
Citizens against Corruption (Kyrgyzstan),
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)