Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 May 2023
136. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his response to the detention of political activists, politically motivated trials and liquidation of non-governmental organisations in Belarus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22459/23]
View answerIreland strongly condemns the human rights violations committed against the people of Belarus under the Lukashenko regime. As of 9 May, there were 1,493 political prisoners in Belarus, and there were an estimated 5,000 new politically-motivated criminal trials last year. An estimated 40,000 politically motivated arrests have been made, more than 11,000 criminal cases are under investigation and 1,249 NGOs have been closed by the regime, or are in the process of being shut down.
The recent report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights into the situation in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath found that widespread and systematic violations of international human rights law have taken place, including unlawful deprivation of life and numerous cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and ill-treatment, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, violations of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and the denial of due process and equal protection of the law. The High Commissioner reported that some of these violations may amount to crimes against humanity.
Ireland, along with our EU partners, has consistently condemned the actions of the regime, since the fraudulent 2020 Presidential election and the brutal crackdown that followed, and has engaged with Belarusian democratic leaders such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who have advocated for the human rights of the people of Belarus.
Ireland continues to condemn the politically motivated trials and sentencing of human rights activists and democratic leaders, and has supported extensive EU sanctions against the Lukashenko regime in response.
Ireland has also provided support to Belarusian civil society and democratic forces. In 2022, the Department of Foreign Affairs provided €150,000 to support the continued operations of Tut.by (now Zerkalo.io), one of the most popular independent online news portal for Belarus. €50,000 was provided to support the work of the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB), a coalition of independent NGOs working to collect, consolidate, verify, and preserve evidence of human rights violations. The Department recently approved a similar level of funding in 2023, including €100,000 to the European Endowment for Democracy, for projects including support for independent media, and €50,000 to the IAPB.
In addition, Ireland’s Embassy in Vilnius has also engaged with and supported the Belarusian democratic movement in exile in Lithuania. This has included meeting virtually with family members of political prisoners to better understand the difficulties they are facing; participating in a coordinated EU social media communications campaign to highlight the individual cases of political prisoners; regularly highlighting the activity of the Belarusian democratic movement; and hosting an event with Frontline Defenders on Human Rights Day for former political prisoner Volha Harbunova.
