BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

08/05/2007

Havel condemns bid by Belarus to become member of U.N. human rights council

The Associated Press

PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Former Czech President Vaclav Havel joined watchdog groups in condemning Belarus' candidacy for the U.N. Human Rights Council, citing the country's poor rights record.

In a letter released Tuesday, Havel and activists of the Prague-based Civic Belarus organization described the attempt by Belarus to seek membership on the council as "an affront to efforts of all freedom-loving Belarusians and the international community to establish freedom and democracy in that country."

The group, established by Havel two years ago to support pro-democracy initiatives and organizations in Belarus, accused the regime of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of persecuting pro-democratic activists, independent media and non-governmental organizations.

"The situation has not been improving, quite the contrary," Havel said, adding that the country has failed so far to hold free elections and prevented a U.N. human rights envoy from visiting Belarus.

The embassy of Belarus in Prague declined to comment immediately.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to select several countries with poor rights records when it picks 14 new members for the 47-member council later this month, including Angola, Belarus, Egypt and Qatar, a move opposed by a number of watchdog groups worldwide, such as Geneva-based U.N. Watch and New York-based Freedom House.

The U.N. Human Rights Council, which has no power beyond drawing international attention to rights issues, is dominated by African and Muslim countries that have sided with China, Cuba and other countries in preventing criticism of any government but Israel. The United States has not sought a seat on the council, accusing it of anti-Israel bias.

Havel has repeatedly expressed support for human rights activists all around the world and lambasted Belarus' government as the last undemocratic regime in Europe.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/08/europe/EU-GEN-Czech-Belarus-Havel.php

Google