On the dialogue with the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

06/11/2012

The Belarusian delegation took  part in the interactive dialogue with Mr. Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly.

Mr. Evgeny Lazarev, the representative of the Republic of Belarus, expressed concern about the way in which the Special Rapporteur judged about the situation with freedom of speech in various countries. He underlined that it is incorrect to scrutinize meticulously the situation with human rights in developing countries while ignoring gross violation of human rights in Western countries.

Mr.Evgeny Lazarev drew the attention of the Special Rapporteur to the situation with Julian Assange who may face death penalty in the US for practicing right for freedom of speech.

The Belarusian delegation was puzzled by the fact that Mr. La Rou gave no comments on disproportionate use of force by the police against participants of numerous large-scale peaceful protests in Poland, Germany, UK, Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, USA and Canada.

Mr.Evgeny Lazarev expressed concern about the fact that the Special Rapporteur didn’t comment on the movie “Innocence of Muslims” which under pretext of freedom of speech was used as an instrument of purposeful creation of tension at the international level.

In conclusion Mr.Evgeny Lazarev wondered whether  the Special Rapporteur was planning to comment on the visa ban being used by the European Union in relation to several Belarusian journalists.

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