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Britain Calls For New Vote In Belarus After 'Damning' Report On Rights Abuses

By RFE/RL November 05, 2020

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is calling for new elections in Belarus after the publication of an independent report into the "falsified" presidential election in August and a brutal crackdown on postelection protests.

Mass demonstrations have swept across Belarus since the disputed presidential election that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept, ratcheting up pressure on Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled the country for 26 years.

Raab described the findings of the report presented to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Permanent Council on November 5 -- the day Lukashenka's fifth term officially ends -- as "a damning indictment" of his rule.

"Essential that its recommendations are carried out & fresh elections held. We will continue to stand with the Belarusian people in their hour of need," he tweeted.

The report urges Belarus to "organize new genuine presidential elections based on international standards," saying the August 9 vote was not transparent as well as neither free nor fair.

It also denounced "systematic" human rights violations committed by Belarus's security forces in response to the peaceful postelection protests.

The fact that no one has been held accountable for "well-documented cases of torture and ill-treatment" during the crackdown shows there is a climate of impunity, according to the document.

Meanwhile, it says the freedom of the media and the safety of journalists have been under attack by the authorities.

Thousands of people have been arrested across Belarus since the authorities declared him the winner of the election to give him a sixth consecutive term. Most of the country's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.

In a statement, Raab denounced "the despicable actions taken by Lukashenko's regime to suppress the Belarusian people."

"New elections which are free and fair must now be organised, and those responsible for the violence against demonstrators held to account," he added.

In September, Britain joined 16 other OSCE member states in invoking the so-called Moscow Mechanism that triggered an investigation by an independent human rights rapporteur into electoral fraud and the violation of the human rights in Belarus.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/britain-calls-for- new-vote-in-belarus-after-damning-report -on-rights-abuses/30932175.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.