Updated at 13:52,22-04-2024

People of Belarus do not need special rapporteur on human rights, envoy says

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The people of Belarus do not need any special rapporteur, Mikhail Khvastow, Belarus` permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva, said Friday, speaking during the UN Human Rights Council’s discussion of a report by the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country.

"The people of Belarus do not need a special rapporteur to think and speak for them," Mr. Khvastow said. "We know what problems we have and are ready to solve them. We have our own model, which is based on national sovereignty, security and the supremacy of law. We reject all the accusations that are contained in the report and declare and the conclusions of the reports are unacceptable for us."

Mr. Khvostow described the mandate of the special rapporteur as an instrument of the European Union’s foreign policy that has nothing to do with human rights.

The EU does not propose any model of cooperation to Belarus but tried to impose a model of development, assuming that the EU way of life is a priori better than other ways of life, Mr. Khvastow said.