Expert named conditions for Belarus to be ready to co-operate with international Western organisations
During her speech at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council on March 20th in Geneva, Permanent Representative of Belarus Larisa Belskaya raised the topic of biased reports on Belarus, in particular, disinformation about the presidential elections in the republic in 2020 and the subsequent situation emanating from people who had been caught out in hypocrisy and double standards more than once. In his talk with Alfa Radio, philosopher, publicist and political expert Aleksei Dzermant speculated on why such topics are still covered by the media, act as an instrument of pressure, and why their authors do not follow the adequate UN principles.
“This is happening since many international organisations – including the UN, unfortunately – are no longer a platform for dialogue, negotiations and finding compromise solutions to difficult situations. We see that many of them are captured and controlled by Westerners either physically (when it is impossible to get into the UN Headquarters in New York if Americans issue no visa) or when the leadership is dominated by a representative of a Western state or another country supporting the pro-Western ideology. These institutions of so-called special rapporteurs on a particular country are a violation of international agreements and principles of international politics," the expert said.
With this in view, Mr. Dzermant wondered why there is no special rapporteur on the United States, “After all, if you have created special rapporteurs on a certain country, then it would be correct to do the same with regard to all 210 states – so that everyone would report on all the existing problems. For example, in US Nevada, there are water related problems, and local residents suffer, but no special rapporteurs are appointed to cover this issue. The United States rather turns to the countries on which, from its point of view, it is necessary to exert political, informational and other pressure, to show them in a negative light and demonstrate that America is a judge who is allowed to decide where human rights or something else are violated and where not. This is an absolutely hypocritical policy and a tool in the fight against the states it dislikes.”
Actually, despite biased reports, Belarus remains committed to its obligations in the field of human rights and is ready to interact with the UN members. The republic is ready to co-operate if the principles of respect, impartiality and universality work.
“On the one hand, Belarus is not going to give up these agreements, as it signed them earlier. On the other hand, the country will not allow anything to be done on its territory to the detriment of its interests, playing along with its enemies,” the expert noted. “Do you want an equal dialogue? We are not against it, but you should list your claims, and we will give you appropriate answers. There should be no such a way that Belarusians are like students who are following someone’s policy. No, we can also teach others how to organise democracy, elections, the political process, and so on. Therefore, the time of the so-called apprenticeship, in my opinion, has long passed. We are building our political system and democracy based on our interests. We understand human rights based on our political culture and traditions. We are ready to co-operate on common universal issues, but only and exclusively on condition that our interests are met, that our sovereignty is respected, and that nobody claims to act as a judge and teacher for us to follow their instructions.”
