Belarusian candidate makes appeal to world
Lukashenko foe talks to U.N. security body
UNITED NATIONS — The main opposition challenger in Belarus’ disputed presidential election urged the international community Friday to impose sanctions on “the individuals that committed electoral violations and crimes against humanity” and take other measures to stop the violence against protesters.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the U.N. Security Council that Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed victory in the Aug. 9 election, had engaged in a “cynical and blatant attempt … to steal the votes of the people” and “does not represent Belarus anymore.”
Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania under pressure from Belarus authorities after the election, called Lukashenko “the one obstacle” to meeting the demands of the people: “immediate termination of violence and threats by the regime, immediate release of all political prisoners, and free and fair election.”
Lukashenko has run the nation of 9.5 million people with an iron fist for 26 years. He has dismissed the demonstrators, who have turned out en masse for nearly four weeks to protest the official election results, which gave him a sixth term with 80 percent of the vote.
During the first few days, police detained nearly 7,000 people and beat hundreds, drawing international outrage and causing anti-government demonstrations to swell. The government has since shifted tactics, seeking to squelch protests with threats, the selective detention of protesters and the prosecution of activists.
Tsikhanouskaya accused Lukashenko of “desperately clinging on to power and refusing to listen to his people and his own state officials,” calling his regime “morally bankrupt, legally questionable and simply untenable in the eyes of our nation.”
Recalling that Belarus was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945, she said its people now need U.N. help “to stop blatant human rights violations and cynical disregard for human dignity right in the middle of Europe.”
In addition to urging the international community to use “all mechanisms” including sanctions to stop the violence, Tsikhanouskaya called for a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss rights violations in Belarus and urged the U.N. to immediately send an “international monitoring mission” to the country to document the situation on the ground.
Ambassador Olof Skoog, who heads the European Union mission to the U.N., reiterated that EU leaders have said the election was not free and fair and urged Belarus authorities “to find a way out of the crisis through an end to violence, de-escalation and an inclusive national dialogue.”
Skoog said the EU will assess Belarusian authorities’ actions to address the current situation and conduct an in-depth review of the EU’S relations with Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya also demanded entry and free movement for the U.N. independent human rights investigator on Belarus, Anais Marin.
Marin said the situation in the country “has never been as catastrophic as it has been in the past month.”
“When a government announces its readiness to use the army against its own citizens in peacetime, when it baselessly accuses its neighbors of interference and aggression, and when it is prepared to sacrifice the sovereignty of the country and the independence of its institutions in order to stay in place at all costs, it is international peace and security that are threatened,” Marin said.