UN STEPS UP MONITORING OF REPORTED RIGHTS ABUSES

GENEVA The United Nations agreed on Friday to step up monitoring of reported rights abuses during Belarus's crackdown on protests, angering Minsk and its ally Moscow and raising the diplomatic stakes in the crisis.

During a highly charged debate at the UN Human Rights Council, European ministers denounced the repression of demonstrations since Belarus's Aug 9. elections, and Britain's envoy said it would support sanctions. Belarus said the Council's decision on monitoring set “a dangerous precedent.”

UN rights investigator Anaïs Marin earlier told a meeting of the Council that states needed to act to prevent a major geopolitical rift. “Let's not allow another Iron Curtain to descend on the European continent,” she said.

Marin said more than 10,000 people have been “abusively arrested,” with more than 500 reports of torture and thousands “savagely beaten,” since President Alexander Lukashenko, pictured, claimed victory in the vote.

Protesters say the election was fraudulent. Lukashenko says he won the vote fairly by a landslide and dismisses accusations of abuses as part of a Western smear campaign.