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29 June 2022, 50th session of the Human Rights Council​ Item4: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus Delivered by the Permanent Representative of Lithuania Ambassador Darius Staniulis

Thank you Mr. President,

Lithuania fully aligns itself with the EU statement.

Madam Special Rapporteur, Lithuania is grateful for your report and supports extension of the mandate. We are in particularly concerned about the assessment, provided by you, that already precarious human rights situation in Belarus has deteriorated further. This tendency is extremely dangerous. We witness continuous repressions by the authorities against all groups of society, human rights defenders, journalists and media workers. There are more than 1220 political prisoners in Belarus.

As stated in the report, the constitutional reform of 2022 and other legislatives changes have further tightened already restrictive laws regulating rights and freedoms.

We would like to point out the recent amendments of the Code of Education, which will affect children from national minorities. Schools of the Lithuanian national minority in Belarus are forced to change the language of instruction to Belarusian or Russian. Even lessons of national minority language and literature will be eliminated as mandatory subjects. Neither parents, nor pupils have any possibility to choose. With these actions Belarus violates educational and linguistic rights of the Lithuanian minority there.

Lithuania strongly condemns these and all other violations, as well as involvement of Belarus into Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine with immense consequences for human rights.

Madam Special Rapporteur, how the international community may contribute more to support your mandate?

I thank you.