Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement.

We thank the High Commissioner for his report.

The Netherlands is deeply concerned about the serious, continuous and large-scale human rights violations perpetrated by the Belarusian authorities,  some of which may amount to crimes against humanity, as highlighted in your report.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands continues to stand with the people of Belarus, its civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, as well as the political opposition. We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained and demand their full legal redress, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski, who symbolizes the plight of the 1462 political prisoners, whose human rights continue to be violated.

Depriving people of their liberty while they exercise their right to stand up for freedom and dignity is unacceptable. Rights, moreover, that are enshrined in the Belarussian Constitution and the international human rights treaties to which Belarus is a Party.

Those responsible for the violations detailed in your report must be held accountable. Therefore, we call on this Council and the broader international community to continue its support to initiatives aimed at preventing impunity.

Mr. High Commissioner,

Can you provide more details on the cooperation between the OHCHR examination and other relevant mechanisms such as the Special Rapporteur and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB)?