Belarusian Opposition Presidential Candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

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Belarusian Opposition Presidential Candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Today my country, Belarus, is in turmoil. Peaceful protesters are being illegally detained, beaten, and imprisoned. The protests themselves started after a cynical and blatant attempt by Mr. Lukashenko to steal the votes of the people. The demands of the nation are simple: immediate termination of violence and threats by the regime, immediate release of all political prisoners, and free and fair election. There is only one obstacle to these demands being met. This obstacle is Mr. Lukashenko, a man desperately clinging onto power and refusing to listen to his people and his own state officials. A nation can not and should not be a hostage to one man's thirst for power. And it won't. Belarusians have woken up. The point of no return has passed. This is manifested by now daily demonstrations of hundreds of thousands all across Belarus, despite police brutality and blatant disregard for Belarusian laws and international norms. This is manifested by the strikes across the largest factories and state-owned companies in Belarus, despite intimidation and in some cases unlawful layoffs. This is manifested by all the strata of our society and all the political spectrum demanding the one and the same thing. The regime of Alexander Lukashenko is morally bankrupt, legally questionable and simply untenable in the eyes of our nation. The United Nations was created as a formal body of the whole international community in order to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all. In 1945 Belarus was one of the founding members of the United Nations. Now we, the Belarusian people, need the help of the United Nations in order to stop blatant human rights violations and cynical disregard for human dignity right in the middle of Europe. We ask the United Nations to condemn the use of excessive force by the Belarusian security services against protesters; We suggest a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss the human rights situation in Belarus; We urge the United Nations to send the immediate international monitoring mission to Belarus to document the situation on the ground; We demand to allow entry and free movement to the United Nations Special Raporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus; We demand immediate release of all political prisoners from arbitrary detention, including Siarhey Tsikhanouski, Viktar Babaryka, Pavel Seviarynets, Volha Kavalkova, Siarhey Dyleuski, Mikola Statkevich, and dozens of other arrested civic society leaders; We demand the end to the intimidation and targeting of the members of Coordination Council, Sviatlana Alexisyevich, Volha Kavalkova, Pavel Latushka, Siarhey Dyleuski, Marya Kalesnikava, Maxim Znak and others. I want to make it very clear. Collaboration with the regime of Mr. Lukashenko at the moment means the support for violence and blatant violation of human rights. I call on international community to use all mechanisms to stop the violence, including sanctions on the individuals that committed electoral violations and crimes against humanity. At the same time, I stress that Lukashenko does not represent Belarus any more. Belarusians are a lawful, peaceful, and responsible people with a high sense of personal and collective dignity, as they demonstrate every day, every single moment in the past weeks. We are ready and open to a dialogue with all sides, all parties, and all countries that respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus. Thank you! .

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