On June 30, the third joint report of the Russian and Belarusian Foreign Ministries "On the Human Rights Situation in Individual Countries" was presented for the first time in Minsk at a meeting of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev also participated in the meeting.
The document was presented by Irina Velichko, Head of the Main Directorate for Multilateral Diplomacy of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, and Grigory Lukyantsev, Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation on Human Rights and Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Aleksandr Lukashevich, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Statutory and Other Bodies of the CIS in Minsk, provided a commentary.
In their speeches, they stated the need to depoliticize the human rights agenda and ensure strict adherence to universal human rights norms and standards by all states without resorting to "double standards." They emphasized the absence of ideal countries in the world in terms of compliance with human rights standards. The key to resolving existing problems lies in equal cooperation and mutually respectful dialogue, which cannot be replaced by dictatorship and the imposition of a "rules-based world order" on the human rights dimension.
This annual report is a comprehensive study presenting a detailed picture of the state of human rights in several countries of the "collective West" and other states. The report's findings are based on recommendations from relevant UN human rights bodies and regional multilateral organizations, open data, and research conducted by NGOs.
The document generated keen interest among Commonwealth partners, who, among other things, agreed that it would be useful to a wide range of experts and practitioners specializing in relevant topics. The objective nature of the report, based on a wide range of materials and rich in factual information, was also noted.
The third report, "Human Rights Situations in Individual Countries," will be presented at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna and at the UN headquarters in Geneva on July 7 and 9, respectively.