Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said that the Belarusian authorities want to avoid the investigation of sensational cases of opposition politicians and journalists disappearances, which took place decades ago. According to the human rights activist, this is the reason why the authorities refuse to take into account the recommendations of the Council of Europe.
«I usually don’t try to guess why the government takes certain decisions. I am interested in the result,» «Narodnaya Volia» quotes the Council of Europe Commissioner.
According to the activist, the recommendations of the Council of Europe are inconvenient for the Belarusian government, as they draw attention to the issues that the authorities do not want to touch upon. «Of course, we can continue to request or even demand an objective investigation into the disappearances. But the further it drags on, the more it seems that the Belarusian authorities want to avoid the investigation of those cases or to hide something,» Thomas Hammarberg said.
Nevertheless, the Council of Europe Commissioner reported that the position of the organization remained the same. «We Won’t give up, especially in matters relating to the disappearances,» Thomas Hammarberg stressed.
«It is worse than torture for the families of the disappeared. And despite the fact that years have passed and neither the bodies nor the graves have been found, there still remains the last hope: he may be somewhere abroad, or even in jail… Relatives do not receive clear information about the fate of their loved ones. They live in constant doubt,» human rights activist noted.
Thomas Hammarberg stressed that the violent abduction, disappearances and the lack of information about what has happened is a violation of human rights. «The limitation for prosecution principle is not applied to the violent disappearances of people in the European practice. They can be investigated at any time. No matter how much time has passed,» the Council of Europe Commissioner explained.
However, the Council of Europe suggested establishing an international independent commission that could objectively investigate cases of last-year disappearances of Yuri Zakharenko, Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky and Dmitry Zavadsky. The Belarusian authorities ignored the suggestion though.
