Автобус с освобожденными политзаключенными
UN human rights experts have issued a statement condemning the deportation from Belarus to Lithuania of released political prisoners and calling on the Belarusian authorities to reverse measures that create a risk of statelessness.
“The expulsion of a country’s own citizens and the arbitrary confiscation of their identity documents violate a number of human rights, including the right to a nationality, freedom of movement and the right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference in private life,” the statement said.
The experts noted that of the 52 people released on 11 September, one — Mikalai Statkevich — refused to cross the border and subsequently disappeared, while the others were forced into exile. Fourteen people had their identity documents confiscated; one person had an expired passport, and another had an invalid passport with pages torn out.
“This is another measure adopted by the Belarusian authorities that creates a risk of statelessness,” the experts said.
The UN experts also drew attention to the 2023 “consular” decree issued by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, which makes it impossible to renew documents in Belarusian consulates.
The statement said these measures run counter to the objectives of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness — treaties Belarus agreed to ratify during its universal periodic review in 2020.
“We urge the authorities to immediately repeal all legislative, regulatory and law-enforcement measures that create a risk of statelessness and to cease adopting such measures. In particular, urgent amendments are required to national counter-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation, which contradicts international human rights law,” the experts said.