GENEVA/VIENNA – The UN Group of Independent Experts on Belarus expresses profound concerns over the re-election of President Aleksandr Lukashenko and its likely impact on the already dire human rights situation in Belarus. The Group regrets that by not inviting international independent observers, Belarusian authorities failed to hold genuinely democratic elections. This was also the case during the 2020 presidential election. Since then, real and perceived members of the opposition have been subjected to arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, and denied fair trial rights. Some of these violations may amount to crimes against humanity. The pattern of human rights violations documented so far was clearly part of a government strategy aimed at silencing dissent including any form of freedom of expression and association. The extensive repression has proven effective. With hundreds of thousands of Belarusians having sought exile abroad in recent years, and more than 1200 political prisoners remaining in detention, there were no candidates to mount genuine opposition to the current ruler. With President Aleksandr Lukashenko set to stay in office for another five years, the Group has well-founded fears that patterns of repression and human rights violations will continue. The Group of Independent Experts will present its first report to the Human Rights Council in March, focusing on violations committed in 2023 and 2024, including in the months leading up to the presidential election. ENDS Background: The Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus was established by the Human Rights Council on 4 April 2024 through resolution A/HRC/RES/55/27, for a renewable period of one year, to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Belarus since 1 May 2020, including their gender and age dimensions and their impact on victims and survivors. More information about the Group of Experts can be found here. For media queries, please contact: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the UN Human Rights Council’s Investigative Mechanisms, todd.pitman@un.org; or Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer simp@un.org.