Human Rights Situation in Certain Countries (The Joint Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus)

Unofficial translation

The Joint Report

of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

and

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus

HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES

Moscow – Minsk

2024

                                      Address to the Reader

of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Belarus

Y.G.Ambrazevich

and

of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Russian Federation

S.V.Vershinin

Dear reader!

This is the first joint report on human rights situations in certain countries by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The document is a practical example of close cooperation between the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries in human rights promotion and protection, which has always been constructive and based on common approaches to most of the issues in this area. The Report is also a further effort by the two ministries to bring public attention to human rights challenges facing today's international community.

The facts it contains show that racist and neo-colonial views are typical of Western "model democracies" in principle. This is clearly reflected in their desire to impose a "rules-based order" they themselves have devised and to oppose it to international law. This approach builds on an inherently racist division of states into those who "have the right" to lay down these rules and those who must strictly follow them, be it even to the detriment of their national interests.

We have sought to provide real case examples from both the present and the recent past, which, for the most part, we are all well aware of, to illustrate the negative human rights practices and trends the entire constructive-minded international community needs to stand up to. With this in mind, we would recommend that the reader, when going through the "country" sections of the Report, bear in mind the fact that these very states are actively trying to "export" democratic and human rights standards as universal ones and to tell others about their "shortcomings" and, in fact, to interfere with their internal affairs. Under this pretext, the "collective West", which ranks behind the rest of the world in terms of population, is indiscriminately criticizing the human rights situation in undesirable countries of the world majority – undesirable only because they pursue an independent foreign policy agenda and defend their own historical, cultural and religious values and norms without imposing them on anyone.

This collaborative research effort provides a better understanding of the background and drivers behind many of today's events and processes, as well as an analysis of the challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights in countries that undeservedly see themselves as exemplary in their implementation of human rights norms.

We believe that the Report will be of interest not only to experts in international relations but also to a wider public.

Yuri Ambrazevich                                                                                             Sergey Vershinin

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