Council of Europe expects from Belarus more than moratorium on death penalty
Official
Minsk also has to demonstrate progress on freedom of elections and
the media.
This was stated by the chairman of the Monitoring
Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
rapporteur on Belarus Andres Herkel. According to BelaPAN, on 14 June
he spoke at the conference in Warsaw "Civil society in Belarus –
2013".
Herkel noted that for a significant progress in
relations between Minsk and the Council of Europe, it is important
that the Belarusian authorities should solve the problem of political
prisoners and achieve progress on issues matters of freedom of
elections, the media and other areas.
According to Andreas
Herkel, the human rights situation in Belarus has not improved and is
still as bad as ever.
The PACE rapporteur said that he would
like to get the opportunity to meet with political prisoners, if the
Belarusian authorities allow him to visit the country in the course
of preparation of his next report.
