[wanabidii] Press Releases: Belarus Human Rights and Democracy Dialogue

You are subscribed to Press Releases for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Press Releases: Belarus Human Rights and Democracy Dialogue 05/18/2015 02:14 PM EDT Belarus Human Rights and Democracy Dialogue Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC May 18, 2015 On May 14, U.S. and Belarusian officials met in Washington to discuss human rights, civil society, and democracy. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Eric Rubin, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor Philip Kaplan, and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Jonathan Katz participated for the United States in meetings with senior Belarusian Foreign Ministry officials, Director-General for Multilateral Diplomacy Yury Ambrazevich and Director for the Americas Oleg Kravchenko, as well as with Belarusian Charge d’Affaires Pavel Shidlovsky. The topics discussed included both Belarus’ and the United States’ results and recommendations the two countries received during the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of their obligations in the UN Human Rights Council; Belarus’s upcoming presidential elections; our shared OSCE commitments to uphold freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association; and the importance of facilitating space for the development of civil society and independent media in order to build a more secure and prosperous society. We renewed our call on the Belarusian Government to release all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to respect their political rights. We also called on Belarus to take steps to conduct its upcoming elections in line with the standards of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The United States is committed to supporting Belarusian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence, as well as to helping Belarusians build a strong, prosperous, free, and democratic society. The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. Stay connected with the State Department:       External links found in this content or on Department of State websites that go to other non-Department websites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.  Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by U.S. Department of State. This email was sent to wanabidii@googlegroups.com using GovDelivery, on behalf of: U.S. Department of State · 2201 C Street NW · Washington, DC 20520

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