Belarus slams modern concept of human rights, says 'West imposes its vision on others'

Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Ambrazevich has stressed that the concept of human rights has become one of the most serious points of "contention" in international relations in recent decades. Speaking at the plenary meeting of the Beijing Forum on Human Rights 2022, Yury criticised the modern concept of human rights, adding that the West imposes its vision on the rest of the world, while each country has the right to interpret the concept of human rights in its own way. He stated that the countries that view themselves as "liberal democracies" consider their view of human rights as the only "true one." He emphasised that Belarus defends its point of view without posing a challenge to human rights. 

"The concept of human rights in international relations has become one of the most serious points of contention in recent decades," Yury Ambrazevich said in his remarks. 

The debate about whether the claims of liberal democracies to the final truth are justified has been going on for a long time, and Belarus is a country that defends its own point of view without challenging the value of the concept of human rights as such,"  he added. 

Yury Ambrazevich said that "liberal democracies" suggest that human rights violations hinder development and make it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, according to the statement issued by Belarusian Foreign Ministry. He highlighted that human rights serve as the basis for economic sanctions and hybrid war in modern international relations and not for the global achievement of the SDGs. The Deputy FM of Belarus noted that human rights issues can work in international relations only if the nations focus on improving national practices. He further emphasised that considering human rights as an understanding of rules that ensure the protection of the dignity and freedom of each individual from another person's arbitrariness "remains only a theory." According to Ambrazevich, human rights makes sense only if a person is not given the right to lead a decent life without suffering. 

Every nation working to ensure protection of human rights: Ambrazevich 

Furthermore, Ambrazevich asserted that a person is "maximally free and legally authorized for boundless egoism" just at the time of birth. According to him, society continues to place restrictions on a person after he is born, according to the statement issued by Belarusian MFA. Belarusian Deputy FM Yury Ambrazevich stressed that every nation is working to ensure the protection of human rights and freedom as it is interested in the development of the individual, utilizing his creative energy and maintaining a conflict-free zone. He said that the efforts to universalize the concept of human rights through the creation of international treaties have "failed." He said that there is no possibility of finding a universal consensus for the implementation of the concept of human rights. 

"Any society with a state organization, whether in the form of a liberal democracy or an absolute monarchy, seeks to ensure the protection of human rights and freedoms, since it is interested in the development of each individual, in engaging his creative energy, in maintaining society in a stable and conflict-free state, in the sustainable growth of collective wealth through the summation of individual success stories. 

Image: Twitter/@BelarusMID