On 12 March 2021, special procedures mandate holders addressed allegations of criminalization, arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment of Mr. Sergey Drozdovskiy, a human rights defender and director of the NGO Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, as well as a wheelchair user and founder of the Association of Wheelchair Users in Belarus in 1997, in connection with the NGO cooperation with the UN (BLR 4/2021). 4. According to information received, on 21 January 2021, the Department of Financial Investigations (DFI) at the Committee of State Control announced on its official website that it had opened an investigation into the activities of certain members of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities. The DFI searched the NGO’s premises and confiscated equipment and documents. It also searched the homes of its members and confiscated personal property. Mr. Drozdovskiy, along with a lawyer for the organization, were reportedly questioned by the DFI. The Committee of State Control reportedly explained that the questioning was part of an investigation for possible misappropriation of charitable donations and international funding (BLR 4/2021). On 2 February 2021, Mr. Drozdovskiy and a lawyer of the organization were reportedly questioned again, during which time they 1 https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=7741&file=EnglishTranslation. 2 UPR Belarus, 37th Meeting, 46th Regular Session Human Rights Council, at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k10/k103nw8z21 (time stamp 26:40). 3 https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=2413&L ang=en. 4 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26922&LangID=E. 21 A/HRC/48/28 were insulted and threatened, and on 3 February 2021, they were both arrested. Their lawyers signed a non-disclosure agreement, preventing them from publicly discussing details of the case. On 11 February, Mr. Drozdovskiy was charged on suspicion of having committed “fraud” (Article 209 of the Criminal Code), placed under house arrest, and restricted to only communicate with his lawyer (BLR 4/2021). 5. Mandate holders expressed concerns, including publicly on 19 March 2021,5 that the investigations of the work of the NGO, the charges against its director and lawyer, and the alleged ill-treatment could be a reprisal for their cooperation with the UN. The mandate holders raised concerns over the increasing number of cases where human rights defenders were bound by non-disclosure agreements which, when used inappropriately, can criminalise the sharing of information and observations on human rights (BLR 4/2021). 6. It was reported to OHCHR that Mr. Drozdouskiy continues to be under house arrest, which on 3 April 2021 was extended until 3 August 2021. As of May 2021, he reportedly suffers serious health conditions. The lawyer of the organization is currently held in remand prison-1 at Volodarskiy 2 (Minsk), and his detention was extended until 3 August 2021(BLR 4/2021). Further, there are credible concerns that the above-mentioned non-disclosure agreements have both prevented and inhibited civil society actors from sharing information and testimony with the UN.