UN Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Belarus made two recommendations on Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Recommendation 19. While noting the information provided by the State party in this regard, the Committee remains concerned about reports of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including harassment, homophobic discourse, hate speech and violence against LGBT individuals, and about the lack of adequate protection against such discrimination, both in law and in practice. The Committee is also concerned about reported violations of privacy and other rights of transgender persons owing, inter alia, to gendered ID numbers in passports making gender reassignment information available to a broad range of governmental officials, and to indication in military IDs for transgender men that they are unfit for service under category 19a (serious mental disorder) of the Disease Schedule approved by the Ministries of Health and Defense (arts. 2, 7, 17 and 26).

Recommendation 20. The State party should take vigorous steps to eradicate effectively all forms of discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, inter alia by: (a) explicitly listing sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited grounds for discrimination in comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation; (b) providing appropriate training on combating discriminatory attitudes towards LGBT persons to law enforcement and other officials; and (c) sanctioning such conduct properly, including by promptly and effectively investigating any reports of violence or hatred motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity and by bringing perpetrators to justice. The State party should also amend relevant regulations and procedures governing gender transition with a view to ensuring their compatibility with the Covenant, including with the right to privacy.

Earlier ECOM and “Identity and Law” submitted an alternative report to the committee on SOGI related issues, and later Yuri Yoursky and Nataliia Mankouskaya presented it to Committee in Geneva in September 2018.

The document can be found at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2fBLR%2fCO%2f5&Lang=en