A/HRC/4/16 page 15 violation by Belarus of its obligations has been reiterated in resolution 61/175 of the General Assembly, in which the Assembly expressed deep concern about the failure of the Government of Belarus to cooperate fully with all the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, and the failure to meet its commitments to hold free and fair elections. The Assembly insisted that the Government of Belarus cooperate fully with all the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council. 53. The conclusions reached by the Special Rapporteur in his second report (E/CN.4/2006/36) were fully confirmed during the third term of his mandate. The conclusions and recommendations contained in that report continue to be valid and should be considered an integral part of the present report. The Special Rapporteur firmly believes that the first responsibility for improving the dramatic situation of human rights in Belarus lies with the country’s authorities. Therefore, while bearing in mind that all the recommendations addressed to the Belarusian authorities in his 2006 report were ignored, the Special Rapporteur stresses that they remain valid and must be reiterated even if there is no indication that this time they might be accepted and enhanced. 54. In parallel with the execution of the country mandate regarding Belarus, at least seven other special procedures mandate-holders - the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention - made assessments identical to those of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus and, concerned by their findings, addressed several urgent appeals to the Government of Belarus. Most of those appeals received no reply, and the few answers that were given were superficial. Thus, all major information having been thoroughly checked, all the concerned special procedures have converged towards the same opinion on the situation of human rights in Belarus. 55. At the same time, the opinions and assessments of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus were confirmed and fully shared by the most important European or Euro-Atlantic organizations, namely the OSCE, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. It is impossible to believe that all these people are wrong or biased. 56. There are few States that support the current regime in Belarus. Their support could be explained by ideological or geopolitical reasons. Without such support the capacity of the Belarusian regime to continue its human rights violations would be drastically limited. Consequently, one may conclude that, to a large extent, respect for human rights in Belarus is a hostage of geopolitical controversies and that in this context, without the support of the Russian Federation the efforts of the international community to promote respect for human rights in Belarus will enjoy very limited success.