A/HRC/23/52 32. The Special Rapporteur regrets the fact that, owing to his lack of access to the country, he is not able to witness first-hand the above-mentioned reported positive developments and the impact that they have on the daily lives of Belarusians. III. Legal framework A. Rule of law 33. The Special Rapporteur is concerned at the lack of rule of law in Belarus, in particular with regard to procedural guarantees, as envisaged by article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Multiple meetings with human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations reflected a lack of trust in the judiciary, as well as a lack in the belief that rights would be protected by the judiciary over the interests of the authorities. 34. The Special Rapporteur wishes to address specifically the concern that human rights violations in the country have a systemic and systematic character. Their nature remains structural and endemic, as characterized in the report of the High Commissioner, in which she stressed that “deficiencies pertaining to human rights in Belarus are of a systemic nature. They need to be addressed by the authorities through a comprehensive approach, which would include a review of the legislation, policies, strategies and practice pertaining to human rights.”19 In its judgement on Jerzy Broniowski v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights defined systemic human rights violations as deriving from structural causes not addressed by the responsible authorities. In the case of Belarus, many United Nations bodies have observed in several cases similar violations not addressed by the State: violations of the rights to freedom of expression and opinion;20 right to a fair trial;21 or to freedom of association.22 35. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that Belarus de facto denies alleged victims of human rights violations the right to appeal decisions of the Supreme Court to the Human Rights Committee, even though Belarus has ratified the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 19 20 21 22 8 A/HRC/20/8, para. 74. Malakhovsky and Pikul v. Belarus (CCPR/C/84/D/1207/2003), Korneenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1226/2003), Gryb v. Belarus (CCPR/C/103/D/1316/2004), Katsora v. Belarus (CCPR/C/99/D/1377/2005), Korneenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/95/D/1553/2007), Zalesskaya v. Belarus (CCPR/C/101/D/1604/2007), Sudalenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/104/D/1750/2008), Govsha et al. v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1790/2008), Schumilin v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1784/2008), Levinov v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1867/2009, 1936, 1975, 1977-1981, 2010/2010) Bandajevsky v. Belarus (CCPR/C/86/D/1100/2002), Gryb v. Belarus (CCPR/C/103/D/1316/2004), Marinich v. Belarus (CCPR/C/99/D/1502/2006), Sudalenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/104/D/1750/2008), Korneenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1226/2003), Kovaleva and Kozyar v. Belarus (CCPR/C/106/D/2120/2011). Zvozskov et al. v. Belarus (CCPR/C/88/D/1039/2001), Malakhovsky and Pikul v. Belarus (CCPR/C/84/D/1207/2003), Korneenko et al. v. Belarus (CCPR/C/88/D/1274/2004), Katsora et al. v. Belarus (CCPR/C/100/D/1383/2005), Korneenko v. Belarus (CCPR/C/105/D/1226/2003)