A/HRC/44/55 in the media, put the language under threat of significant decline or disappearance. She encourages the Government of Belarus to commit itself to the protection and promotion of all minority languages in the country. Participation in cultural life 82. The Special Rapporteur notes that discrimination against the Belarusian language in the public sphere has a negative effect on everyone’s ability to take part in cultural life, which is guaranteed by article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. According to information received, owing to continuous discrimination of the Belarusian language in the public and cultural spheres and in the media, the population of Belarus has a very low level of awareness about Belarusian literature and culture. According to a survey conducted by the Union of Belarusian writers in the period 2017– 2018, a total of 92 per cent of respondents were not able to name any contemporary Belarusian writer. 83. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about censorship in the cultural sphere and the restriction of freedom of speech of artists. Outspoken representatives of the cultural sphere face artificially created obstacles in the exercise of their artistic freedoms if their work promotes equality and fundamental freedoms. According to information received, the authorities have so-called black lists of artists, writers and other representatives of the cultural sphere who should not be allowed to organize public events and whose names should not be mentioned in the media. For instance, on 6 June 2019, a Belarusian artistperformer was detained in Belarus after a performance in defence of the Belarusian language. The court found him guilty of holding an unsanctioned event and disobeying a police officer; he was subsequently fined 204 Belarusian roubles ($90).78 In another case, in April 2019, authorities denied touring certificates to a musician owing to the alleged “low artistic level” of his music. The Special Rapporteur stresses that cultural life must be characterized by freedom and authorities should not interfere with the exercise of cultural practices. 84. Of particular risk is the enjoyment of artistic freedoms by representatives of the LGBTQI community. The Special Rapporteur received a number of reports suggesting that during the reporting period, LGBTQI artists had been restricted in their ability to express social and political statements through the arts. Moreover, State authorities continued to use homophobic statements in their official capacity. On 4 May 2020, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement on its website that argued that artificial promotion of the theme of samesex relationships was destructive, violating moral norms and leading to an increase in sexual offences against children. 79 The Special Rapporteur is concerned that while exercising public functions and utilizing public resources, officials engaged in acts that could be qualified as incitement to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, for which they should be held accountable. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 85. The Special Rapporteur regrets the continuous policy of non-engagement with the mandate and hopes that this position will be reconsidered. Engagement with the mandate is a real opportunity for Belarus to show its willingness to reflect on human rights issues and engage with United Nations special procedures for the purposes of improving the human rights situation. 86. The Special Rapporteur regrets the lack of meaningful progress towards the protection of human rights in Belarus. Even though there has been little change in the legislation since the last report, she also acknowledges that some advances are observable in practice. The engagement of Belarus with international human rights mechanisms is encouraging, and the Special Rapporteur is hopeful that the interest in meaningful, constructive engagement will increase. 78 79 See https://belsat.eu/en/news/artist-ales-pushkin-detained-for-performance-event-againstrussification. See www.mvd.gov.by/ru/news/5372 (in Russian). 17