Belarus Must Free Political Prisoners Now, Says U.N. Rights Council

Belarus must free all political prisoners immediately and cease a litany of abuses including torture, forced labor and flawed trials, the U.N.'s top human rights body said Thursday.

The U.N. Human Rights Council also demanded that the ex-Soviet republic -- whose President Alexander Lukashenko is branded Europe's last dictator by the United States -- cooperates with its investigators.

The council passed a resolution drafted by the United States, European nations, Japan and South Korea which took Belarus to task for "structural and endemic" violation and "systemic and systematic restrictions" on human rights.

It underlined that human rights violators were able to act with impunity, while the regime's critics faced intimidation ranging from travel bans to physical violence.

In addition, it spotlighted the country's September 2012 parliamentary elections, noting that most international observers regarded the vote as having failed to meet basic democratic standards.

Belarus, which became an independent state when the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991, has been ruled by Lukashenko since 1994.

Earlier this month, the U.N.'s rights investigator on Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, underscored a "drastic deterioration" since Lukashenko's December 2010 reelection, which was marked by a crackdown on street protests by the embattled opposition.

Twenty-six members of the Human Rights Council approved the resolution, while 18 abstained.

Just three -- India, Kazakhstan and Venezuela -- voted not to call Belarus to account.

Belarus is not part of the council, whose 47 seats rotate among U.N. member states.