In relation to Belarus, this bachelor thesis examines the role of individual communications sent to the UN Human Rights Committee in international law and how they affect the attitudes and decision-making of other UN bodies. Belarus is the only state that meets the following three conditions: the state has ratified the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the UN Human Rights Committee has received a triple-digit number of individual communications against the state; and a special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the state has been established. It is therefore interesting to examine the effect of individual communications against a state that clearly has a tarnished human rights record. In its first part, the thesis anchors the international human rights bodies relevant to Belarus and its research. The second part outlines its human rights obligations in the international arena. The case study in the third part of the thesis then uses quantitative analysis to examine the content of individual communications, letters of the special procedures and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and to look for references to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As a result, it is found that the work of the UN bodies examined replicates and reflects the issues reported by individuals, and the bodies examined can therefore be described as effective. |