Belarus backsliding badly on human rights - U.N. report

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko attends the Roundtable Summit Phase One Sessions of Belt and Road Forum at the International Conference Center in Yanqi Lake on May 15, 2017 in Beijing, China. REUTERS/Lintao Zhang/Pool

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Belarus government has returned to a policy of large-scale repression, causing a dramatic deterioration in human rights, according to a report published on Monday for submission to next month's session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Last month the United States extended sanctions relief for Belarus for a further six months, part of an effort to engage with its veteran leader President Alexander Lukashenko. The European Union last year ended five years of sanctions against Belarus.