From Viasna Human Rights Center
Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other political prisoners released
On June 21, 14 political prisoners were released in Belarus. The pardon followed a visit to Minsk by Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy. The released prisoners were immediately transported to Lithuania.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118178
“A powerful symbol of hope for all the political prisoners,” – How the world reacted to the release of Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other political prisoners
World politicians and human rights organizations congratulated the leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the release of her husband, former political prisoner Siarhei, and 13 other political prisoners from Belarusian prisons. Here is how the politicians reacted.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118186
“Every day is like hell,” – Women’s penal colony through the eyes of a former political prisoner
Dozens of women convicted on political grounds remain in Homieĺ women’s colony No. 4. The state recognizes them as “extremists” and “terrorists”, but behind these labels there are real stories of pain, humiliation and struggle for survival. Prisoners are united not only by their sentences, but also by the way they are treated: daily insults, moral pressure, cold, hard labor, denial of medical care and isolation from the outside world. One of them is 63-year-old Halina Dzerbysh. Despite her disability, she does not receive even basic medical care. Former political prisoner Tatsiana (name changed for security reasons), told Viasna about the conditions of detention and work in the penal colony, unbearable cold in the SHIZO, and pressure on political prisoners.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118224
“Many are subjected to torture and ill-treatment,” – 37 OSCE participating States call for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus
On July 3, in Vienna, 37 OSCE participating States, including members of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ukraine, issued a joint statement at an OSCE meeting calling on the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners. The statement was read by a representative of Germany.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118262
“I was relatively lucky,” – a Ukrainian spoke about his prosecution in Belarus for protests
A citizen of Ukraine, Yauhen (name changed for security reasons), was detained in 2020 for participating in protest actions. He was held in a temporary detention facility for more than six months. But instead of deportation, a case was initiated against him, and his detention at Akrescina was not included in the total sentence. Yauhen told Viasna about his experience of imprisonment and how he survived — physically and mentally — in the Belarusian penitentiary system.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118281
For the sixth year, Belarus has been ranked last in the index of the prohibition of torture in post-Soviet countries
The Working Group on the Fight Against Torture of the Civic Solidarity Platform, which includes representatives of human rights and non-governmental organizations from six countries of the OSCE region (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine), presented the annual results of measuring the index of prohibition of torture in these countries. For the sixth year, Belarus has been at the bottom of the ranking list.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118284
On the fourth anniversary of the detention of Viasna members, FIDH and 40 other organizations called for the release of their colleagues
Four years after the detention of Viasna members Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovic and Uladzimir Labkovich, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, along with the undersigned organisations and individuals, urge the Belarusian authorities to uphold the rule of law and to immediately and unconditionally release all members of Human Rights Center “Viasna”, as well as all other human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Belarus.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118291
“Live location sharing and phone checks,” – Ordinary prisoners in an open-type correctional facility are put on the preventive register
Ordinary prisoners in Belarus, who were persecuted for political reasons in the past, are now facing more pressure. Recently, human rights activists learned that in the fall of 2024, there were about 10 women in penal colony No. 4 who were convicted of committing economic and drug offences, among others, who received “extremist status” for prosecution under political administrative articles. Now, Viasna has learned that in 2023, one of the open-type correctional facilities had prisoners convicted of committing drug offenses and causing serious bodily harm, who were placed on the “extremist” preventive register for participating in protest actions in 2020.
For additional reading: https://spring96.org/en/news/118320