Open Letter from Former Belarusian Political Prisoners to European Leaders

A group of for­mer Belaru­sian polit­i­cal pris­on­ers has appealed to the lead­ers of EU coun­tries, the Unit­ed King­dom, Switzer­land, and Nor­way. They urge them to take a more proac­tive stance regard­ing the release of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers and the ces­sa­tion of repres­sions in Belarus. Below is the full text of the let­ter.

Dear lead­ers and rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the insti­tu­tions of the Euro­pean Union, polit­i­cal lead­ers, mem­bers of par­lia­ments, diplo­mats and gov­ern­ment offi­cials of the EU mem­ber states, the Unit­ed King­dom, Switzer­land and Nor­way,

We are for­mer Belaru­sian polit­i­cal pris­on­ers. We spent years in deten­tion cen­tres, penal colonies, and pris­ons for our views, for join­ing peace­ful protests, for doing our jobs as jour­nal­ists, lawyers, doc­tors, and teach­ers, or for a sin­gle com­ment or repost. We write to you not as politi­cians or experts, but as peo­ple who know what hap­pens behind prison walls.

We know the cold of the pun­ish­ment cell and the refusal of med­ical care. We know what it means to lose all cor­re­spon­dence and vis­its, to go years with­out a phone call, to see our fam­i­lies pres­sured, and to won­der whether any­one remem­bers us. We also know what sus­tains peo­ple in prison: the cer­tain­ty that the world out­side has not turned away, that peo­ple are talk­ing about them, and that some­one is work­ing on their behalf.

Belarus has one of the high­est num­bers of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers in the world. Human rights defend­ers count about 900, and the true fig­ure may be far high­er. Each day in prison costs them their health and costs their loved ones their hope.

Behind these fig­ures are real lives and real tragedies. At least nine peo­ple have already died in Belaru­sian pris­ons.

Many more have seen their health col­lapse. Civic activist Vat­slau Aresh­ka has gone blind. Pen­sion­er Vol­ha May­ora­va risks los­ing her sight entire­ly, yet she has been sen­tenced to twen­ty-one and a half years. Aksana Shalyap­ina, Tat­siana Kolas and Siarhei Kabarchuk were diag­nosed with can­cer in prison. Sev­er­al polit­i­cal pris­on­ers have suf­fered strokes.

Many have spent five or even six years behind bars. Among them is Iry­na Melkher, aged 71, who is in very poor health and faces a 17-year sen­tence. Eduard Babary­ka, son of Vik­tar Babary­ka, a par­tic­i­pant in the 2020 elec­tion cam­paign, has been impris­oned for six and a half years.

Moth­ers have not seen their chil­dren for years. Han­na Kar­ni­ayen­ka was detained while still breast­feed­ing her five-month-old son. He is now four and is being raised by a stranger. Entire fam­i­lies are impris­oned togeth­er, some­times two, three, or even five mem­bers.
Thou­sands more are serv­ing “home chem­istry” sen­tences (restrict­ed free­dom), and thou­sands live in con­stant fear of deten­tion. The repres­sion has not ceased: every day brings news of new polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed arrests and sen­tences.

We urge you to do every­thing in your pow­er to end this.

Noth­ing is more pre­cious than human life, and no polit­i­cal goal is worth the health or lives of peo­ple. We trust that, for you, these are more than words.

Our request seems to us both obvi­ous and urgent.

We call on the Euro­pean Union and the Unit­ed King­dom to take an active part in secur­ing the release of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers and end­ing repres­sion in Belarus. Please use every avail­able means: diplo­mat­ic chan­nels, nego­ti­a­tion for­mats, pres­sure and incen­tives, pub­lic and dis­creet work alike. Let these efforts be con­sis­tent and coor­di­nat­ed, and let the release of pris­on­ers be a stand­ing item on the agen­da in every con­tact with Min­sk and every dis­cus­sion of the future of rela­tions with Belarus.

We are grate­ful to the Unit­ed States, whose diplo­ma­cy has already brought free­dom to hun­dreds. But we believe the Euro­pean Union and the Unit­ed King­dom should play a more active role. Belarus is part of Europe, and it is your neigh­bour.

We wish to stress two points.

Releas­es must be part of a last­ing solu­tion, not a one-off ges­ture. Those freed should not be forced into exile with­out the right to return, and those who remain should not live under the threat of re-arrest. As long as new peo­ple are being detained, releas­es alone do not solve the prob­lem. We must work towards end­ing polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed per­se­cu­tion.

Dia­logue about peo­ple and val­ues must include Belaru­sian soci­ety. We ask the EU to lis­ten to the full range of Belaru­sian voic­es, includ­ing those who have been through prison, and to draw on their expe­ri­ence when shap­ing pol­i­cy.

We do not pre­sume to judge mat­ters of high pol­i­tics, and we respect the dif­fer­ing views among Belaru­sians on how best to bring change. But on one point we stand unit­ed: behind every deci­sion are liv­ing peo­ple. We ask you to keep this in mind when decid­ing the future of rela­tions with Belarus, and to make the release of pris­on­ers and an end to repres­sion a pri­or­i­ty of Euro­pean pol­i­cy.

We stand ready to meet with you, to share what we have lived through, and to tell you what we know about the con­di­tions of pris­on­ers. We will do all we can to help bring free­dom, as swift­ly as pos­si­ble, to those who remain behind bars.

With hope for your engage­ment and your sense of respon­si­bil­i­ty,

Lud­mi­la Chek­ina
Mar­fa Rabko­va
Anas­ta­sia (Nas­ta) Loi­ka
Iri­na Slavniko­va
Maria Kalesnika­va
Mary­na Zolata­va
Iry­na Zlobi­na
Andrei Ali­ak­san­drau
Tatiana Kouz­i­na
Mikhail Laban
Ale­na Mali­nouskaya
Darya Afanasye­va
Anas­tasiya Kukhta
Anas­tasiya Lazarenko
Valiery­ja Сhar­namort­sa­va
Anna Papai
Ali­ak­sey Shchyt­nikau
Henadzi Smirnou
Dzmit­ry Sem­chanka
Dzia­n­is Khakhlou
Dzmit­ry Bianchuk
Natal­lia Sheremeta­va
Alana Gebre­mari­am
Olga Matske­vich
Kat­siary­na Mendryk
Viachaslau Smirnou
Michail Lape­nas
Kiryl Paz­ni­ak
Nadzeya Kalach
Uladz­imir Kalach
Tat­siana Kuryli­na
Tatiana Stepa
Pali­na Palavin­ka
Dzmit­ry Luk­sha
Kiryl Kazei
Ihar Sat­siuk
Liud­mi­la Volka­va
Yuliya Lap­tanovich
Ihar Lap­tanovich
Ihar Karnei
Olga Pavlo­va
Olga Loiko
Alla Sharko
Vik­to­ryia Hrank­ouskaya
Nas­tas­sia Zhyl­skaya
Kat­sya­ri­na Lev
Kary­na Pro­tashchyk
Pavel Shpet­ny
Ale­na Hnauk
Tat­siana Kupchy­na
Han­na Pysh­nik
Natal­lia Malets
Natal­lia Vasile­vich
Tat­siana Hat­sura-Yavors­ka
Anas­tasiya Gon­chare­vich
Ali­ak­sei Bahdzei
Ali­ak­sei Azar­ka
Kat­siary­na Khulkhachyie­va
Ali­ak­san­dr Bir­u­lia
Tat­siana Bir­u­lia
Siarhei Vait­siuk
Miki­ta Litvi­nen­ka
Siarhei Salokha
Vitali Bon­daruk
Vik­tar Babary­ka
Vol­ha Har­bunovа
Ali­ak­san­dr Andrushke­vich
Kat­siary­na Seviaryn
Vladimir Sev­erin
Larysa Shchyrako­va
Miki­ta Zalatarou
Kseniya Syra­malot
Darya Chultso­va
Kasia Budzko
Kat­siary­na Zaret­skaya
Illia Fren
Dziyana Mikhaili­na
Maryia Babovich
Ali­ak­san­dr Mancewicz
Han­na Kisialio­va
Olga Filatchenko­va
Andrei Tsal­iuk
Kat­siary­na Bakhvala­va (Andree­va)
Vladimir Mack­e­vich
Anas­tasiya Buly­ben­ka