Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is visiting the United States. She participated in a debate on the topic of political prisoners on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Tsikhanouskaya emphasized the catastrophic situation in Belarus and the need for UN intervention.
"In Belarus, more than 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars. These are teachers, doctors, journalists, and activists. What is their crime? They speak the truth and dream of freedom.
Many of them are held in complete isolation — incommunicado — without letters, phone calls, or contact with the outside world. My husband, Siarhei, has been cut off from the world for more than a year. I don’t know if he is still alive.
We haven’t heard from Mikalai Statkevich, Maria Kalesnikava, Ihar Losik, and many others.
Nobel Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski is not receiving necessary medications. This is psychological torture not only for them but also for their families.
Belarusian prisons are death traps. Since 2020, five political prisoners have already died in custody, including Ales Pushkin and Vitold Ashurak. We cannot wait for more deaths."
During her speech, the UN press service introduced Tsikhanouskaya as the elected president of Belarus.
The democratic leader proposed a series of steps to address the situation of political prisoners in Belarus.
In New York, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will participate in a series of panel discussions and hold meetings with foreign politicians.
The full schedule can be found here.
Tsikhanouskaya emphasized the catastrophic situation in Belarus and the need for UN intervention.
"In Belarus, more than 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars. These are teachers, doctors, journalists, and activists. What is their crime? They speak the truth and dream of freedom.
Many of them are held in complete isolation — incommunicado — without letters, phone calls, or contact with the outside world. My husband, Siarhei, has been cut off from the world for more than a year. I don’t know if he is still alive.
We haven’t heard from Mikalai Statkevich, Maria Kalesnikava, Ihar Losik, and many others.
Nobel Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski is not receiving necessary medications. This is psychological torture not only for them but also for their families.
Belarusian prisons are death traps. Since 2020, five political prisoners have already died in custody, including Ales Pushkin and Vitold Ashurak. We cannot wait for more deaths."
During her speech, the UN press service introduced Tsikhanouskaya as the elected president of Belarus.
The democratic leader proposed a series of steps to address the situation of political prisoners in Belarus.
- Call on the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to raise the issue of political prisoners with Lukashenka.
- Demand that the UN office in Belarus or humanitarian organizations be granted access to political prisoners.
- Explore diplomatic channels for prisoner exchanges, similar to the Krasikov case or the exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine.
- Initiate "Arria-formula meetings" in the UN Security Council on Belarus, addressing security and humanitarian issues.
- Raise the issue of political prisoners in UN debates and resolutions, demanding their release and rehabilitation.
- OSCE and ODIHR should discuss the issue of political prisoners in Warsaw during the Human Dimension Conference in October.
- Support the international platform to hold perpetrators accountable and the International Humanitarian Fund for Repressed Belarusians.
- Make every engagement with the regime contingent on real changes, including the release of political prisoners and the cessation of repression.
- Engage the regime’s partner countries that have influence and can contribute to the release of political prisoners.
In New York, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will participate in a series of panel discussions and hold meetings with foreign politicians.
The full schedule can be found here.
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