ARTICLE 19 and Human Constanta thank the Special Rapporteur for his strong report. As it rightly highlights, Belarus continues to live under a “shadow of repression”, with a systemic onslaught on the right to freedom of expression online and offline.
We welcome the recent release of 14 political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who spent more than 700 days incommunicado. Over a thousand people remain behind bars for exercising their rights. The testimonies and physical condition of those recently freed starkly reveal the inhumane and degrading treatment endured in detention.
Belarusian authorities continue to exploit vaguely worded “anti-extremism” laws to quash dissent. Since 2020, the Prosecutor General has reported over 22,500 so-called “extremist” offences.
Lists branding activists as “extremists” and “terrorists” are weaponized. In 2023, human rights defender and now political prisoner Nasta Lojka received a seven-year sentence for documenting rights violations and recognized as “terrorist” – a designation cutting her off from financial support, equated to “terrorism financing”.
We urge the Human Rights Council to call upon the Belarusian authorities to uphold their obligations, starting with the immediate and unconditional release of Nasta Lojka and all other political prisoners. We further call for unrestricted access to detention facilities, independent monitoring, and regular reporting on the wellbeing of all those still arbitrarily detained.