The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) released a press statement on Wednesday condemning the crackdown on free speech and free trial rights in Belarus in light of the convictions of 20 experts and analysts in absentia.
The 20, sentenced by a Minsk court to over a decade in prison, were punished for “peaceful activities in support of the political opposition,” according to the OSCE. The director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR), Matteo Mecacci, said that “these sentences violate some of Belarus’ most fundamental commitments to respect human rights and the rule of law.” The OSCE has called for the convictions to be immediately overturned and urged Belarusian officials to create space for free speech and expression.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also released a press statement on Wednesday expressing solidarity and support for those fighting for freedom in Belarus on its independence day.
The convictions are yet another incident in a series of events that showcase the lack of judicial independence in Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been in office since 1994. Concerns about the suppression of dissidence have been long-standing, but have intensified since the 2020 presidential election, which Lukashenko officially won. Following the election, many protestors who questioned the veracity of the election results were arrested and tortured in detention. Thousands fled the country out of fear of being prosecuted, including the opposing presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called for an international investigation into human rights violations in Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya, who has been an operating oppositional government out of Lithuania since her exile, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2023. However, Belarus has not been successful in extrading her to date. Tsikhanouskaya has condemned the recent convictions of the 20 individuals, adding that she will “not stop [the] fight for freedom.”
Recently, the UN Human Rights Council called for the release of older political prisoners, as did Tsikhanouskaya.
A recent annual report by Anaïs Marin, the Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Belarus to the UN Human Rights Council, reiterated similar concerns regarding the state of human rights in Belarus. Marin stated that “repression in Belarus has reached such a scale and intensity that it should not be considered a safe country for anyone who ever showed disagreement with the government or its policies. I therefore reiterate my call to refrain from extraditions and expulsions to Belarus.”
