UN experts urge Belarus’ authorities to immediately release all political prisoners

May 31, BPN. Belarusian authorities should immediately release “all detainees held on political grounds and protect their rights,” says a joint statement by the UN experts released on May 30.

The signatories include Anaïs Marin, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus as well as Irene Khan, rapporteur on the protection of the right to freedom of opinion, and Alice Jill Edwards, rapporteur on torture.

The experts noted reports of “the systematic discriminatory placement of persons detained on politically motivated grounds in even harsher conditions than the general prison population.”

“Substandard conditions” at prisons affect the physical and mental health of inmates who are often denied timely medical assistance and treatment, adequate legal representation, and contact with their families, the statement said.

“Incommunicado detention – with a risk of enforced disappearance – is indicative of a strategy to punish political opponents and hide evidence of their ill-treatment and torture by law enforcement and prison authorities,” it said.

“The international community must demand that Belarus comply with its international human rights obligations to ensure truth, justice and reparation for victims of human rights violations,” the experts stressed urging Belarusian authorities to stop “the unprecedented level of repression.”

As of May 31, human rights defenders identified at least 1,496 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.