UN committee demands end to Kaleśnikava’s incommunicado detention

July 26, Pozirk. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has called for an end to the incommunicado detention of Maryja Kaleśnikava, politician Viktar Babaryka’s team said on Telegram.
The committee also called on the Belarusian government to immediately give Kaleśnikava access to a defense attorney and let her communicate with her relatives.
The complaint was filed by Lithuanian-based human rights organization Respect-Protect-Fulfill.
The organization said it believed in the power of regular reminders, noting that gender equality could not be achieved through baseless statements alone.
Kaleśnikava, a spokeswoman and campaign manager for Babaryka, a banker who challenged Alaksandar Łukašenka in the presidential election in 2020, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 2021.
After the former banker’s arrest, she joined Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s team and became a member of a campaign team that also included Vieranika Capkała, the wife of presidential hopeful Valeryj Capkała.
In November 2022, Kaleśnikava underwent emergency surgery at a Homiel hospital, where she was taken in serious condition.
She was diagnosed with peritonitis, a complication of a perforated ulcer. Since wardens keep her incommunicado, her condition is unknown.
On April 11, the Palitviazynka human rights project said the politician had serious health issues, including high blood pressure. Authorities are not providing her with adequate medical attention, it said.
In March, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women called on Belarus to urgently protect prisoner Palina Šarenda-Panasiuk.
Viktar Babaryka is serving a 14-year sentence in a medium-security penal colony.
Also read: Freedom House: incommunicado detention may constitute a crime against humanity
- SocietyTrain crew quickly contains blaze at Pahodzina stationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics
- PoliticsBelarus to open consulate general in Tatarstan for six Russian regionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: admin accused of filming Russian military hardwareThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityRussian-born Butraniec appointed as deputy chairman of State Border CommitteeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania, Latvia report a spike in irregular border crossing attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian steelmaker scales back output to maintain profitabilityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsBelarus' FM accuses the West of impeding development of other countriesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on May 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician slams prison sentences against Kalinoŭski fighters as revengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyGovernment allows hunting bears, lynxesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityJournalists expose Belarusian company’s links with Russian defense industryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups declare seven new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed activist Kaleśnikava turns 43The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+