While Russian and Belarusian troops carried out exercises near the Ukrainian border and there was speculation about the entry of Belarusian troops into the conflict, members of the diaspora from the three countries met in Barcelona to try to build bridges. They did so accompanied by representatives of the three winning initiatives of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, the Ukrainian Oleksandra Romantsova, from the Center for Civil Liberties; the Russian Alexander Cherkásov, from Memorial, and the Belarusian Natallia Satsunkevich, from the Viasna Human Rights Center. Last Monday, the three of them starred in the first Day of Peace in Parliament, organized by ICIP, Novact and Lafede.cat. Satsunkevich, who has lived in Lithuania since the 2020 pro-democracy protests, pointed to the important role of her fellow citizens abroad and warned of the dangers of allowing democracy to roll back in Europe.
What is the situation of political prisoners in Belarus? How is the founder of your organization, Alés Bialiatski?
The situation in Belarus is only getting worse. On my T-shirt I wear the image of my colleague Uladzimir Labkovich, one of the more than 1,400 Belarusian political prisoners. All these people have been arrested and imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly. Alés Bialiatski, winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, is in a detention center in the center of Minsk. It is an old castle where there is a lot of humidity. The treatment is inhumane, they can only shower once a week, they cannot talk to their relatives, they cannot meet their lawyers confidentially, the cells are overcrowded, there is no proper medical care...
And what is the situation like for those who, like you, had to flee? Her mother was retaliated...
They searched my apartment and my mother was there. They took his computer and cell phone, and did not return it for two years. Government propaganda channels published my personal information, pictures of my sex toys… There is information about criminal charges against me for preparing riots, which is totally untrue. It's not easy, but I feel responsible for my fellow prisoners. We continue with our work, mainly from abroad for security. Last year we received some 10,000 complaints of human rights violations. There are many people who need us, we cannot stop. And my personal situation is very connected, I will only be able to return home when the democratic changes in Belarus are real.
There is speculation that Russia will open a front in the north with the participation of Belarus.
People in Belarus can't express their opinions, so we don't really know who is for the war and who is against it. There are thousands of people repressed for criticizing the regime, for saying publicly that they are against the war... Right now in Belarus there is no possibility of protesting if Lukashenko decides to support Putin more. Belarusian territory is being used by the Russian army, and that is a danger to our independence and democracy.
To what extent does Moscow control the Minsk government?
There are a lot of negotiations between Putin and Lukashenko, who has been to Moscow many times in the last year. But the problem is that those negotiations and all the decisions are made in secret. Before 2020, the authorities were at least trying to appear cooperative with civil society, now it's all over. They have liquidated more than a thousand NGOs in the last two years. If you participate in the activities of an unregistered organization, you can be imprisoned.
Could a Ukrainian victory in the war help change?
It could be an opportunity for change. Although, as we see from recent history, something unexpected could also happen. But the moment the repression in Belarus stops, people will start exercising their rights. That's why it doesn't stop. Belarusian police are currently monitoring social networks for photos of the 2020 protests to identify people with facial recognition techniques and arrest them. They look for those that were active in the past and try to detect new activity.
Are people still being detained for the 2020 protests?
Yes. Every week we receive reports of people detained because someone denounced them or a recognition program detected them.
An atmosphere of fear...
Yes, created by the authorities. And it works, I can understand it.
Do you think that the Western strategy for Ukraine has forgotten Belarus?
It's a war and the world has to help. We call for attention to Belarus because solidarity is never enough. The Nobel committee stressed the importance of civil society and human rights in the three countries now connected by war. I think that for other European countries it is a good example of what happens when your neighbor does not respect democracy. Sooner or later it is going to have an impact in your country. You cannot live in isolation, you have to look around you.
