The EU has declared that six years after Belarus’s "fraudulent" 2020 presidential election, more than 800 political prisoners are still being held arbitrarily in the country, many in isolation and without access to essential health services.
The EU said repression linked to the election had remained “systematic and unabated”, despite the release of some political prisoners over the past year, in a statement of the European External Action Service (EEAS) released on Sunday.
Many detainees are being held in “appalling conditions” and are subject to ill-treatment and torture, with some denied essential medical care, according to the EU.
It called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for political reasons, along with rehabilitation and reintegration for people freed from custody.
The EU also urged Belarus to stop forcibly expelling released prisoners and to end “administrative harassment” used to pressure former detainees to leave the country.
EU support and demands for Belarusian authorities
The EU said it wanted an end to what it described as intimidation and persecution of Belarusian society, including human rights defenders, journalists, independent trade unionists, cultural actors and civil society representatives inside and outside Belarus.
Those responsible for human rights violations and “transnational repression” would be held to account.
The EU said it had mobilised €200 million since 2020 to support Belarusian civil society and democratic forces, with funding that it said had directly benefited thousands of Belarusian students, researchers, artists and professionals, and helped sustain independent media and human rights defenders.
In its latest statement, the EEAS repeated its call on the Belarusian authorities to start what it called a “genuine and inclusive national dialogue”.
It also called on Belarus to end its support for Russia’s war against Ukraine and to cease involvement in “hybrid attacks” at the EU’s external borders — including the “instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes.”
