More than two dozen Nobel Prize laureates have signed a letter calling for the release of hundreds of political prisoners in Belarus, including the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, veteran human rights defender Ales Byalyatski.
The letter, signed by 27 former laureates including Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, who won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015, and independent Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, said more than 50,000 Belarusians have been subjected to “political repression” since authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed victory in a presidential vote in 2020 that the West and opposition politicians said was rigged.
It added that hundreds of thousands of citizens have been forced to leave the country and thousands have been tortured.
“Among them are hundreds of journalists, professors, educators, doctors, musicians, workers, and students, public figures and human rights defenders, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales [Byalyatski],” the letter, published on March 20, said.
“In recent decades, Europe has not seen a humanitarian catastrophe related to political repression on such a per capita scale as in Belarus,” the letter continues, adding that all EU countries, especially neighboring Poland, must “take immediate measures to stop the brutal repression in Belarus and pressure for the release of all political prisoners.”
Lukashenka, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994, has refused to negotiate with the opposition and most of its leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
As of March 21, 1,411 imprisoned persons in Belarus have been recognized as political prisoners by human rights organizations, but the real number of Belarusian men and women held in custody on politically motivated charges is believed to be much higher.
The West has refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and in response has imposed several waves of sanctions against the government and other officials accused of aiding and benefiting from the crackdown.
Still, the Nobel winners called on “politicians, opinion leaders, and all people of goodwill to support our civil campaign for the release of political prisoners in Belarus.”
“The commercial interests that European countries have cannot outweigh the issues of their national security and their duty to save innocent people being victimized in Belarus, and the protection of the rights of not only Belarusians, but also national minorities who are subjected to severe discrimination,” the letter said.
“The lives of thousands of innocent people depend on your position and, more importantly, your action,” it added.