Ales Bialiatski, a renowned human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was imprisoned in Belarus. He has made extensive contributions to promoting human rights in Belarus. We ask for reconsideration of his prison sentence.
https://concernedscientists.org/2023/03/belarus-throws-a-nobel-winner-in-prison/
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2022/bialiatski/facts/
https://rightlivelihood.org/news/ales-bialiatski-held-in-dark-basement-cell-by-belarus-we-warn-un-human-rights-council/
September 7, 2023
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, President
Republic of Belarus
Independence Palace, Parspiekt
Pieramozcau Avenue
Minsk, Republic of Belarus
Fax: +375 17 226 06 10
Dear President Lukashenko,
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues throughout the world.
We are writing to express our concern about the recent imprisonment of 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ales Bialiatski. A doctor of Belarusian literature, Bialiatski was the director of the Literary Museum in Minsk. He also served as a vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights until 2016. He is a supporter of democracy and human rights not just in Belarus, but throughout Eastern Europe.
Ales Bialiatski’s ten-year prison sentence goes against all international norms and reflects very badly on Belarus. As a political prisoner in the N9 colony located in Gorki, Bialiatski is reported to be held in the “special corridor,” which is a dark, semi-basement area of the prison. His ability to correspond with the outside world is prohibitively restricted. Based on previous reports about the prison conditions, it is likely that he has limited or no use of showers and that he receives beatings. It is unlikely that his family can ever visit him.
We strongly request that you consider his immediate release. Doing so would demonstrate a decision on the part of your government to protect human rights, which would positively reflect on Belarus.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
CC:
Valentyn Rybakov
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus
to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus
to the United Nations
136 East 67th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10065
Phone: (212) 535-3420
Fax: (212) 734-4810
Email: belarus@un.int
Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520
Phone: (202) 647-4000
X (Twitter): @ABlinken
Vladimir Makei
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Belarus
vul.Lienina, 19,
Minsk 220030, Republic of Belarus
Email: mail@mfa.gov.by
Ruben Harutunian
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim
U.S. Embassy Minsk
46 Starovilenskaya St.
Minsk 220002, Belarus
Phone: +375 17 210-12-83 / 217-7347 / 217-7348
Fax: +375 17 334 78 53
X (Twitter): @RubenHarutunian