P10_TA(2024)0009 – The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus – European Parliament resolution of 19 September 2024 on the severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus (2024/2804(RSP))
Date: 2024-09-19
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Belarus, EU restrictive measure, authoritarian regime, electoral fraud, government violence, persecution, political prisoner, presidential election, repression








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Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/7212


10.12.2024






P10_TA(2024)0009

The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus


European Parliament resolution of 19 September 2024 on the severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus (2024/2804(RSP))

(C/2024/7212)



The European Parliament,







—


having regard to its numerous previous resolutions on Belarus since August 2020,










—


having regard to Rule 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas since the fraudulent presidential election of 9 August 2020, the Lukashenka regime has been systematically repressing political activists, civil society, media, trade unions and any dissidents and their defenders, and has arbitrarily detained tens of thousands of people;










B.


whereas Lukashenka has announced his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election for a seventh term;










C.


whereas many of the 1 350 political prisoners in Belarus are subjected to life-threatening conditions and several have died in prison;











1.


Demands that the Belarusian authorities immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and arbitrarily detained persons;










2.


Expresses utmost concern about the situation of many political prisoners, including Maria Kalesnikava, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Mikalai Statkevich, Ales Bialiatski, Maksim Znak, Viktar Babaryka, Ihar Losik, Palina Szarenda-Panasiuk, Pavel Seviarynets, Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Mikita Zalatarou and Yana Pinchuk, many of whom have been held incommunicado for months or years, face severe health problems, like Maria Kalesnikava and Andrzej Poczobut, and are subjected to isolation, ill treatment and torture;










3.


Regrets that Belarusian political prisoners could not benefit from the recent efforts to free political prisoners and Western citizens in Russia and Belarus; calls for intensified efforts to free them;










4.


Urges the Belarusian authorities to respect the human rights of detainees, supply information about their situation, provide necessary medical treatment and allow access for lawyers, family members and the International Committee of the Red Cross;










5.


Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to support the political prisoners and their families by requesting, at every opportunity, their immediate release, summoning the regime’s ambassadors to request proof of their condition and location, simplifying the procedures for obtaining visas and provisional identification documents for those fleeing Belarus, and providing rehabilitation, practical and financial support;










6.


Calls for the EU and its Member States to broaden and strengthen sanctions against the individuals and entities responsible for the repression in Belarus;










7.


Expresses concern about persecution in exile, e.g. the abuse of Interpol arrest warrants to achieve extradition of political opponents from non-EU countries; calls on Serbia to refrain from extraditing Belarusian journalist Andrei Hnyot and for the EU and Member States to monitor his case; expresses concern about the 300 000 Belarusians who have been forced to leave Belarus since 2020 and face political persecution abroad;










8.


Calls for the EU and its Member States to work towards holding the Lukashenka regime accountable for its crimes and to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction;










9.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the Republic of Serbia, the European Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and the de facto authorities of the Republic of Belarus.






ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/7212/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)