More than 70 people are taking part in #WithoutJustCause – the Congress on political prisoners in Belarus. This is the first major expert-political event after the events of 2020 dedicated to the human rights crisis in Belarus, as well as assistance to those who have gone through repression.
The Congress is being held in the Carolinum, a medieval complex of buildings of Charles University, Radio Liberty reports. The event is attended by members of leading Belarusian human rights organizations and humanitarian initiatives, legal experts, Belarusian and foreign politicians and diplomats, as well as former political prisoners and their family members.
The first part of the Congress was devoted to trends in political repression and new challenges. Katsiaryna Dziakala, a representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, expressed the opinion that a reduction in repression in the country should not be expected.
Maryia Kolesava-Gudzilina, President of the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers, also spoke about the downward trend. She said that more and more often political prisoners can meet their lawyers in prisons. Currently, six lawyers are behind bars for helping political prisoners.
Leanid Sudalenka, a former political prisoner and member of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, spent three years behind bars after 2020. He spoke about the conditions in Belarusian prisons and how the persecution continues even after being released.
The Prague Congress will last three days. According to the initiators, it will become a platform for joint analysis, dialogue and coordination of actions that would make it possible to stop the humanitarian crisis in Belarus. The Congress is being held by the office of the Democratic Forces of Belarus in the Czech Republic with the support of the US Embassy in Prague and under the patronage of the Rector of Charles University.