{"id":92089,"date":"2024-06-22T00:51:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T21:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/92089\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"freedom-house-incommunicado-detention-may-constitute-a-crime-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/92089\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom House: incommunicado detention may constitute a crime against humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Viktar Babaryka, Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski and Maksim Znak (from left to right)\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Tut.by, \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja's office, Viasna)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

June 22, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Incommunicado detention and refusal to disclose a detainee’s whereabouts and condition may constitute an enforced disappearance, which is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Freedom House said<\/a> in a policy brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Belarus, at least eight political prisoners “are currently being held incommunicado for extended periods of time.” Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d, Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski, Ihar \u0141osik, Viktar Babaryka and Maksim Znak “have been held without correspondence with and access to lawyers and family for more than one year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom House said that the international community should support political prisoners subject to enforced disappearance with “public and private pressure on the perpetrator regime.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nonprofit cited the situation of Cichano\u016dski, whose supposed death in custody was reported in 2023. International outcry and pressure forced Belarusian authorities to release a video of him being alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is critical that disappeared political prisoners’ names not leave the public spotlight, despite the individual’s physical isolation,” Freedom House advised democratic governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is commonly said that a political prisoner’s worst fear is to be forgotten. For those detained on politically motivated grounds, international attention can mean the difference between life and death; keeping a spotlight on those behind bars often makes it more difficult for regimes to hide their abuses,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a million political prisoners are being held worldwide, it added, citing the US State Department’s estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As with short-term disappearances, incommunicado detention allows prison authorities to hide evidence of their mistreatment of political prisoners more readily \u2013 a grim reality that leaves many on the outside wondering if their loved ones are still alive,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja endorsed the paper. “We do not need special occasions to tell the stories of the regime’s victims. We must keep reminding the world about their fate every day,” she said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lives of at least 250 Belarusian prisoners are in \u201cmortal danger\u201d and six have already died behind bars, Cichano\u016dskaja told the United States Helsinki Commission last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She asked Washington to support a call to the UN Secretary General to grant access to Belarusian prisons and provide inmates with medical and legal assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also urged the US to seek the release of political prisoners by keeping up pressure on Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and his officials and supporting Belarusian civil society, rights groups and families of reprisal victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, at least 1,424 people are being held behind bars for political reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seventeen more people recognized as political prisoners<\/h3>\n
June 20, Pozirk. The human rights community has recognized 17 more people as political prisoners, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. The status was granted to three men convicted of violent disorder in connection with protest that followed the disputed …<\/div>\n \n