Maryia Kalesnikava has been arbitrarily detained for four years for her prominent role in the 2020 election and subsequent peaceful protests in Belarus. She has been held for over 500 days incommunicado. She is denied any external calls, visits, letters, and furthermore, is not allowed to speak with other prisoners. According to confidential sources, Maryia’s health has deteriorated gravely, and she weighs only 45 kilos. Her treatment, including the denial of medical care she requires, amounts to torture or other ill-treatment and puts her life at risk.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: November 1, 2024
take action:
- Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
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contact information:
Lt.-Gen. Ivan Kubrakou
Minister of the Interior
Vul. Haradski Val 4,
Minsk 220030, Belarus
Fax: +375 17 203 99 18
Email: [email protected]
CC: Embassy of Belarus in the United States
Chargé d’Affaires Mr. Pavel Shidlovsky
1619 New Hampshire Avenue, NW,
Washington DC 20009
Email: [email protected]
sample letter:
Dear Minister,
I write to demand public information about prisoner of conscience, Maryia Kalesnikava, who has been denied contact with the outside world for over a year and whose deteriorating health and safety are of grave concern. I am particularly alarmed that she has been kept incommunicado for over 500 days and that her imprisonment conditions amount to torture and other ill-treatment and are putting her life at risk.
Maryia Kalesnikava suffers from an ulcer and other conditions which progress fast in these inhumane conditions and has been denied the medical care she requires. Confidential sources have alerted that she is in extremely poor health and has lost a lot of weight.
Maryia Kalesnikava is a prisoner of conscience that must be immediately and unconditionally released. She has been detained solely in reprisal for her prominent role in challenging the incumbent in the disputed 2020 presidential election and in the subsequent peaceful protests.
I urge you to take immediate action to ensure that Maryia Kalesnikava is immediately and unconditionally released. In the meantime, I urge you to ensure that she is no longer held incommunicado or subjected to any form of torture or other ill-treatment, and that she is granted access to the adequate medical care she requires.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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