Latushka Urges OSCE Secretary General to Raise Political Prisoners’ Release in Minsk

Pavel Latushka, deputy head of the United Transitional Cabinet (UTC), appealed to OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu ahead of his visit to Minsk and asked him to raise the issue of releasing Belarusian political prisoners.

The OSCE secretary general plans to take part in the Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security, which will be held on November 3-4.

In his letter to Sinirlioğlu, Latushka informed him about the number of political prisoners and drew attention to the scale of political repression in Belarus. He urged the OSCE secretary general to raise the issue of releasing all political prisoners and ending political repression during his visit to Minsk, the UTC reports.

Latushka also drew attention to regional security issues. He stressed that Belarus should become a country that guarantees security and stability in the region, but as long as Lukashenka remains in power, it is impossible to speak of reliable security guarantees.

Latushka recalled that Russia had used Belarusian territory for its aggression against Ukraine, while Lukashenka’s regime continues hybrid aggressive actions against neighbouring countries.

Latushka proposed that the OSCE secretary general call on Belarus’s de facto authorities to begin an inclusive dialogue with civil society.

Latushka also outlined 10 conditions necessary for normalising relations between Lukashenka’s regime and democratic countries:

1. Ending repression and releasing all political prisoners.
2. Ensuring the free return of Belarusian emigrants, activists and politicians, with guarantees of protection from persecution.
3. Decriminalising political and public activity in Belarus, including the activities of political parties and non-governmental organisations.
4. Decriminalising the activities of independent media in Belarus.
5. Changing the politically motivated practices of law enforcement agencies and security services in the persecution of politicians and representatives of civil society.
6. Repealing regulations restricting the rights of Belarusians abroad, including access to passport and notarial services and voting in elections from abroad, as well as ending transnational repression.
7. Holding a roundtable with democratic forces.
8. Ending Belarus’s involvement in the war and support for Russian aggression.
9. Rehabilitating unlawfully convicted and repressed individuals and annulling all politically motivated decisions in criminal and administrative cases.
10. Returning confiscated and seized property.