US Department of State urges to release Belarusian political prisoners

The United States again calls on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and respect their political rights.

The news was published by BelaPAN.

The call is contained in a press release of the US Department of State following the talks with the Belarusian MFA delegation in Washington.

“We also called on Belarus to take steps to conduct its upcoming elections in line with the standards of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The United States is committed to supporting Belarusian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence, as well as to helping Belarusians build a strong, prosperous, free, and democratic society,” the press release reads.

On May 14, the delegation of the Belarusian MFA represented by Director General for Multilateral Diplomacy Yury Ambrazevich, Director for the Americas Aleh Krauchanka and Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Belarus to the United States Pavel Shydlouski met in Washington with Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Eric Rubin, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Philip Kaplan, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Jonathan Katz and other State Department officials to discuss issues of human rights.

According to the press service of the Belarusian MFA, the parties discussed the US and Belarus’ results and recommendations the two countries received during the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of their obligations in the UN Human Rights Council, upcoming presidential elections in Belarus, as well as shared OSCE commitments.

“The parties agreed to continue to discuss human rights, which is a part of efforts to expand bilateral relations,” MFA reports.

The press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry didn't mention the calls of the US to release political prisoners.

There are six political prisoners in Belarus: Mikalai Statkevich, Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Yury Rubtsou, Yauhen Vaskovich and Artsiom Prakapenka. The political prisoners are under constant pressure, the authorities worsen confinement conditions for them.