[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
SILENCED DISSENT: THE PLIGHT OF POLITICAL
PRISONERS AND SEARCH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JUNE 13, 2024
__________
Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in
Europe
[CSCE118-5]
Available via www.csce.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56-078 WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
U.S. HOUSE U.S SENATE
JOE WILSON, South Carolina Chairman BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland Co-
Chairman
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee Ranking ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
Member Ranking Member
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
EMANUEL CLEAVER II, Missouri JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
MIKE LAWLER, New York TINA SMITH, Minnesota
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
MARC VEASEY, Texas SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Department of State - Erin Barclay
Department of Defense - Celeste Wallander
Department of Commerce - Don Graves
C O N T E N T S
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Page
COMMISSIONERS
Hon. Steve Cohen, Ranking Member, from Tennessee................. 1
Hon. Joe Wilson, Chairman, from South Carolina................... 2
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Hon. Nancy Pelosi, from California............................... 18
WITNESSES
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader of Democratic Belarus........... 4
Þorhildur Sunna Ævarsdottir, General Rapporteur for
Political Prisoners of the Council of Europe................... 6
Annie Wilcox Boyajian, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at
Freedom House.................................................. 8
SILENCED DISSENT: THE PLIGHT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND SEARCH FOR
ACCOUNTABILITY
----------
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN
EUROPE,
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Thursday, June 13, 2024.
The hearing was held from 3:08 a.m. to 4:31 p.m., Room
2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Representative Steve Cohen
[D-TN], Ranking Member, Commission for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, presiding.
Committee Members Present: Representative Joe Wilson [R-
SC], Chairman; Representative Steve Cohen [D-TN], Ranking
Member.
Other Members Present: Representative Nancy Pelosi [D-CA].
Witnesses: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader of Democratic
Belarus; Þorhildur Sunna Ævarsdottir, General
Rapporteur for Political Prisoners of the Council of Europe;
Annie Wilcox Boyajian, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at
Freedom House.
OPENING STATEMENT OF STEVE COHEN, U.S. HOUSE, RANKING MEMBER,
FROM TENNESSEE
Representative Cohen: [In progress]--take what you learn
and spread the word to your friends on social media and your
friends that are wherever.
Mr. Wilson, it is good to have you here with us at this
important hearing. We found out, unfortunately, this morning
that a great friend of the Commission's, Vladimir Kara-Murza,
who is imprisoned in Russia, has been moved out of his prison.
They have not--Russia has not let anybody know--his family or
anybody--where he is being taken to. They just decided, out of
nowhere--that they wanted to take him to one point in Moscow
for a hearing. He objected to that. He did not want to leave
for the hearing. He wanted to do it remotely. Therefore, they
did it remotely. But now they are moving him to parts unknown.
He was in Omsk in Siberia.
Who knows where he will be? We also learned, I guess, that
The New York Times writer is being--going to be tried for
treason--espionage, whatever he is going to be tried for.
Russia's up to their old tricks. Vladimir will be receiving an
award tonight with his wife Evgenia for human rights. He
certainly deserves it. He raises the level of all the people
that have been honored in the past because he is a wonderful
man and his imprisonment is something that is despicable, and
part of what Russia has been doing, this stomping on dissent.
I am the OSCE parliamentary representative--a special
representative on political prisoners. Suggested I take this
position--it was Vladimir who asked me to take it. I was happy
to do it because at that time I knew he was going to be
arrested. He had been twice poisoned, and survived the
poisonings--although the second one, particularly, caused him
quite a few months of treatment and he was on death's doorstep.
But he still went back to Russia because he said, I am a
Russian citizen, and I cannot operate outside of Russia and be
a Russian politician and work for a free and democratic Russia.
He went back and was arrested and sentenced to 25 years.
That is what we have going. Then, of course, Belarus, we
welcome my friend Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Thank you. When he
gets it right and I get it wrong, I am in real trouble. But
thank you. You are a hero too. I admire you, and over the
years, I know you are recognized. What is happened with
Belarus--I have met Lukashenko. He is the--central casting
could not have a better person for being an autocrat, and bully
than Lukashenko. He plays the role well, and he likes it. Well,
he is a bad guy.
We are happy that you are here with us and can tell us more
about what is going on in Belarus and all the people that have
been imprisoned there. We think it is close to 1,600 political
prisoners, including your husband. The times I visited Belarus,
there were two occasions, when the NGOs always told us about
how difficult it was to operate as an NGO there, and the horror
stories. Therefore, it played out well. Therefore--quote/
unquote. This particular--we at the OSCE and the Helsinki
Commission have a strong belief in people's having the right to
speak up, democratic rule, and transparency. That is something
these autocrats do not believe in. So, that is a problem.
I look forward to hearing from our three witnesses. Joe, do
you have a statement?
Chairman Wilson: Yes, I do.
Representative Cohen: Please.
OPENING STATEMENT OF JOE WILSON, CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE, FROM
SOUTH CAROLINA
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, acting chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen and friends of freedom and democracy, I am
so grateful to be here. Today, we will address a grave and
pressing issue that strikes at the heart of our democratic
values and the principles of human rights, the plight of human-
political prisoners worldwide. I am actually pleasantly
surprised to be here with three people, worldwide recognized as
heroines of freedom and democracy. I cannot believe my staff
did not tell me that I was going to have three superstars here
today. Therefore, God bless each of you for what you do on
behalf of political prisoners.
Political prisoners are individuals detained for their
beliefs, expressions, and activism. They are men and women who
have dared to challenge oppressive regimes, advocate for
freedom, and demand justice. Their courage is met not with
dialogue, but with imprisonment, torture, and often death. The
world is in a global conflict of dictators with the rule of gun
invading democracies with the rule of law. As Americans, we
have a moral obligation to stand up for those who cannot stand
up for themselves. Our nation's history is rooted in the fight
against tyranny and the unwavering belief in liberty and
justice for all.
As I mentioned to you, I have got my symbol here of
Normandy. I was there last week. How incredible it was, the
bravery of American troops landing at Omaha Beach--9,930 killed
and wounded. The unique nature of the United States to conquer
France and Europe, but we did not stay. We only asked for space
to bury our dead. I was there at the Normandy cemetery, and so
America continues to be rooted in a fight against tyranny and
unwavering belief in liberty and justice for all. We cannot
turn a blind eye to the suffering of political prisoners, nor
can we remain silent in the face of systematic persecution by
dictatorial regimes.
Finally, we must recognize the widespread nature of this
issue. From the camps of Xinjiang and Tibet, where Uyghur
Muslims and Buddhists are detained and subject to inhumane
treatment; to the jails of Belarus, where opposition leaders
are silenced; the oppression is pervasive. In dictatorial
countries like Iran, Venezuela, the Russian Federation, and
many others, political prisoners face brutal conditions,
stripped of their basic human rights. It is imperative that we
hold these governments accountable. Accountability can take
many forms, including sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and
international condemnation.
We must leverage our influence in international bodies to
push for resolutions that condemn and take action against such
practices. Furthermore, we must enact legislation, and it will
be bipartisan. Can you imagine, Democrats, and Republicans
together here? But it will be bipartisan. The legislation
targets individuals and entities responsible for these human
rights abuses, ensuring that they face consequences for their
actions.
Our response cannot be limited to punitive measures. We
must also extend our support to the families of political
prisoners. These families often endure significant emotional
and financial hardships, with in many cases breadwinners
unjustly imprisoned and their sources of livelihood disrupted.
They live in a state of constant fear and uncertainty,
grappling with the absence of their loved ones and the threat
of retaliation. We must provide these families with tangible
support. This can include humanitarian aid, legal assistance,
and advocacy to amplify their voices on the international
stage--as we have done against the dictatorship of Assad in
Syria. By partnering with nongovernmental organizations and
human rights groups, we can ensure that families of political
prisoners receive the resources and support they desperately
and deservedly need.
The plight of political prisoners is not merely a policy
issue. It is a human issue. It is about standing up for the
inherent dignity and rights of every individual. As a nation
that cherishes freedom and justice, we must lead by example and
take decisive action. Let Americans work together, Democrats
and Republicans, to hold oppressive regimes accountable,
support the families of those unjustly imprisoned, and reaffirm
our commitment to the principles that defined us as an America
that stands for freedom and democracy. I yield back.
Representative Cohen: Thank you, Mr. Wilson. We will start
our witnesses.
Chairman Wilson: Mr. Chair, I am in the Education,
Workforce, and we are voting now. Therefore, I know I am
leaving it in terrific hands. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: Thank you. Our first witness will be
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya--I have never been good with that, and I
apologize--national leader of Belarus. You won the presidential
election on August 9, 2020, against the long-lasting dictator,
Lukashenko. Her story began when she entered the race after her
husband announced he wanted to run and voiced presidential
aspirations, and I think that resulted in him being
incarcerated, is that right? Yes. Then you announced that you
were going to run. Mr. Lukashenko said, no, you are a
housewife. A woman cannot be president. Well, you have united
people and successfully led a democratic coalition from
Lithuania, is that correct? Yes. Following the forced exile,
where a lot of people from Belarus have gone.
She has become a symbol of peaceful struggle for democracy
and has inspired unprecedented peaceful protests in Belarus--
some numbering millions of hundreds of thousands. Dozens of
distinctions, the Sakharov Prize, awarded by the European
Parliament, the 2022 International Four Freedoms Award, and the
Charlemagne Prize. I can say, we have been together many times,
she has been greeted with deserved adulation for your heroism
and your courage.
You are recognized.
TESTIMONY OF SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, LEADER OF DEMOCRATIC
BELARUS
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Thank you, Co-chair Cohen, the members
of the Commission, and the witnesses. Many of you know me as
the winner of the presidential elections, but primarily I am
the wife of the political prisoner. Today I speak on behalf of
millions of Belarusians held hostages by Lukashenko's
illegitimate regime. The regime is still taking revenge on our
people for our peaceful uprising in 2020 and for our desire to
live in democracy and freedom. Since then, our country,
Belarus, increasingly resembles a huge prison, whilst the
prisons have become torture chambers. Human rights defenders
know the names of at least 1,500 political prisoners. In the
U.S., that would be the equivalent of 45,000.
Every single day, 15 to 20 people are being detained on
trumped-up charges. Liking a post on Instagram, wearing socks
of the wrong color, singing a Ukrainian song, or even speaking
the Belarusian language--all of these can land you in jail.
Their only goal is to terrify people and suppress our will for
resistance. Many are imprisoned not for what they did, but for
what they might do. George Orwell found the perfect term for
that--thought crime. Many arrests are based on denouncements,
like in Stalin's time. Recently, Belarusian cyber partisans
hacked the [KGB] Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti database
and leaked 9,000 emails sent by KGB informants.
It is horrible to see such penetration by state police in
all spheres of life. When you are in the hands of the KGB, your
chance of getting released is close to zero. They would record
a confessional video where you plead guilty to crimes you have
never committed. The KGB put these videos on YouTube as
advertisements to seed fear and feelings of hopelessness. The
regime is trying either to break you or force you to
collaborate. Remember Raman Pratasevich, a journalist kidnapped
through a commercial plane forced to land in Minsk? He started
to collaborate with the regime, appeared on TV, praised the
dictator, and denounced his friends.
People behind bars are totally isolated. Maybe once a day,
they can see the sky during a short walk in the prison yard.
They are deprived of medical, legal aid, or communication with
the world. It looks--it took months for some to know that the
war in Ukraine had ever begun. What this evil system is doing
to our loved ones has a name. It is called torture. There is
another form of torture for them and their families,
incommunicado. It is when political prisoners do not receive a
single word from their relatives. Most mothers cannot live a
day without calling and checking how their child is, but
parents of political prisoners do not have this luxury.
For more than a year now I have not heard anything from my
husband, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison. I do not even
know if he is alive. Our son and daughter continue writing him
letters and never, never get any answers. The only information
we have received is anonymous messages with hopefully fake news
about his death. This is happening to many times. Radio Free
Europe journalist Ihar Losik, lawyer Maksim Znak, my friend
Maria Kolesnikova, former presidential hopeful Viktor Babariko,
politician Mikalai Statkevich, and historian Uladzimir Hundar.
They were sentenced to 15, 10, 11, 14, and 20 years in prison.
At least another 250 political prisoners are in mortal
danger. Six have already died. We compiled a humanitarian list.
This list includes 16 people with disabilities, 91 with serious
illnesses, 65 senior citizens, 10 people with mental disorders,
and 23 minors. At least five families have both parents in
prison. All of them must be released immediately. More than
1,600 people have already served their time. They need
rehabilitation and relocation to safe countries. Last month,
together with Norway, we launched the humanitarian fund to
support Belarus and political prisoners. I hope the United
States will contribute as well.
The regime also hunts those who managed to flee Belarus.
Today, a Serbian court decided to extradite an activist, Andrey
Gnyot, at the request of the Belarus regime sent through
Interpol. We must not allow this to happen. I hope the United
States will take a strong stance to protect not only Andrey but
all Belarusians who found a safe haven in the United States and
all over the world.
Political prisoners are not only a political issue but also
humanitarian. I ask the U.S. to support our call to the U.N.
general secretary to provide access to those behind bars, give
them medical and legal assistance, put pressure on the regime
to release political prisoners and increase assistance to
Belarusian civil society, human rights defenders, and families
of the repressed. You must bring perpetrators to justice--
judges, prosecutors, administrators of colonies, propagandists,
Lukashenko, and all his cronies. They must know that every
crime will be documented and prosecuted.
Adopt the Belarus Democracy Act, which has been introduced
to the House and Senate. Appoint a special envoy to Belarus. We
need the voice of the U.S. government to keep Belarus high on
the agenda. Belarusians need U.S. leadership to help release
political prisoners. In the end, I want to thank the U.S.,
Congress, State Department, and the White House for your
consistent solidarity and assistance. In the last few days, I
have had many powerful meetings here in D.C., and I know that
you are on our side. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: You are very welcome. I appreciate
your testimony. We are on your side, and we understand the
difficulties in Belarus. I mean, after the election he just
swarmed up everybody, and he is a bad guy.
Our next witness is the Special Rapporteur Sunna--do you
want to give me your last name?
Ms. Ævarsdottir: Ævarsdottir.
Representative Cohen: You got that? [Laughter.] She has
served as the general rapporteur for political prisoners for
the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly since May of
2023, a member of the Icelandic delegation to PACE since 2017,
and additionally third vice chairperson of the Committee on
Legal Affairs and Human Rights and is a member of the Committee
on Rules and Procedures and Institutional Affairs. Icelandic
member of parliament since 2016, where she has been the second
deputy chair of the Economic Affairs and Trade Committee since
2021, and deputy chair of the Delegation of the Council of
European Parliamentary Assemblies since 2021. I sat on the
Parliamentary Committee on Judicial Affairs, Education,
Constitution, Supervision, Industrial Affairs, and will bring
us testimony. Thank you.
TESTIMONY OF ÞORHILDUR SUNNA ÆVARSDOTTIR, GENERAL
RAPPORTEUR FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Ms. Ævarsdottir: Thank you very much. Co-chair Cohen.
[Comes on mic.] Ah, I see. Thank you very much, Co-chair Cohen.
The Distinguished Commission, ladies and gentlemen,
imprisoning people for expressing their opinions is a lethal
weapon against democracy. Criminalizing dissent is one of the
most effective measures to drain the life out of any democratic
society. Creating an atmosphere of fear, repression, and
persecution of any opposition is a necessary precondition for
totalitarian rule. Moreover, as Mr. Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of
more than a thousand of Russia's political prisoners, has often
stated, internal suppression always leads to external
aggression. It is, therefore, an honor to address the Helsinki
Commission today as a general rapporteur of political prisoners
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a body
representing 700 million Europeans and 46 member states.
I strongly believe that together we can significantly
strengthen our efforts to free political prisoners and call the
governments responsible for their imprisonment to account. It
is a privilege to speak alongside Madam Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya, the legitimate leader of Belarus. Her husband,
held in incommunicado detention since March last year, is sadly
among the more than 1,500 political prisoners of the Lukashenko
regime in Belarus.
My mandate compels me to intervene in matters relating to
alleged cases of politically motivated arrests and criminal
prosecutions in Europe, and in other countries having an
observer or cooperative status with the Council of Europe.
During my mandate, I have intervened in numerous cases
originating from Russia, Belarus, Turkiye, and Azerbaijan, to
name the countries with the largest numbers of political
prisoners in Europe. I have written reports and resolutions
regarding political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Russia, Belarus,
and occupied Crimea. Most recently, I have started work on a
report focusing on whether the detention and prosecution of
Julian Assange can be considered politically motivated.
Moving on to the Assembly's definition of a political
prisoner, established by Assembly Resolution 1900, in 2012.
Broadly speaking, the Assembly considers a person to be a
political prisoner if he or she is deprived of liberty in
circumstances suggesting a violation of fundamental freedoms,
such as freedom of expression, for purely political reasons, or
in a clearly unfair or disproportionate manner in connection
with political motives. As rapporteur, I have met with many
current and previous political prisoners and countless members
of their families. Although all of their cases are different
from one another, what unites them is their need for our
support and for their voices to be heard across the world,
because the greatest fear of any political prisoner is to be
forgotten--to quote, again, my good friend Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Turning therefore to what can be done. In our resolution on
the subject of--in our resolutions on the subject of political
prisoners, we have called for our member and observer states to
grant visas or asylum requests from former political prisoners
and their family members, as well as to others exposed to the
risk of political imprisonment, and to refuse politically
motivated extradition requests. We have advocated for prisoner
swaps. In my view, perhaps the strongest weapon or tool to work
against political imprisonment is targeted sanctions.
In this regard, the leading role of the U.S. Congress
should be commended. In particular, Senator Benjamin Cardin,
Senator Roger Wicker, and the late Senator John McCain, who
cosponsored the Magnitsky Act--a legislative initiative that
has gone global, imposing targeted sanctions on human rights
violators enjoying impunity in their own countries. Our co-
chair, Mr. Cohen, for inviting us here to discuss this
important topic and for his important work at the OECD on the
subject.
The effectiveness of Magnitsky sanctions is undisputed. In
fact, Vladimir Kara-Murza's 25-year sentence is seen as revenge
not only for his openly expressed antiwar stance, but also for
his campaign alongside Bill Browder calling for Magnitsky laws
all over the world. Indeed, just calling for sanctions against
oppressive regimes can help free political prisoners, as
demonstrated by the recent example of Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu's
release from an Azerbaijani prison following the legislative
initiative of Congressman Chris Smith.
I believe that the increased cooperation between the
Council of Europe and the United States can only strengthen our
fight for the freedom of political prisoners. Let me name just
one idea, in closing, that I think could be a helpful note. I
believe that the joint establishment of the International Day
of Political Prisoners, possibly on October 30, could be a good
opportunity to call for the release of political prisoners and
to hold regular exchanges on the subject. Thank you very much
for your attention. I look forward to our exchange of views.
Thank you.
Representative Cohen: Thank you for your testimony and,
more importantly, your work.
Our next witness will be Ms. Annie Boyajian.
TESTIMONY OF ANNIE WILCOX BOYAJIAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY
AND ADVOCACY AT FREEDOM HOUSE
Ms. Boyajian: We brought you the easy names today.
Representative Cohen: Yes, right. I know, yes. [Laughter.]
Vice president of policy and advocacy at Freedom House, and
serves as the Mark Palmer distinguished fellow. She oversees
Freedom House's policy and advocacy work, leading engagement
with the U.S. government and collaboration with American human
rights groups. Contributes to Freedom House publications, et
cetera, et cetera. Welcome.
Ms. Boyajian: Ranking member, Cohen, members of the
Commission, it is an honor to testify today.
According to Freedom House data, political rights and civil
liberties have declined worldwide for 18 consecutive years.
Across the Eurasia region, we have documented 20 consecutive
years of decline, driven by worsening repression in autocracies
and backsliding in democracies. As repression intensifies,
regimes often turn to political imprisonment as a tool of
control. In the OSCE region, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and
Uzbekistan all utilize political imprisonment. Russia, of
course, uses political imprisonment not just to repress people
in Russia, but also thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including
children.
The U.S. Department of State estimates that there are more
than 1 million political prisoners worldwide. Political
prisoners are routinely subjected to deplorable conditions,
including torture and denial of access to lawyers, family, and
medical care. Imprisonment also carries heavy psychological and
financial burdens extended to prisoners' families. Sadly, there
are too many political prisoners to name them all, but my
written testimony provides details about several cases and the
conditions that prisoners face.
There are several areas of concern related to political
imprisonment that I would like to highlight today. First,
incommunicado detention, which you have heard Ms.
Tsikhanouskaya mention in relation to her own husband, and then
we have also just heard about Mr. Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is
also being held incommunicado. Second, the targeting of lawyers
who represent political prisoners is also widespread across the
region. This matters because, as Vadim Prokhorov, a Russian
human rights lawyer who represents Mr. Kara-Murza, wrote:
Lawyers of political prisoners help them maintain connections
with the outside world. It gives those defendants a chance to
have their cases heard in court and brought to public
attention. Without lawyers, political prisoners would suffer
even more, and they would do so in obscurity.
Third, for every political prisoner behind bars many more
face subtler constraints, as our research has documented.
Tactics include denying someone the ability to travel, physical
monitoring, blacklisting from employment or government
services, and seizure of assets. These measures can be formally
or informally applied, with or without notice, and effectively
prevent individuals from participating normally in society--
something that some experts call civil death. Fourth, arresting
those who dissent is not just about instilling fear. It is
about creating perverse incentives to seek concessions from the
democratic community. We see this clearly in Russia, where the
Kremlin has arrested several American nationals. We have family
members of some of those folks in the room today. Autocracies
also routinely resort to what we call a revolving door of
political imprisonment--releasing some, but simultaneously
arresting others.
For political prisoners, international attention can mean
the difference between life and death. We have many
recommendations on the Freedom House website, but I would like
to highlight a few today. First, the government should
establish a dedicated office or team within the Foreign Affairs
Ministry specifically focused on political prisoner and hostage
issues. Appointing dedicated staff to work on this issue, both
publicly and behind the scenes, will streamline existing
efforts to free political prisoners and facilitate knowledge
sharing and coordination with like-minded governments. Second,
government officials should raise political prisoners and their
treatment in all meetings at all levels, and in international
forums. We would like to commend the Helsinki Commission for
your leadership and consistency on this issue. Thank you.
Third, embassy personnel should attend and monitor trials
and hearings for those facing politically motivated charges or
already in detention and should visit detention facilities to
assess needs. Fourth, governments should support the relocation
of human rights defenders at serious risk of political
imprisonment or civil death. In the United States, the Human
Rights Defenders Protection Act would create a special non-
immigrant visa to enable human rights defenders under threat to
temporarily relocate to the U.S., where they could continue
their work until it is safe to return home.
Fifth, targeted sanctions against officials involved in
political imprisonment should be more vigorously deployed as
part of a comprehensive approach to addressing the use of
political imprisonment. Global Magnitsky, which we heard
mentioned, and Section 7031[c] sanctions programs both already
cover enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, but it
can be challenging to clearly determine whether or not
detention is arbitrary. To make things clearer, Congress should
urge the White House to issue a proclamation that clearly
states that arbitrary detention is considered a serious human
rights abuse and gross violation of human rights for the
purposes of Global Magnitsky and Section 7031[c]. This was done
for other issues and has proven helpful. Finally, donors should
continue to provide financial assistance to cover the legal
expenses incurred by political prisoners and their families.
Political prisoners are often jailed because they represent
a direct threat to the regimes by working toward a future of
freedom and hope. Support for political prisoners today is a
direct investment in the democratic future of their countries
tomorrow. Until that day comes, we are honored to stand with
all of you in this struggle. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: Thank you for your testimony. Let me
start the questioning. I may finish the questioning too unless
my compadres show up. In Belarus, has there been any change in
the level of imprisonment of political prisoners since the
2020-21 elections? They arrested so many people then, but since
then has there been any change in the methodology of Lukashenko
in arresting Belarusian citizens who object to his rule and the
fraudulent election? Are people just--been less opposing in
presenting themselves as opposition?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Therefore, first of all, I had to say
that Belarusian people live in the country as in Stalin's time,
in full tyranny and repression. Of course, the aim of
Lukashenko was to suppress people and show political prisoners
and the confessional video constantly, you know, putting on
propagandistic TV, you know, all those messages about that
everybody who is opposing regime or supporting Ukrainians in
their war will be detained, of course, it frightens people.
Honestly speaking, since 2020, repressions, and detentions have
not stopped for a day. Every day in Belarus 15-20 people are
being detained. Just in May only, 145 people were detained, and
there are 31 women among them.
Representative Cohen: Were these people that were just
demonstrating somewhere, or were they just chosen by the
authorities?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: No. It is revenge for the 2020
uprising. But also, its revenge for the uprising in February
2022, when there were massive demonstrations against the war.
Now you can be detained for anything. You do not have to be on
the streets, you know, or opposing the regime. You can, I do
not know, donate Ukrainian Army five euros. You will be
detained for five years for this. You can speak the Belarusian
language. You can buy Belarusian books. You can, I do not know,
show solidarity and help families of political prisoners who
are in dire also situations. Your solidarity is a crime at the
moment.
Therefore, you--also a new wave of, like, prosecution of
people is when people are active in exile. You know, at least
half a million Belarusians left Belarus since 2020. If they are
demonstrating in exile, or if they are politically active, or
if they are supporting political prisoners from exile, their
relatives in Belarus are under attack. Their property is
confiscated, you know, in Belarus. Therefore, it is like if
Lukashenko's regime cannot reach people physically, they reach
their relatives. Thus, and it is constant, Lukashenko's
message. Therefore if you are active politically, if you
support the ideal for sanctions, if you support political
prisons, be ready to lose your property and think about your
relatives. This is a clear message.
Representative Cohen: Have there been any releases of
prisoners in the last five years?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: At the moment, we have at least 1,600
political prisoners--ex-political prisoners who have served
their time. Therefore, no pardons. You know, not pardon enough
of people. Therefore, these people fully, you know, from bell
to bell, sentence served their times, and--
Representative Cohen: They are released after they have
served their time?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Yes. Some are released. Some are not.
We have cases when it is--there is, you know, a time when a
person has to be released, and relatives are waiting for this
time, and already in prison this political prisoner is accused,
you know, one more, you know, accusation. You know, and his
term is continued. It can be endless, you know, endlessly. Like
recently our Belarusian activist Paulina Sharenda-Panasiuk, a
woman, you know, with a husband with two children, we were
waiting for her just like, you know, one month ago. She was not
released, though she--they showed her on the propagandistic
channel. Sometimes it, like, helps people to get released
faster. You know, they used her but did not release them. It
is, like--you know, it is revenge on the strength of this--of
this woman.
Representative Cohen: Revenge is a term we have heard
lately quite a bit from one of the potential candidates for
president. He thinks it is a good thing.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Yes.
Representative Cohen: You mentioned, and I think each of
you mentioned, sanctions as a way to try to force the release
of political prisoners. Can you cite any examples where
sanctions or the increase in sanctions have resulted in the
release of political prisoners?
Ms. Ævarsdottir: I do not have a specific example of
that on the top of my mind. I think it has actually possibly
even led to, for instance, our friend Vladimir Kara-Murza being
faced with such serious charges. What it does, however, is lift
the impunity for these serious human rights violations. It
makes it harder for, for instance, Vladimir Putin and his
cronies to continue disrespecting any and all international
laws dealing with fair trial, fair process and, you know,
democracy and the rule of law, if we are going over there as
well. What it does is make it more difficult for officials to
participate in these things, for them to enjoy their time in
the sun, go to different countries in Europe to buy luxury
goods, and benefit from their often very corrupt--very corrupt
actions that also result in political prisoners, as we saw in
the case of Magnitsky that involved insane amounts of money.
Therefore I phrase it rather delicately.
Therefore, what the importance of targeted sanctions is for
the international community to show that it will cost you. It
will cost your wallet if you are willing to violate people's
fundamental human rights, and your state is not willing to do
anything about it. Therefore, it attacks the impunity aspect of
political imprisonment, which is one of the main facets of what
allows it to continue, is that autocratic governments allow it
to continue. But of course, just like I mentioned in my
address, sometimes just naming the possibility of sanctions is
enough to get a political prisoner released. I mentioned Dr.
Gubad Ibadoghlu, who was released after a member of Congress
here suggested there should be sanctions against Azerbaijan.
I think the sensitivities of governments are also--they
differ. Some feel quite confident that they will not be made to
feel any real consequences. We can point to examples like
Turkiye, which has a significant number of political prisoners.
Some might say they have over 40,000 people imprisoned on
political grounds. But due to their strategic and political
status in the international legal order, they do not really
have to face a lot of consequences for that despite this very
widespread lack of the rule of law and real judicial oversight
to politically motivated prosecutions.
Therefore, we also must ask ourselves, you know, where do
we draw the line in the sand? We should be imposing targeted
sanctions against all states that have systematic problems when
it comes to political persecution. I am naming here
specifically the biggest offenders in Europe, which are
Belarus, Russia, Turkiye, and Azerbaijan. These, I think, are,
you know, hotspots that we really should focus on, because we
will pay the price later if we do not act and if we do not
focus on calling those to account that are responsible for it,
because we will see a further deterioration of the state of
rule of law in these countries. Therefore, I quote Vladimir
again, internal suppression will always lead to external
aggression. Therefore it is important that we hold these
governments to account.
Representative Cohen: I presume the two of you agree that
sanctions are probably our best tool. Is that correct?
Ms. Boyajian: I would certainly say it is a very important
tool. It cannot be the only tool. I think it needs to be part
of a comprehensive strategy. But I would say, in the U.S.
especially, we have a lot more room to try sanctions
specifically against individuals who are engaging in political
imprisonment. Human Rights First has done some excellent
research that showed from the beginning of the implementation
of the Global Magnitsky Act through the end of 2022, arbitrary
detention was mentioned as one of many reasons for the
sanction's designation. But actually, in 2023 sanctions for Mr.
Vladimir Kara-Murza's jailers, three Russians, were sanctioned
by the U.S. That was the first time the U.S. had arbitrary
detention of a single person as the sole reason for the
sanctions. Yet, there is a lot more room for us to try, and we
should.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Now, while I know that, you know,
sanctions are no silver bullet, but sanctions help to weaken
the regime, help to empty their pockets that, you know, they
can give this money to siloviki, you know, to military forces,
just to detain and terrorize people. But sanctions should be,
you know, harmonized.
For example, in the case of Belarus and Russia, you know,
in Belarus more sanctions are imposed on imports, and in Russia
on export. The two dictators using each other, you know,
circumvent sanctions very easily. For us, people of Belarus and
maybe for, you know, opposition from Russia, it seems like one
hand is trying to help political prisoners, you know, trying to
help Ukrainians to win this war, and the other hand is feeding
the regime, continuing trading with them. Therefore
synchronization of sanctions.
We are asking Europe, you know, to watch what the USA is
doing with secondary sanctions that are rather effective. But
of course, sanctions have to be--you know, they have to be not
the only tool. You know, positive messages to Belarusians and
other people who are fighting the dictatorship are also very
important. You know, because when--I always ask allies of
democratic forces of Belarus, isolate Lukashenko regime but do
not isolate people. It is so important to show people that, you
know, the doors of the democratic world are open for you, that
you are welcomed. We are weakening the regime, but
strengthening people, strengthening national identity,
strengthening alternative media. You know, NGOs, and so on, and
so forth. Therefore people need the energy to continue
fighting--fight for political prisoners and fight for the
country.
Representative Cohen: Are there other things you can
recommend to the United States or to the European Council--or
the United Nations, for that matter--that could be done to
bring more pressure and maybe result in some releases?
Ms. Ævarsdottir: I think a lot more can be done when
it comes to the United Nations. For instance, in calling
Belarusian authorities as well as Russian authorities to
account for these imprisonments. I also mentioned in passing
prisoner swaps, which I think are in many cases almost the only
option to secure the release of political prisoners, in
particular, those who we believe are, you know, justified to
fear that their lives are in danger, or they have serious
health concerns. There, the United States is, of course, a very
strong player in this field. The ability to be able to trade
with nations that are willing to exchange people like that.
Yet this, among also what madam Tsikhanouskaya mentioned,
in supporting independent media, supporting NGOs that have
connections to people on the ground. Therefore, you have an NGO
in exile in, let us say, Lithuania, that has connections with
people that are in the opposition on the ground in Belarus, or
in Russia, where civil society has mostly had to go
underground. They continue their activities, but they have to
do it a lot more secretly than before because what we have
seen, of course, especially after the full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, is that these two states have intensified their
draconian legislation, which was--which was already very
severe. But they have added. I have called it the unmasking of
the Russian regime, this new approach that they have towards
political imprisonment.
Whereas before, they would find some fake reason for
persecuting political prisoners--they would accuse them of drug
smuggling or child molestation or all sorts of trumped-up
charges. But they would at least make up a facade to make it
look real. But what they have done now is sort of just drop the
mask and say, it is enough to criticize us and we can put you
in prison. That is what their laws now say, and the same goes
for Belarus. You know, these actions have intensified greatly.
Therefore, I think that justifies escalating things at the
United Nations on thinking about strengthening the sanctions
system, Because, as was mentioned by Madam Tsikhanouskaya, they
are not fully effective and there are many ways of
circumventing it. There are also ways of attacking that, and I
think that we should be focusing on how best to do that.
Representative Cohen: Are there any voices in the
Belarusian Parliament that question Lukashenko and speak up for
the political prisoners? Or is that just a recipe for disaster?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: No. [Laughs.] You know, there is--look,
parliament in Belarus is like the pocket parliament of
Lukashenko. Nobody there is going to ask questions of these
dictators. You know, their task is just to raise hands when it
is necessary for Lukashenko's regime. Therefore, in Belarus,
elections have nothing in common with elections. Parliament has
nothing in common with parliament in the democratic sense of
this word. Therefore, we cannot rely on institutions inside
Belarus because Lukashenko built such a system that is obeying,
you know, personally to him. It is not serving to people of
Belarus. Yet, that is why it is--we rely a lot on the
democratic world, on your institutions.
You know, regarding what else can be done, I think that all
the accountability mechanisms have to be--has to be used more
effectively. Because in the case of Belarus, we have all the
proof of Lukashenko and his cronies' crimes--crimes against
humanity, crimes of aggression, you know, abduction of
Ukrainian children, immigration crisis, and so on, so forth.
But no special investigation has been launched or has been
started against Lukashenko's regime, against all the
perpetrators. We know the proof of these crimes. Why so? That
is the question. You know, why do not you use--I mean, the
democratic world has not used all the tools and instruments you
have. You know, it is--you have international courts, Court of
Justice, Criminal Court. There is such a mechanism as universal
jurisdiction. You know, so use it effectively. Show to people
who are fighting with them--you know, for the release of
political prisoners against dictators, that the democratic
world is working.
Representative Cohen: You feel comfortable and safe and
Lithuania where you are? Is there any Belarusian underground or
officials that have come over there and threatened you, or
anybody else that is taken political refuge there?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Look, all those people who fled
Belarus, they are also targets of the regime, you know. Nobody
can feel safe, not inside the country, not outside. Even if we
in Europe--who live in European countries or, you know, in the
USA--we, like, physically in safe space, but look, our
relatives in Belarus, you cannot feel safe. You cannot--every
day, you know, you feel pain for people in prisons, you know,
for hostages of the regime in Belarus, you know? Therefore, you
do not think about your safety, you know. You think about the
safety of your country and people.
Representative Cohen: Thank you.
Ms. Boyajian: I would love to add that the issue that Ms.
Tsikhanouskaya is talking about, of this targeting of
individuals, even after they have fled their home countries, is
what is known as transnational repression. We have actually
done quite a bit of research on that at Freedom House. Yet, we
have a database that looks at instances of direct, physical
transnational repression. Therefore, the most famous case of
this is Jamal Khashoggi, right? But it is also things like
being followed physically, being beaten up, or being attacked.
We use only open-source information that we can cite. Within
those constraints, which suggest that what we are documenting
is a drop in the bucket, we have still documented between 2014
and the end of 2023 more than 1,000 instances perpetrated by 44
countries in more than 100 other countries.
That is, you know, more than 20 percent of the world's
government. That is a very shocking fact. When you think about
the impact that has on democracies, a lot of times when people
hear about political prisoner issues, they think it is not
worth raising because this is some domestic issue in some far-
flung place. In fact, when repression intensifies enough that
folks have to flee abroad, it becomes a global issue. I would
say one other thing that you asked about, you know, what else
can be done, it is actually a very low-cost action, and that is
simply just raising cases. Sometimes democracies do this very,
very well. Again, we would commend the Helsinki Commission. But
sometimes, quite frankly, we do not.
In the case of Azerbaijan, Leyla and Arif Yunus were
released five-ish years ago, after a very high-level phone call
from officials in the United States. Therefore, to the folks
listening today who are policymakers, please do not
underestimate--[laughs]--your power in raising names. We are in
democracies not great at doing this with countries where we
feel like we have other interests, but especially in those
moments we have such leverage, it would be such a waste not to
raise political prisoner issues.
Representative Cohen: Well, we try to raise it. That is
something we are trying to get at. But you do not get a lot of
responses sometimes. There is not--unfortunately, the public
has not risen up in some ways and tried to express their voices
as well, which we need to have. Now, you mentioned Khashoggi.
You have no question that the Saudis were responsible for that,
do you?
Ms. Boyajian: Well, we do not have access to classified
materials. Of course, the information released in the press
suggests that the CIA found that the Saudis were responsible.
Indeed, the United States did impose sanctions on several
individuals, I think it was 44, who were supposedly involved in
that case. It was not Global Magnitsky sanctions, which allow
you to publicly name the perpetrator. The U.S. actually used a
different mechanism, which was a visa ban. Therefore we do not
know the names of all of those individuals. Then I think there
were a few cases where sanctions did publicly release names.
But that is definitely--the Khashoggi case is definitely the
emblematic case that we talk about when we are trying to
explain to people what transnational oppression is.
Representative Cohen: Does Bill Browder have a second level
that he wants to pursue on sanctions or Magnitsky type?
Ms. Boyajian: Well, there are a number of countries that
now have Magnitsky regimes, but they do not all incorporate
corruption. I know that is something you may be able to speak
to, General Rapporteur. But the U.K., the EU, and several
Baltic nations have regimes. Actually, there has been some
really good effort at coordination. A couple of years ago there
were joint sanctions issued on individuals in China who were
involved in abuses in Xinjiang. But I think there still is
quite a bit of room to grow.
Ms. Ævarsdottir: Yes, many more people can be added
to these Magnitsky lists. For example, in the EU, as far as
last time I checked, they had not included the people
responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky in their own
Magnitsky legislation. Thus there is room for growth in the
utilization of these Magnitsky laws. I think that, as I
referred to in my speech, what shows their efficacy is the
level of vehemency that Mr. Kara-Murza has faced because of his
involvement in the campaign because it really has negatively
affected the close allies of Putin and his regime. This makes
it more difficult for him to operate and maintain control.
I also would like to say that I think that the importance
of visa-granting visas and assisting with travel documents
cannot be understated here when it comes to the support of
political prisoners and their families. A recent example of
Belarus refusing to issue passports to people outside of
Belarus is something that I think we really should be looking
into with all seriousness because if we end up in a situation
where many Belarusians might end up facing deportation because
they do not have travel documents, or what have you, we would
be sending them back to the hands of Lukashenko and basically
letting him play out his plan, which is to isolate Belarusians
outside of Belarus and make it impossible for them to do their
work and live their life normally.
What we should also be looking into is the misuse of
counterterrorism and money laundering measures against human
rights defenders and political prisoners and their families.
Therefore, countries that have a high incidence of political
imprisonment and repression against NGOs and human rights
defenders have a tendency to use the international systems that
we use to flag suspicious activity when it comes to money
laundering and terrorism charges, just as they have the
incidence of requesting extraditions or red notices, as was
made quite famous by Bill Browder's book, to use against
political dissidents and their families.
Therefore, what this does is make it impossible for them to
travel. They will get arrested where they go. They face
possibly being extradited to the country that wants to imprison
them. On top of that, with these antiterrorism and
anticorruption measures, they will have a very difficult time
opening a bank account, receiving money transfers, even using
Western Union, having any means of sustenance really, wherever
it is that they choose to reside outside of their own country.
Therefore, these are all measures that are used to make the
lives of political prisoners and their families, or previous
political prisoners, unbearable. We need to find a way to
strike the right balance between the very legitimate goal of
combating terrorism and combating money laundering--it is very
important that we do that--but we cannot let that impact the
possibility of people fighting for human rights to be able to
live a dignified life in a country of their choosing.
Representative Cohen: Bill Browder is certainly a hero and
a great man of the world, and, again, probably not recognized
as much as he should be. His life is at peril, I think, every
moment of every day, just as Hurkaovski's probably is as well.
He has been an aid or a supporter of Bill's work. He is to be
commended.
Tell me what you--what you hear from your people about what
is happening in Belarus? Is there any kind of group trying to
form opposition to Lukashenko? Is that going on now?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Therefore, first of all, I do not call
our democratic movement an opposition movement, because we,
Belarusian people, are the majority who are opposing, you know,
the regime of Lukashenko. You know, for 30 years Lukashenko
built a system that serves him personally, it is his personal
security apparatus. But it is mostly about people. The majority
of Belarusians are against Lukashenko, against unification with
Russia, against the war, you know, in Ukraine. Therefore, of
course, after our prize in 2020 and after unleashed brutal
terror in Belarus, our movement inside the country went
underground.
However still, you know, people bravely act small acts of
sabotage, you know, inside the country. Like our local
intelligence, they provide us with information, what is going
on, on the ground. They provide assistance to political
prisoners and our brave military volunteers who fight in
Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians. Therefore, those
who fled Belarus can be more active. Therefore, you know, our
task, those who live in exile at the moment and want to return
home, is to keep unity, strengthen our civil resistance. You
know, strengthen our civil society, our media, our human rights
defendant centers, to show European perspectives, for people,
to show an alternative to Russkiy mir and, you know, to
Lukashenko.
However, also provide assistance, to people inside the
country. Therefore, believe me, I am absolutely sure when the
moment comes, there will be a window of opportunity for
Belarusian people, they will be on the streets again. But
people on the streets are only a small part of the uprising and
resistance. You know, hard work is being done now. You know, we
are weakening the regime, strengthening the people. We are
looking for new allies in the world. We are formalizing the
relationship with the democratic world, like we launched a
strategic dialogue with the USA, for example. It is a very
important step for us. We have groups for democratic Belarus in
many, many parliaments.
You know, so we strengthen the agency of democratic forces.
For four years, Lukashenko, despite all the repressions, you
know, and tyranny, he did not make Belarusian people like him
again, and he knows this. He feels very fragile. He feels very
insecure. Now he is--what he is doing now, he is selling our
country piece by piece to Russia. He does not care about our
independence, our sovereignty, our nation. Therefore, he is
ruining our national identity. You see the process of
Russification in Belarus. You know, it means that Russia
interferes in our media, economy, and education. They erase any
connection with Europe in our historic books. You know, like,
Lukashenko with his hands, erasing Belarus from the map of
Belarus.
Therefore, that is why resistance and uprising are not only
on the people on the streets. It is about movement. It is about
unity. It is about solidarity. It is about allies. No one war
and no one fight cannot be won when you are alone. Therefore we
need allies, to stand with us. We are not asking the world to
fight instead of us. Just strengthen us. Be with us on this
difficult path to democracy.
Representative Cohen: I am trying to--I cannot recall
exactly, but was there some attack on an individual in
Lithuania recently, that maybe they thought it came from--was
it from Belarus? You know, does this ring a bell at all? A
public attack, maybe the person had been hit in the head?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Yes, as I said, you know, everybody is
under attack, is the target of the regime, you know, of
Lukashenko. It was--I suppose it was a person from the Navalny
team. But, you know, you cannot give policemen to every person,
who lives in exile. But we constantly produce--like, give
instructions on what to do when you think that you are, like,
followed by somebody, you know, that something's going on
around you. Yet people, of course, have to take care of
themselves. Of course, we rely on the, you know, local security
systems that verify people who enter in--who enter in
Lithuania, Poland, where most of Belarusians are located.
Representative Cohen: I was able to attend a forum at the
Peace Institute recently. There were a great number of groups
that were trying to get more issues, and people in Russia to
get freedom and democracy, and to do what they can to encourage
people. What we heard is there is a lot of resistance in
Russia, that there has been a lot of contributions in rubles as
well as euros to help people that have been injured in Ukraine.
That has been cut off some by the Russians, but there were a
lot of contributions to these groups, which indicates,
obviously, people who are not afraid of Russia and not afraid
of speaking up.
As we speak of people who are not afraid of Russia and not
afraid of speaking up, I would like to recognize and designate
as the honorary member of this Helsinki Commission, the great
emerita speaker of the House of Representatives, and one of the
great leaders--female or male--in legislative affairs all over
the world, Ms. Nancy Pelosi.
STATEMENT OF NANCY PELOSI, U.S. HOUSE, FROM CALIFORNIA
Representative Pelosi: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman,
for your kind words, and for your great leadership on the
ongoing issues of concern to the U.S. Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe. It is a very special day for us to
have Sviatlana come and testify in Congress, along with your
other distinguished guests--thank you, Madam, what do they call
you, Rapporteur? [Laughs.] All of this, and, again, the Freedom
House, such wonderful advocates for freedom.
Mr. Cohen and I just returned from Normandy. We were there
to observe D-Day. We heard beautiful speeches about freedom,
about the alliance that, on that particular day, turned the
tide of the war in Europe, and then persisted until freedom
prevailed and justice was done. At the end of that war, it was
noted, that although Russia was part of the alliance that
fought the Nazis at some point, it was also a country that took
over so much territory after the war. As we know, some years
later, in 1989, the Iron Curtain came down--or went up, or the
Wall came down, whatever. But much of the injustice continues.
Sviatlana to us is just like the Statue of Liberty in life,
just being so brave, so courageous, so--I do not--stoic. I
think about her, I pray for, and I wonder how she is able to
deal with the incarceration of her husband for such a long
period of time, and not knowing, as you have testified, what
the situation is. But to go out there and galvanize, women
especially, in Belarus to elect you president of the country.
Of course, unable to assume the office because of the current
occupant of that position, with the support of President Putin.
Yet please, all of you, know how important your testimony
is here because we want to raise awareness in our country of
the situation in Belarus. We want to raise the support of the
Congress to support the efforts there. We want to shorten the
distance between now and a time when Freedom House--Freedom
House's goals will prevail in Belarus. Therefore, again, it is
an honor--again, just fresh off of meeting the--so many of the
surviving, but lively--[laugh]--veterans who were there, and
the stories they told, and the purpose that they served when
they were kids--they were 17, 18, 19. The baby there was, like,
97. The oldest one I know from Baltimore, where I am from, was
104. He was there.
However, they all took great pride in what they did. But
clearly, the work is not done. I thank you for that. I already
have taken some guidance from Sviatlana for things we can do
here, both from a policy standpoint, from an appropriation
standpoint, and from a communication standpoint. But nothing is
more important than your official on-the-record to the Congress
of the United States of the situation there. I do not know if
you have any other comments that you would like to make, as I
yield back to the distinguished chairman. But, welcome,
Sviatlana. It is an honor to know you, and a privilege to be
close up to see your courage firsthand, and we hope that we can
find justice and freedom soon for your husband, and for the
people of Belarus.
Representative Cohen: We appreciate your coming to the
hearing and expressing your thoughts. Speaker Pelosi has been a
leader through many years for freedom and for the Helsinki
Commission. We appreciate that. If you all have any thing you
would like to ask or say to Speaker Pelosi, this is your
chance.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: No, I just only want to convey words of
gratitude to you, dear Nancy Pelosi, for supporting us,
Belarusians, on our difficult path to democracy. I know how you
are personally, engaged in our course, and how much you are
helping. You know, why I am also optimistic about Belarus that
we have, I am, really blessed to have--we, Belarusians--are
really blessed to have such friends as you. Therefore, thank
you for coming. I really, really appreciate it.
Representative Pelosi: Well, thank you. I mentioned
communication, appropriation, policy, and the rest, as well as
organization, and mobilization. We want to take advantage of
the beautiful diaspora of people from Belarus in our country to
be a resource to us in this fight. Let me, as I say, before we
go forward--because we have been joined by a distinguished
member--say how really impressed I have been for decades by Mr.
Cohen's support for expanding freedom in the world. That is why
he has taken on this responsibility at the USCE [sic; OSCE] for
those purposes. It is a broader agenda, but it all comes down
to freedom. Therefore, thank you for your leadership, Steve.
Representative Cohen: You are welcome. Thank you for your
kind words. Do either of you have something you would like to
address to Ms. Pelosi?
Ms. Ævarsdottir: Yes. Thank you very much, Madam
Pelosi, for addressing us today and for speaking with us about
this important topic. I am invited here as the general
rapporteur on the position of political prisoners in the
Council of Europe. It is an institution, or organization, that
was founded in the wake of the Second World War to prevent it
from happening again. Sadly, when it came to the invasion of
Russia into Ukraine, we failed. But what we have consequently
done is expel Russia from the organization. I think we are the
one and only organization internationally that has actually
taken that step. I am quite proud of it because it does not
belong in our organization when it invades a neighbor and a
fellow member of the Parliamentary Assembly.
What I would really like to convey is that I am very happy
to be here on behalf of my organization, the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. The United States has
observer status to our organizations, and often we hear from
legislative members of your great parliament in our--like, our
deliberative assembly in the Council of Europe. Your active
participation, Mr. Cohen, in the Parliamentary Assembly of the
OSCE has, of course, heightened the visibility of this
situation of political prisoners across the region. I believe
that with increased cooperation between the U.S. Congress and
Europe, as well as between the OSCE and the Council of Europe,
we can combine our forces to highlight these stories and help
secure the release of political prisoners who really do need
the combined efforts of democratic leaders, such as us, to
ensure their freedom. Thank you very much.
Representative Cohen: I will be in Romania. Will you be in
Romania?
Ms. Ævarsdottir: I can try to make my way over there.
Representative Pelosi: [Laughs.]
Representative Cohen: Give them hell.
Ms. Boyajian: I would just add my thanks to the Speaker
Emeritus, who I should note is also a Freedom House Leadership
Award winner, perhaps one of the most important titles. We
really appreciate your leadership on these issues, particularly
those related to human rights in China. I know all three of you
care deeply about this topic. Obviously, you are here today.
Thank you for that. In addition to political prisoners, I would
just ask that you all do what I know you are going to do, and
also focus on folks even after they are released, and the
restrictions they continue to face.
Then I know in the United States we are moving into a tough
budget cycle, and you three know well that democracy assistance
really does pay for itself. Not just in the countries where we
are working to support democracy and rights, but for all of us
since we know, as we have already talked about, the trickle
effects of repression. Therefore, thank you so much for the
work that you three are doing to uphold a robust budget.
Representative Pelosi: Thank you. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: Thank you very much. I would like to
recognize the chair, Mr. Wilson.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, ranking member. You
know, we could tell you that it is bipartisan. You see it right
here, okay? Then I am going to tell you a little-known fact. I
was really grateful that the speaker was now wearing a U.S.-
Ukraine pin. The very first U.S.-Ukraine pin she received was
from me. [Laughter.] Therefore-
Representative Pelosi: Hey, and by the way, I have on my--I
have my Belarus--
Chairman Wilson: Belarus, no, and we recognize--
Representative Pelosi: That I got from Sviatlana yesterday.
Chairman Wilson: See how she is ahead of the curve, having
both pins. [Laughter.] But very seriously, for the State of the
Union address, she did not appear to be properly dressed.
Therefore, I made sure. [Laughter.] Therefore I made sure.
Representative Cohen: She did not appear properly pinned.
Chairman Wilson: Pinned! Pardon me. Pardon me. Hey, see, he
is so smart. But the bottom line, no, hey, it is bipartisan,
our devotion to people of Central and Eastern Europe, and
around the world. It is really bipartisan. Again, we are all so
concerned about each country, but Madam President, and Belarus
itself, how many political prisoners can be identified now?
What is the status of their confinement?
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya: Therefore at the moment we know the
names of at least 1,500 political prisoners. But the real
number is much, much higher because many prisoners who are
detained for political-motivated cases do not want to be
recognized as political prisoners because the attitude toward
them in prisons is much, much worse. They are denied any
medical help. They are denied parcels. They are denied books.
Like, it is real, you know, torture. Very often relatives of
these people do not appeal to human rights defenders to
recognize them as political prisoners.
Political prisoners, you know, are marked with special
yellow marks on their clothes, meaning that nobody among other
prisoners can communicate with them. It is like full isolation,
you know, for people. They are humiliated constantly,
physically and morally. Yet this is what it means, you know, to
be a political prisoner. It means that your relatives, you
know, in freedom also will be attacked by the regime.
Chairman Wilson: Well, I just want to thank you for your
courage. I also, am so grateful to the Republic of Lithuania
for hosting you. How courageous Lithuania is. For the young
people here they would not know, and even the speaker and
Congressman Cohen and I were not around when this occurred. But
in 1940, the Red Army invaded the Baltic Republics. To the
credit of the United States, we never recognized that
Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia was part of the Soviet Union.
Therefore any time they claimed to have 17 republics, we knew
that was not true because we knew three were clearly occupied.
America always recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania.
Keeping that in mind, we get to Russia. For our two other
colleagues, what is the status and how many political prisoners
and we--hey, in the charges today against a Wall Street Journal
reporter. Again, what a reminder of the barbarity of Putin--war
criminal Putin's regime.
Ms. Ævarsdottir: Thank you very much. Perhaps the
most excessive violators of due process and those who conduct
political imprisonments are Azerbaijan, Russia, Belarus, and
Turkiye, those countries that I focus on in Russia--in Europe.
Excuse me. Therefore, in Russia, what we consider to be
political prisoners are estimated at over 1,000 at the moment.
They have significantly increased since the full-scale invasion
of Ukraine, where legislative measures have made it almost
impossible to even hold up a white sign, as became quite
famous, speak your mind about the invasion, or criticize
Russia's involvement with it, or its responsibility for it,
more correctly.
When it comes to Belarus, it has already been covered. We
have a high number of political prisoners and a very repressive
regime that has also very much strengthened its repressive
policies against the population after democratic protests and
democratic movements in the country. When it comes to
Azerbaijan, perhaps this is the most significant example of the
revolving door that my colleague here referred to before.
Azerbaijan has a consistent practice of imprisoning people a
few hundred at a time. At the moment, the current estimate is
around 300 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, a rather small
country.
What they did is pardon a lot of people, especially around
inconvenient occasions. For instance, when somebody starts
talking about imposing sanctions, or something like that, they
will release some people. But then shortly thereafter they will
imprison some other people. Later on, they will pick up the
people that they released. This revolving door of Azerbaijan
has been going on since before its accession to the Council of
Europe. I believe that many of our representatives in the
Council of Europe are now seriously considering whether a
country such as this really belongs in the Council of Europe,
and whether or not it should be expelled.
When it comes to Turkiye, estimations vary. The highest
estimate is around 40,000 people imprisoned on political
charges. Turkiye has a widespread problem with the lack of
independence of the judiciary and what we could call widespread
political persecution, the failed coup attempt being a very
handy excuse for cleaning out any real independent judges,
academicals, people in public service, teachers--anyone really
that might be considered a threat. This has a significant
bearing on their membership status in the Council of Europe as
well. They have repeatedly disregarded judgments of the
European Court of Human Rights, which we hold in the very
highest regard, and that our member states are obliged to
fulfill.
The most prominent cases, of course, are Osman Kavala and
Mr. Demirtas, who both have been recognized by the court for
their detention of being politically motivated. They are also
laureates--Mr. Kavala is a laureate of the Vaclav Havel Human
Rights Prize, which is also a measure that we use to highlight
the plight of political prisoners. Mr. Vladimir Kara-Murza got
the prize in 2022, at my instigation. We have awarded many
political prisoners with this prestigious award. I am happy to
hear that Evgenia and Vladimir will be awarded tonight. I
believe that Sviatlana will be among the prize winners tonight
as well. I think it is also important to reward people for
their brave fight for democracy because we can call political
prisoners heroes for democracy and we need to support them in
their fight to preserve democracy for all of us.
Chairman Wilson: Hear, hear. Your point of view?
Ms. Boyajian: Well, I would say that was a fantastic but
grim tour around the world. In Russia, obviously, it is not
just Evan Gershkovich who is imprisoned, but also Paul Whelan,
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ksenia Karelina, and Alsu Kurmasheva.
These are all folks who are American nationals. I do want to
point out, if I may, that actually, Alsu's husband is with us
today, sitting right behind me. I feel like I should give him a
microphone. You know, the lengths that regime will go to, to
exert pressure and pull political antics is unending.
I would just add, you know, you have heard me mention civil
death briefly, but this is a tactic that all of the governments
that we just talked about use to exert pressure on folks, even
when they are not in prison. Yet, in Turkey, journalist Sofya
Alagas, for example, she has a case that we advocate for. She
has been released but is under house arrest and cannot travel.
Gubad Ibadoghlu, his documents have been seized so he cannot
obtain the medical care that he needs since the hospital cannot
treat him without his documents. Yet, it is not just
imprisonment. It is travel bans. It is revocation of documents
in the country, but also when you travel abroad. They can
revoke your passport.
There is another great hero here from Nicaragua, Mr. Felix
Maradiaga. He has--you know, I should give him the microphone
also even though it is outside OSCE jurisdiction. [Applause.]
Yet, you know, he can talk at great length about his own
experience with revocation of documents, and what a pressure
that was on his family, and when he was in incommunicado
detention also. Therefore these issues are really--again, we
really appreciate you highlighting them, because it makes folks
unable to live a normal life.
Chairman Wilson: Well, as I conclude, I want to thank each
of you. But I appreciate you referencing sanctions. Hey, we are
in the 21st century. We can now identify oligarchs. We can
identify complicit individuals within governments who are
conducting illegal operations. We can also identify the fruits
of their corruption of villas or whatever around the world.
Every effort, I believe, should be bipartisan, to deter corrupt
conduct and use sanctions as a deterrence to promote freedom
and democracy. I yielded back. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: Thank you, Mr. Wilson. We have--I
would like to recognize each of you. Thank you for your heroism
and your courage and for attending today. We voted, I think, at
4:30.
Representative Pelosi: Yes, we have votes. If I just may--
Representative Cohen: Please.
Representative Pelosi: If I may, again, salute you and Mr.
Wilson for his leadership and his attention and knowledge about
all of these issues. As he was speaking and you were
responding, I was remembering something that we, quoting
ourselves, always said. That one of the most excruciating forms
of torture that these oppressors engage in is to tell the
prisoners that nobody even remembers that they are there and
that they might as well just confess--to what? Who knows?
However just to forget about it all and recognize that whatever
they suffered, it was for nothing because nobody knows or cares
anymore.
Of course, that is not true. But we just want to make
sure--and thank you for having this hearing to give visibility
and, as the rapporteur talked about, what the record is. As
Madam Vice President said and Madam President said, about what
is happening at Freedom House and, Madam President, in Belarus,
it is--it is really important for us to keep naming the names,
flying the flag of freedom for them. I myself want to just go
on record as advocating for making Russia--naming them a
terrorist state so that when we do the sanctions, they can have
more theft. That is a different conversation for another day,
but since we mentioned sanctions, I thought I would mention
that.
Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Cohen: You are welcome. Thank you, Madam
Speaker.
Vladimir Kara-Murza started an effort to have Russia--Putin
not recognized as president. That his presidency would be
illegitimate because he had to change the constitution or go
against the constitution to continue in office. The European
Commission has, I think, declared that. We have a bill in
Congress to do the same. It was inspired by Vladimir, and it is
in the Foreign Relations Committee--Foreign Affairs Committee.
Yet, we are going to work on that as well.
Have--we are trying to get Ukraine, what has happened
there, to be declared a genocide, which is what Russia's doing.
Taking all those children. There was a big story, I think, it
was in the Times this week. Did you see the picture? They had
all the pictures of all the children.
Representative Pelosi: Oh, the children. It is so sad.
Representative Cohen: They have taken, and when you take
the children, you are taking away the nation. I mean, it is a
crime against the parent, but it is a crime against the
country. They are trying to Russify them. Therefore, yes, sir.
Chairman Wilson: Mr. Chairman, I would like to point out,
it is--you are ahead of the curve again, in that I am putting
it in the congressional record today in absentia remarks
identifying the legislation that you and I have introduced
about the illegitimacy of the Putin regime. In particular, we
have a very highly respected author, professor, and journalist,
David Satter, who has written a book, "The Less You Know, the
Better You Sleep: Russia's Road to Terror and Dictatorship
Under Vladimir Putin." It documents how Putin came to power
through fabricated attacks across the country. Therefore, this
would be put in the congressional record today. I am really
impressed that the chairman is ahead of the curve again. Thank
you.
Representative Cohen: We are kind of an odd couple. I do
not know who is Felix and who is Oscar, but--[laughter]--
Representative Pelosi: However, all three of us were in
Normandy. I started my remarks by saying you have the Normandy
symbol there.
Chairman Wilson: Again, indicating the alliance we have
with France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Thank you.
Representative Cohen: One thing I saw that was beautiful
yesterday is at the French embassy--the French ambassador's
home they have a statue in front, and it is draped in the--
Chairman Wilson: Statue of Liberty.
Representative Cohen: It is draped in the Ukrainian flag.
It is really beautiful. But what Speaker Pelosi was saying, and
we have repeated what Vladimir said, was that the worst thing
that could happen to a political prisoner is to be forgotten.
That is basically the theme of Elie Wiesel's first great book,
"Night." Memory is so important, and that is one of the reasons
he wrote that, was for people to remember what happened in the
Holocaust and not to let it be forgotten.
With that, I thank everybody. We are going to get ready for
votes. I declare this meeting adjourned. [Sounds gavel.]
[Whereupon, at 4:31 p.m., the hearing ended.]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
statement of bejamin cardin, u.s. senate, from maryland
The world's prisons are overflowing with political prisoners whose
only "crime" is that they dared exercise their human rights or
participated in peaceful activism. The plight of political prisoners
underpins rising authoritarian efforts to silence dissent and suppress
fundamental freedoms around the world.
The U.S. Department of State estimates that there are more than a
million political prisoners around the world. In Russia alone, nearly
20,000 antiwar activists were detained for exercising their freedom of
speech against Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
The Kremlin has criminally charged almost 1,000 of those activists. In
Belarus, over 1,500 activists were imprisoned for speaking out against
a fraudulent election and Russia's war in Ukraine. These unjust
detentions are devastating not just for these individuals, but for
their family, friends, and loved ones-especially when they are held
incommunicado and without access to lawyers, doctors, and the outside
world.
These courageous individuals face trumped-up charges, sham trials,
and mass sentences in the name of "national security." In prison,
especially for women and marginalized groups, they are subjected to
particularly inhumane conditions and countless abuses to further deter
them from speaking out, including enforced disappearances, torture, and
sexual violence. All of this occurs in contravention of international
law and human rights norms. Further, these abuses often violate the
constitutions and national laws of the state in which they occur.
The imprisonment of dissidents on political grounds has been a
longstanding tool of oppression for many governments, particularly in
authoritarian states. As society and technology evolve, these regimes
are also finding new ways to intimidate civil society and voices they
do not control. They silence dissent by limiting access to the free
internet, harassing independent media, and sowing disinformation.
Recognizing the enormous human cost of political imprisonment, this
Commission has long worked to advocate for the release of political
prisoners everywhere. In my official capacity as a Helsinki
Commissioner since 1993 and currently as the Chair of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, I have sought to protect these universal
human rights and integrate them into our foreign policy.
The plight of political prisoners is difficult to share, whether
for former political prisoners or for those whose loved ones have been
unjustly detained. Thank you for your courage in testifying before us
today. I look forward to learning from you about the scope of the
problem and how the United States and other democracies can do better
to support political prisoners across the world in their principled
efforts to advance freedom and democracy.
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implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords.
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Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the
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