Women political detainees in Belarus undergo mistreatment, disrespect, and warnings of revoked custodial rights
In the Eastern European nation of Belarus, over 1,200 individuals are currently held as political prisoners, according to recent reports. This mass incarceration follows a harsh crackdown on dissent that began after the disputed 2020 elections, resulting in hundreds of thousands of arrests, thousands of beatings by police, and the closure of hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations.
One of these political prisoners is Antanina Kanavalava, a former confidant of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who served 4 years in a penal colony. Kanavalava was initially arrested and faced the loss of parental rights to her two young children. However, her children were taken to Warsaw by their grandmother and were reunited with her after her pardon and early release in January.
Kanavalava finds it hard to explain the high price Belarusians pay for their desire to be free to her children. "Prison is not over yet" for her, she admits, due to her husband's remaining sentence.
Women in Belarusian prisons, including Kanavalava, are often subjected to harsh conditions such as unheated cells, isolation, and poor nutrition and healthcare. Human rights officials report that women prisoners are particularly vulnerable to abuse, humiliation, and medical problems being ignored.
In Penal Colony No. 24, conditions are among the harshest. Prisoners work long hours, are constantly surveilled, and lack basic needs. Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, another former political prisoner, spent over 4 years in detention centers and penal colonies, serving 270 days in solitary confinement, and used warm tea to wash herself due to unsanitary conditions.
Natallia Dulina, a 60-year-old Italian language teacher at Minsk State Linguistic University, was arrested in 2022, convicted of extremism, and sentenced to 3.5 years. She was pardoned and released in June 2023. During her imprisonment, Dulina was subjected to a "shame cage" punishment in Penal Colony No. 4 for disciplinary violations. She described the experience as inhuman and degrading.
Viktoryia Kulsha, another political prisoner, has gone on at least six hunger strikes protesting abuses in Penal Colony No. 24 in Zarechcha. The United Nations experts have expressed concern for Kulsha's life-threatening condition due to her hunger strikes and alleged abuses.
Opposition figures are either imprisoned or have fled abroad, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and Maria Kolesnikova. Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for over three decades, silencing dissent and extending his rule through elections the West calls neither free nor fair.
Despite the hardships, these political prisoners continue to fight for freedom and justice in Belarus.
