Solidarity action on March 12, 2022, Geneva

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On March 12, 2022, RAZAM.CH organised a solidarity action in front of the United Nations in Geneva on the Place des Nations. The purpose of the action was to draw public attention to the sad results of the dragging out of political decisions, indecisiveness and bureaucracy on the part of the global society, which have led not only to a significant worsening of the human rights situation and an increase in the number of political prisoners in Belarus, but also to a military attack on Ukraine by the Putin regime.

Over the past year, the number of political prisoners in Belarus has increased from 263 to more than 1,080. The leader of the Human Rights Center Viasna, Ales Bialiatski, who spoke in March 2021 at the UN and at the action in Geneva’s Place des Nations, has been in prison in Belarus for 8 months, along with his colleagues (more information can be found here: https://spring96.org/en/news/107077 and https://spring96.org/en/news/107029).

Speakers at the action once again emphasized that the massive and unpunished human rights violations in Belarus have led to:

  • The Lukashenko regime’s model of impunity has been used by Putin on an unthinkable scale – a mockery of international law in the form of a military attack on Ukraine;
  • Belarus was dragged into this war on the side of the aggressor against the will of the Belarusian people;
  • A nuclear threat to Europe and the whole world was created.

Former political prisoner Natalia Hershe supported the action in Geneva with her speech.

The participants expressed their solidarity with Ukraine, as well as with political prisoners, human rights defenders, and activists of Belarus and Russia who are fighting against the dictatorial regimes of Lukashenko and Putin. They also called on everyone to be a voice of truth, highlighting the massive human rights violations, thereby exerting informational pressure at the local and international level.

Only democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in each country can guarantee the security of Europe and the world.