In 2020, Mr. Lukashenko was challenged before a presidential election by candidates seeking to establish a democracy. One of the candidates was a popular YouTuber, Sergei Tikhanovsky. He summoned thousands of people to sign ballot petitions under the anti-corruption slogan “Stop the cockroach,” and supporters brought slippers to his rallies — the preferred implement for squashing pests around the house. He drove around in a car with a giant slipper tied to the roof. Mr. Tikhanovsky was arrested before the vote and has been in prison ever since on spurious charges of violating public order.
Another challenger was the respected Minsk banker Viktor Babariko, who collected 400,000 signatures for his candidacy — far more than the 100,000 required to get on the ballot. Mr. Babariko had called for democracy, separation of powers and presidential term limits, and he vowed to create “a country where the people are respected.” He was also arrested before the election on trumped-up charges of bribery and has been in prison ever since.
Alarmingly, both Mr. Tikhanovsky and Mr. Babariko have disappeared for more than a year. According to a policy brief published by Freedom House, Mr. Tikhanovsky’s family and lawyers have not heard from him since March 9, 2023. Mr. Babariko hasn’t been heard from since April 26, 2023. This is devastating for the prisoners, not even getting a single word or message from outside, and for their families, not knowing if their loved ones are alive.
Mr. Tikhanovsky’s wife, Svetlana, carried on his campaign. She was joined by Maria Kolesnikova, who had been active in Mr. Babariko’s campaign, and Veronika Tsepkalo, whose husband, Valery, also a candidate, fled Belarus for Moscow out of fear of being arrested. The three women were greeted by huge, cheering crowds and won the vote by a wide margin. But then Mr. Lukashenko stole the election out from under the real victors.
Mr. Lukashenko forced Ms. Tikhanovskaya into exile, where she now leads the Belarus democratic forces. Ms. Kolesnikova refused to flee. She was arrested — absurdly accused of trying to overthrow the government — and sentenced to 11 years in prison. According to Freedom House, she has been held incommunicado since Feb. 15, 2023, more than a year. Her lawyer and colleague in the opposition, Maxim Znak, who was also arrested, has not been heard from since Feb. 8, 2023.
Ihar Losik led a popular Telegram channel before the election. He was arrested in June 2020 and accused of “incitement to hatred” and “organizing riots” and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The last contact with him was Feb. 20, 2023. Mikalai Statkevich, an opposition politician, was arrested on his way to one of Ms. Tikhanovskaya’s campaign rallies and later sentenced to 14 years in prison for “plotting riots.” He has not been heard from since Feb. 10, 2023.
The practice goes well beyond Belarus. The Uyghur writer, economist and professor Ilham Tohti has been held incommunicado by China for years. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who was a founding member of the now-dissolved Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, has not been heard from since Oct. 24, 2022, according to the Saudi human rights monitoring group ALQST. Another Saudi prisoner, Turki al-Jasser, has been subject to a years-long enforced disappearance. Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who was imprisoned by the Saudi authorities for satirical social media posts, was held incommunicado for 23 months.
The U.N. General Assembly approved the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on Dec. 23, 2010. The convention declares, “No one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance” and “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance.” Unfortunately, 84 nations, including Belarus, Saudi Arabia and the United States, have taken no action on the treaty.
The world can keep the spotlight on these prisoners’ cases. The United States and other nations should regularly demand proof of life for the disappeared. Dictatorships cannot be allowed to slam the prison doors shut, throw away the key and hear nothing about it.
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