Participants
Ales Bialiatski, Chairperson, Human Rights Centre ‘Viasna’
Joerg Forbrig, Director for Central and Eastern Europe and Director of the Fund for Belarus Democracy, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Karin Karlsbro, Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with Belarus, European Parliament
Chair: Anaïs Marin, Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House; UN Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus
Widespread human rights abuses are a reality for Belarusians today. Conservative estimates suggest over 300 people are being held as political prisoners and more than 30,000 people are reported as having been through a detention process. Many have stories of torture.
These repressions have not stopped. It is therefore evident that the West lacks either willingness or the tools to stop them. Or both.