At the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivered a keynote address during the panel “The Fight for Democracy in Belarus”.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya addressed the situation of political prisoners in the country, emphasized Belarusians’ opposition to the war in Ukraine, and called for distinguishing between the regime and the Belarusian people.
She also urged the international community to:
- refrain from normalizing relations with the regime;
- demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners;
- increase pressure on those responsible for torture;
- support civil society and the families of prisoners;
- hold the regime accountable.
Read the full speech below:
«Dear friends,
A few months ago, my children hugged their father again.
For years, they had only memories. There was no communication. Letters didn’t arrive. We didn’t know if he was alive.
And then, after five years as a hostage of the Belarus regime, he walked free.
My name is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. I am not a politician by choice. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a Belarusian who wanted a simple life.
Six years ago, my husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was a blogger. He traveled across Belarus with a camera, asking ordinary people one simple question: “How do you live?”
People told him about empty factories. About salaries that cannot feed a family. About fear. About the problems of normal life.
For that, he was arrested.
I remember the moment I learned he would not come home. I remember holding my phone, reading the message over and over again. Arrested. Again. Then charged. Then sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison.
Nineteen and a half years.
My children were small. They asked me, “Mama, when will Papa come back?”
What do you answer?
Do you tell them the truth? That in Belarus, telling the truth is a crime?
Or do you protect their childhood for one more day?
I decided that if my husband was imprisoned for speaking, then I would speak louder.
I registered as a presidential candidate in his place. Not because I was brave. But because I was angry. Because I was heartbroken. Because I could not explain to my children why we did nothing.
I traveled across Belarus. I saw hope in people’s eyes. I saw grandmothers standing in long lines under the sun just to sign our petition. I saw workers, teachers, students whispering, “We are with you.”
Tens of thousands came to our rallies. It became a popular movement for change. “We are reborn,” read one banner.
And then came the election of August 2020.
Belarusians voted for change. They voted for me, and we won. We all know it. The regime knows it.
That night, the internet was shut down. Peaceful protesters were beaten. Women were dragged by their hair. Teenagers were tortured in prison cells.
I remember one woman who told me how she stood in a detention center corridor and heard men screaming while police laughed. She said the sound will never leave her.
This is not politics. This is cruelty.
Soon after, I was forced into exile. I had 15 minutes to decide. Prison — or leaving my country to continue the fight from abroad.
I left.
The hardest moment of my life was not crossing the border.
It was knowing that my children would grow up away from their home and without their father. Knowing that our family would be scattered because one man refuses to give up power.
And it was not just about our family.
Today, there are more than 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus.
Teachers. Journalists. Students. Pensioners.
People like Mikalai Statkevich, who refused to be forcibly deported and is now held incommunicado. Like journalist Katsiaryna Andreeva, who was arrested while reporting from the 2020 protests. Like Belarusian-Polish activist and journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament last year.
Imagine living with one of your relatives in prison.
Every morning, you wake up and check the news, hoping not to see your loved one’s name in a list of the dead.
This is the daily life of Belarusian families.
And while Belarus suffers under dictatorship, our land is also being used as a launchpad for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
I want to say clearly: Belarusians stand with Ukraine.
Our people sabotaged railways to stop Russian tanks. Our volunteers fight alongside Ukrainians. Because we know that we are in this fight together.
While political prisoners in Belarus are tortured with freezing temperatures, ordinary Ukrainians are suffering because Russia is weaponizing the winter cold.
The fate of Belarus and Ukraine is intertwined.
If Belarus becomes free, Ukraine will be safer.
If Ukraine wins, Belarus will have a chance.
This is why our struggle matters not only to us.
But I am not here only to tell you a sad story.
I am here to ask you to act.
When you leave this room, you will return to offices, parliaments, newsrooms.
You have power.
Use it.
Do not normalize the regime. They have been deceiving you for the last 30 years, you can’t trust them. Do not trade principles for convenience. Do not forget the names of our prisoners.
Demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Strengthen sanctions against those who torture and imprison.
Support Belarusian civil society — the independent journalists, the human rights defenders, the activists in exile and underground.
Help the families of prisoners. Help the children who grow up without fathers and mothers.
And hold the regime accountable.
Impunity breeds more violence. Silence gives permission.
I often think about the day I will be able to return to Minsk with my family.
I imagine a Belarus where no one is imprisoned for asking, “How do you live?”
This is not a dream too big.
This is a normal European country.
Belarusians have shown incredible courage. They marched peacefully. They endured torture. They continue to resist.
But courage alone is not enough.
We need solidarity.
We need you.
One day, when Belarus is free, we will remember who stood with us: not only in our darkest hours, but until the very end.
Stand with Belarus.
Stand with Ukraine.
Stand with freedom.
Thank you».
