During her visit to the United States, the Belarusian leader received the Lantos Human Rights Prize, which acknowledges people’s contributions to fighting human rights violations across the world.
The 2024 award went to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Evgenia Kara-Murza for their courage and determination in resisting dictatorships in the post-Soviet space. Previous recipients include such prominent figures as the Dalai Lama, Hillary Clinton, and Shimon Peres.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivered a speech:
Thank you, Speaker Emerita Pelosi, for your kind words. And for being a true friend of the Belarusian people. I admire your leadership, your wisdom, and your empathy.
Dear President Katrina Lantos Swett,
Dear Tomicah Tillemann,
Dear excellencies, friends, and freedom fighters present in this room.
It’s a great honor and a great pleasure to receive the Lantos Human Rights Prize, especially alongside dear Evgenia Kara-Murza.
Evgenia, your courage knows no limits. I admire how tirelessly you have fought for the freedom of your husband. Your courage is a source of inspiration for me, and for so many others.
Dear Vladimir, it is so wonderful to see you here today, free and reunited with your beloved wife. Your release is a beacon of hope. It shows us all – that no matter how dark the days may seem – freedom is never beyond reach.
As you know, I never expected to become a political leader. Four years ago, I was an ordinary woman—just a wife and a mother of two. But sometimes life places us in circumstances – where we must step up and do what is right.
When my husband, Siarhei, was jailed for standing up to a dictator, I knew that I had to stand up too. I stood for him, I stood for our children. And I stood for the millions of Belarusians who had been silenced for far too long.
Obviously, the dictator did not take me seriously. “Belarusians will never vote for a woman”, he said.
And he was wrong! Because it wasn’t just about me—it was about a nation’s cry for freedom, justice, and for change…
Back then, we won not just an election, but the hearts of millions of Belarusians.
And four years of repression have not forced Belarusians to change their minds, or accept dictatorship.
Belarusians continue to demonstrate bravery and courage, and pay a big price for their freedom.
Dear friends,
Today, I accept this prize not for myself, but for all those heroes who continue their fight.
For our journalists who were forced into exile, who continue to deliver truth to people inside the country. And for those, who are behind bars. Like Ihar Losik from Radio Free Europe, who cut his veins protesting against his jailers’ cruelty. Or Katsia Andreyeva, sentenced to 8 years, for live streaming the protests.
For all our fearless women, like Maryia Kalesnikava, who tore her passport to pieces not to be deported from Belarus and now is being slowly killed by the regime.
For Iryna and Volha Takarchuk, mother and daughter, who were both sent to prison: first the daughter, for protesting the election fraud, and then her mother, for… solidarity: she was sending food parcels to her daughter and her cellmates.
I accept this prize for human rights defenders, like our Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, who was Sentenced to 10 years for helping the repressed, and for calling for national dialogue. Yesterday, he celebrated his 62nd birthday in prison.
Or for Marfa Rabkova, who was proclaimed a “terrorist” and sentenced to 14 years for collecting evidence of regime’s crimes. Her life is in danger but her spirit remains unbroken.
For activists, like Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, mother of two sons, who renounced Belarusian citizenship in protest of her unjust trial, and is tortured in prison as we speak.
I also accept this prize for my husband Siarhei, who remains incommunicado for 500 days, serving his 19-year sentence. My children have not seen their father for over four years.
They ask me every day, “When will daddy come home?”
And every day, I have no answer. I do not know if Siarhei is safe. I don’t know even if he is alive.
But what I do know is that the Belarusian people will never stop fighting for the freedom we dream of. And no repression. No threats. will stop us on our way.
I do know that we will carry on the revolution that our people have started in 2020 until we win.
I do know that all the people who were unjustly imprisoned, tortured, intimidated, or forced into exile will come back home. Each of them will be rehabilitated and restored in his or her rights.
I do know that all the perpetrators, who kidnapped journalists and raped women in jails. Who gave draconian verdicts to pensioners, or lied in trials will be punished.
I also do know that one day we will conduct free and fair elections to choose our democratic leaders, and Belarus will become a respected country in the world, donor of peace and stability, not a constant threat.
And yes, I also know the path to freedom can be long. It can be challenging. That it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. We don’t know when it ends, but sometimes we just have to do what is right, and history will put it all in its place.
Fighting for freedom, for people, for what is just, for every man and woman, for every kid or elderly – that is the right thing to do.
And I also know that no fight for freedom can be won without allies. Many of them are in this room today. Such as Evgenia or Vladimir. Such as Nancy Pelosi, who makes dictators all over the world tremble.
We need allies like the United States of America. Many nations around the world look at you as a world leader in the fight for democracy and human rights. Don’t stop standing for what is right. Don’t stop supporting Ukraine or Belarus. It’s our common fight for freedom.
We need to continue applying pressure on the Lukashenka regime and Putin. For each crime, for each broken life, they must pay the price. Though sanctions are not a silver bullet, it’s the tool to restore justice we all need.
We must reject the very thought that dictators can be appeased or reeducated. Dictators can only be fought. Any hesitation is seen by dictators as weakness.
We also need freedom champions like Congressman Tom Lantos, whose legacy we honor today. As a Holocaust survivor, he knew what tyranny is, and where it leads when not contained. Tyranny spreads like cancer when you don’t fight it in time.
Young Lantos was saved, together with thousands of Hungarian Jews, by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who was later killed by Stalin.
Sometimes it crosses my mind that we would need a new Raoul Wallenberg to save thousands of Belarusian political prisoners, who are slowly dying in Lukashenka’s cells.
In the last years of his life, Tom Lantos was speaking about Belarus and fighting for our people. He knew well that the fight for freedom and human rights is not just a local issue, but a global one.
He knew that dictatorships seem invincible until they suddenly collapse. But it’s a moral duty of powerful nations, like the United States, to stand with those in need.
Today, I want to applaud the Lantos Foundation for bringing the torch of Lantos’s fight for freedom and justice. I want to thank you for this recognition that shines a light on the struggles of my people.
This prize, this moment, reminds us that we are not alone. That the world stands with us. When you are in a cold prison chamber, with a small window the size of a chessboard, only the solidarity you feel from outside keeps you alive. You know that someone is fighting for you.
Today, I came to call you to support all the freedom-loving people in the world. Your support gives us strength to go on. It keeps our hope alive: hope that, one day soon, Belarus will be free.
Until that day comes, we will keep fighting. We will keep believing. And we will win.
Thank you. Long live Belarus.
