Harry Pahaniaila: Sanctions must remain

Justas Paleckis's conclusions are just wishful thinking, a human rights activist says.

Harry Pahaniaila, the head of the legal department of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), spoke to charter97.org about the proposal by the EP's Rapporteur on Belarus Justas Paleckis to lift sanctions and start a dialogue with Lukashenka.

“No systematic changes in human rights sector have occurred in Belarus. The political tension has reduced in comparison with December 2010, but political prisoners still remain in jails, strict measures and preventive arrests are applied to opponents of the regime, NGOs and parties cannot pass official registration. Actually, there are no improvements. It is just wishful thinking. It's difficult to agree with [Paleckis's] opinion,” the human rights activist says.

The lawyer stressed that sanctions should remain. They can only be lifted after the Belarusian authorities make real steps to respect human rights.

“The topic of the release of political prisoners is important now. This is the main principled position. The question of rehabilitation, including removal of convictions from records, can be left for the so-called dialogue. But the dialogue can be started only after the Belarusian authorities release all political prisoners unconditionally, without preliminary arrangements,” Harry Pahaniaila said.