The most prominent human rights group in Belarus, Viasna, is urgently appealing to the United Nations’ special rapporteur for human rights in the country to intervene and pressure officials to provide adequate medical treatment to an imprisoned opposition leader suffering from severe cancer. Ryhor Kostusiou, the head of the Belarusian Popular Front party, has been denied proper medical care in the prison where he is serving a 10-year sentence on a conviction of attempting to unlawfully seize power. He was arrested in 2021 as part of a harsh crackdown on opposition following the disputed 2020 presidential election, which gave another term to President Alexander Lukashenko.

About 35,000 people were detained in and after the protests, with over 1,400 political prisoners currently behind bars, including Viasna founder Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2022. The situation has become increasingly dire, with another political prisoner dying of pneumonia after authorities ignored his pleas for help. Kostusiou, 67, is facing a serious deterioration in his health condition, prompting Viasna to call for urgent action from special rapporteur Anais Marin. The group is urging the authorities to provide Kostusiou with proper treatment and to recognize the seriousness of his health condition, which is not being adequately addressed in the prison.

The appeal to the special rapporteur highlights the urgent need for intervention and emphasizes the failure of the authorities to provide basic medical care to political prisoners, endangering their lives. The international community is being urged to take immediate action to address this critical situation and ensure that Kostusiou and others in similar circumstances receive the necessary medical attention.