Solidarity with Belarus
We invited the Chair of the now-exiled BKDP to join us at Congress 2024 to share his experiences. Sadly, he was not able to do so, but sent the following message.
"Dear brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Congress, but I am very happy that my message will reach you.
My name is Maksim Pazniakou, and I am from Belarus, a country where, since 1995, the labour movement has been dismantled, and universal human rights have been violated.
For the past four years in Belarus, the activities of nearly all non-governmental organisations have been banned, and independent media have been labeled extremist. The rights to freedom and personal security, privacy, freedom of thought and speech, freedom of information, the right to form public associations and to hold public events are either entirely absent or severely restricted. Since the summer of 2020, the human rights community has recognised almost 3,500 people as political prisoners, including 627 women. As of the end of August 2024, there were 1,376 political prisoners in Belarus, including 177 women.
In 2022, all independent trade unions were dissolved by Lukashenko's regime. Since 2020, 69 trade union leaders and activists have been convicted under criminal charges, and 27 trade unionists remain imprisoned, some serving sentences of up to 15 years. Almost all of them have been branded extremists, and some even labeled as terrorists. Imagine that—in the 21st century, in the heart of Europe, normal trade union work is equated with extremism!
We are now in desperate need of international solidarity. We must free our comrades from prison, restore the right to freedom of association in Belarus, and revive the independent trade union movement.
We must employ every tool of international solidarity: supporting campaigns, participating in protests, and applying international legal mechanisms, including Article 33* of the ILO Constitution, against the government of Belarus.
We are living through a very difficult and frightening time—a time of global crises, upheavals, and wars. A time when our principles, our belief in ourselves, and our very existence are under threat. Greedy transnational corporations are draining the last resources from poor workers in developing countries for super-profits. Corrupt governments, feigning concern for the future, are passing anti-worker laws that steal our pensions, social support and - with them - our hope for a dignified old age. Dictatorial regimes ban strikes, dismantle trade unions, imprison and torture trade union leaders and activists, and the most dangerous among them even wage bloody wars to satisfy their imperial ambitions.
Now, more than ever, we must stand united and in solidarity to win our common struggle for freedom, democracy, and social justice!
Maksim Pazniakou"
* the highest level of action available to the ILO, the UN agency that sets labour standards and protects workers' rights, which can lead to sanctions