Release Political Prisoners in Belarus

We, the undersigned Nobel Prize laureates, call for the immediate release of political prisoners in Belarus.
Over the past four years, more than 50,000 people have been subjected to political repression in Belarus, hundreds of thousands of citizens have been forced to leave the country, and thousands of people have been tortured. Among them are hundreds of journalists, professors, educators, doctors, musicians, workers, and students, public figures and human rights defenders, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ales Bialiatski.
Entire families, mothers with multiple children, minors, the gravely ill, the elderly, and the disabled are currently held captive in horrible conditions. In recent decades, Europe has not seen a humanitarian catastrophe related to political repression on such a per capita scale as in Belarus.
We call on the governments of all EU countries, but addressing firstly the government of Poland, to take immediate measures to stop the brutal repression in Belarus and pressure for the release of all political prisoners. Poland, as a neighboring country to Belarus, has unique and effective leverage for such action. For example, the temporary suspension of regular rail freight shipments to the EU from Belarus, including transit from Russia and China, is one such effective leverage.
The commercial interests that European countries have cannot outweigh the issues of their national security and their duty to save innocent people being victimized in Belarus, and the protection of the rights of not only Belarusians, but also national minorities who are subjected to severe discrimination.
There are sufficient grounds for this action according to international law, in particular, based on the decisions of international human rights institutions, and inter alia the resolution of the International Labour Organization of June 12, 2023 (activation of the paragraph 33 ILO Constitution). This resolution encourages governments of all counties in the world to introduce any restrictive measures against Lukashenko's regime for systematic violations of labour and trade union rights.
We appeal to politicians, opinion leaders and all people of goodwill to support our civil campaign for the release of political prisoners in Belarus. The lives of thousands of innocent people depend on your position and, more importantly, your action.

Signatures:
Svetlana Alexievich, Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature from the Republic of Belarus in 2015 y.
Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1987), President of the Republic of Costa Rica (1986-1990, 2006-2010)
Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate (1996), President of Timor-Leste
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate (1997)
Dmitry Muratov, co-founder publisher and former editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta, Nobel Peace Prize (2021)
Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Centre for Civil Liberties, Nobel Peace Prize (2022)
John Coetzee, Nobel laureate in Literature (2003)
Herta Müller, Nobel laureate in Literature (2009)
Oliver Hart, Nobel Laureate in economics (2016), Professor at Harvard University
Sheldon Lee Glashow, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1979)
Gerardus 't Hooft, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1999)
Edvard I. Moser, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2014), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
May-Britt Moser, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2014), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Elias James Corey, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1990), Professor at Harvard University
William D. Phillips, Nobel Prize in Physics (1997), Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland
Sir Richard J. Roberts Ph.D. F.R.S., Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1993), Chief Scientific Officer New England Biolabs
Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1981)
Louis J. Ignarro, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1998)
Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2016)
Jack W. Szostak, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2009), Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University Professor Department of Chemistry University of Chicago
Yuan T. Lee, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1986)
George P. Smith, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2018)
Michel Mayor, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2019)
Charles M. Rice, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2020)
Harvey J. Alter, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2020)
Eric Wieschaus, Nobel Laureate, Medicine or Physiology (1995)
Pierre Agostini, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2023)
Brian Kobilka, MD, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2012), Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Guido Imbens, Nobel Laureate in economics (2021)
Daniel Tsui, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1998)
Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1997)
John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1986)
Mario R. Capecchi, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2007)
Roger Kornberg, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2006)
Jules Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2011)
John C Mather, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2006)
Randy Schekman, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013)
Arieh Warshel, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2013)
Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1987)


The list will be updated.

---
The initiative group working on the issue of the release of political prisoners in Belarus and demanding that the EU issue an ultimatum to Lukashenka thanks all laureates for their solidarity.

For comments, please get in touch via facebook or telegram or info@bolkunets.org