The Norwegian Helsinki Committee participated in a side event at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) in Vienna on 20 February. The Norwegian and Swedish delegations organised the event, focusing on political prisoners in Russia and Belarus.
Siv Mossleth, head of the Norwegian delegation, opened the event and praised Evgenia Kara-Murza for her strength and courage in her fight to free her husband and other political prisoners in Russia.
‘It is powerful to see and hear Vladimir Kara-Murza say that he is living proof that it is worth working to free political prisoners’, said Siv Mossleth.
Berit Lindeman, Secretary General of the Helsinki Committee, used this year’s 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Declaration as a starting point and pointed out that the existence of political prisoners is a symptom of grave violation of the Helsinki Accords. She emphasized the Charta 77 movement, which emerged from the Helsinki Declaration. Many of the political prisoners and activists it supported later became democratically elected leaders.
‘It is a reminder: If we do everything we can for the release of political prisoners, it is, of course, for their lives and dignity first of all. But it is also for the future for us all; among them, we find the future democratic leaders’, said Berit Lindeman.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, head of the transitional government of Belarus, participated with a video greeting. She spoke about the 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus and highlighted several of them, including Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski from Viasna and her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski, whom she has not heard from in over two years.
‘We need to save the lives of our heroes, all citizens who are in prison because of their love for freedom and democracy’, she said.
Tsikhanouskaya asked the participating parliamentarians to support the International Humanitarian Fund for Political Prisoners in Belarus, which the Norwegian Helsinki Committee administrates.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a key Russian opposition leader who worked closely with Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated 10 years ago. As a political activist, author and columnist, he has fought for democracy in Russia for many years. He has been an active campaigner for countries to adopt the Magnitsky sanctions/human rights sanctions against individuals responsible for gross human rights violations. He was prosecuted and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for three speeches he gave abroad after the outbreak of war, in which he spoke about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One of the speeches was at the NHC’s Sakharov Freedom Award in Oslo in 2022. He was released in the major prisoner exchange in August 2024, to which Norway contributed.
Vladimir Kara-Murza expressed his gratitude to all the OSCE PA delegates who were present and who had contributed to the release of the 16 political prisoners. He talked about his experiences in prison and how the prisoner exchange took place.
‘But there are so many other political prisoners left behind. There are 1,497 political prisoners in Russia today. In addition, 163 people have been prosecuted on politically motivated charges and are awaiting trial in the Russian judiciary. Those who receive the harshest sentences are those who have protested the war’, he emphasised.
He also discussed the so-called peace negotiations for Ukraine, which took place simultaneously in Saudi Arabia. He emphasized that no peace agreement can be reached without Ukraine’s involvement and the release of all prisoners.
Evgenia Kara-Murza continued the discussion by emphasizing the need to include the release of all Ukrainian civilians, prisoners of war, abducted children, and those imprisoned in Russia for protesting the war. She referred to the People First campaign led by the Nobel Peace Prize winners Centre for Civil Liberties (CCL) and Memorial, among others.
Antonio Stango from the Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) challenged the parliamentarians that some OSCE PA members do not respect the values on which the OSCE is based regarding political prisoners.
Political imprisonment is a widespread problem in the OSCE region, not only in Russia and Belarus. Berit Lindeman pointed to the situation in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, where the number of political prisoners is increasing. She expressed concern about what will happen when the US brings Russia to the negotiating table. ‘A key priority in any negotiated agreement with Russia must be the release of all prisoners and illegally deported children from Ukrainian-occupied territories.
Jan Tore Sanner from the Norwegian delegation asked Vladimir Kara-Murza if sanctions against individuals responsible for grave human rights violations work. Vladimir emphasised the importance and said that these people are really afraid of this. It affects them personally, financially, and in terms of freedom of movement, but it also makes public what they have done.
Björn Söder from the Swedish delegation had closing remarks and emphasised that support for political opposition in authoritarian countries is crucial for European security.