A group of UN independent experts has strongly condemned the attempted deportation and subsequent disappearance of Mikalai Statkevich, a 69-year-old prominent opposition politician in Belarus. The experts expressed serious concern that Statkevich may be a victim of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, urging Belarus to provide information about his fate, whereabouts, and state of health.
On 11 September 2025, Statkevich was taken to the border with Lithuania along with 51 other prisoners who had received a presidential pardon under an agreement between Belarus and the United States. Statkevich refused to cross into Lithuania and walked back to Belarus, reportedly followed by masked Belarusian policemen. Although media reports suggested he returned to the penal colony where he had been serving his sentence, the penitentiary administration denied this when approached by his family.
Statkevich was arrested ahead of the 2020 presidential election and sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2022, Belarus’ Ministry of Internal Affairs labeled him as involved in “extremism.” UN mandate holders have repeatedly raised concerns about his alleged ill-treatment in prison, including prolonged incommunicado detention since February 2023, which has negatively affected his health due to his advanced age.
The experts emphasized that the attempted deportation violates Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Belarus ratified in 1973. They also noted that the case could constitute a crime under international law, referencing Lithuania’s pending referral to the International Criminal Court regarding alleged crimes against humanity by Belarusian authorities since 2020.
The UN experts called on Belarus to urgently reform its anti-extremism legal framework to align with international human rights standards and to end the ill-treatment of prisoners convicted on extremism charges, stressing the need to safeguard the rights and health of Statkevich and others in similar circumstances.
