UN Women’s Rights Body Urges Belarus to Protect the Rights and Well-being of Political Prisoner Victoria Kulsha
The UN body of experts that monitors implementation of the main global treaty on women’s rights has called on Belarus to take urgent measures to protect the rights and well-being of political prisoner Victoria Kulsha.
On 25 August 2025, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) called on Belarusian authorities to ensure adequate conditions of detention for Victoria, including access to a medical examination and psychological support. These measures are intended to “prevent irreparable damage to her life, health and psychological stability”.
The request follows a complaint submitted in August by the human rights organisation Respect-Protect-Fulfill, with support from REDRESS. The complaint alleged that Victoria had been subjected to torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and gender-based discrimination while in detention
According to reports by Belarusian and international human rights groups, the inhumane conditions and ill-treatment suffered by Victorica are not isolated, but part of a wider pattern of grave and systematic violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in Belarus.
The CEDAW Committee’s intervention underscores the urgent need for accountability and protection for women political prisoners in Belarus, amid growing concerns over the country’s human rights record.
Victoria was first detained in November 2020 and convicted under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus for supporting peaceful protests against the re-election of Aleksandr . While serving her sentence, she received four additional consecutive terms for alleged “malicious disobedience” in prison.
She spent around five months in solitary confinement and was also repeatedly placed in a punishment cell—a cold, 3×2 meter room without bedding or a mattress. On one occasion, she was kept there for 72 consecutive days, leading to sleep deprivation and serious health issues. In protest against her inhumane conditions of detention, Victoria went on several hunger strikes. In April 2025, she went on an indefinite hunger strike, in response to the initiation of a fifth criminal case against her on the same grounds. As a result, her health deteriorated. She suffered two heart attacks and started experiencing hypertension and tachycardia.
On 19 May 2025, a group on UN-appointed independent experts called for her immediate release, citing her “life-threatening” condition and grave concerns for her health and safety.
The CEDAW Committee has previously taken similar urgent measures in the cases of Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, a pro-democracy activist, and Maria Kalesnikava Complaints on their behalf were also submitted by Respect-Protect-Fulfill.
REDRESS urges Belarus to comply with the urgent measures ordered by the CEDAW Committee and ensure that Victoria is provided with immediate access to medical and psychological care, as well as adequate conditions of detention.
Belarus must also address the grave and systematic violations of the Convention, particularly in the context of detention. Women political prisoners are routinely subject to inhumane conditions of detention, denied medical assistance, and deprived of contact with their loved ones.
For more information, please contact Eva Sanchis, Head of Communications of REDRESS, on [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7793 1777.
