Helge Limburg, a deputy of the German Bundestag and representative of the party "Union 90/Greens," wrote another letter to his political prisoner Andrei Paheryla to congratulate him on Christmas and New Year.
With the MP's permission we publish it.
Dear Mr. Pagerila,
I am writing to you again, this time to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. First of all, I hope that you will soon be able to celebrate Christmas and New Year again with your children and family! Let me assure you once again that their fate is not forgotten and that people in Belarus, in Germany and all over Europe are thinking about them!
You may be interested to know that recently I wrote a letter to Dzianis Sidarenka, Ambassador of Belarus to Germany. In this letter I reminded the Ambassador that the task of the Belarusian government is to ensure humane treatment of prisoners in Belarusian colonies.
For this purpose Belarus has signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN Convention against Torture, ratified on March 13, 1987) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified on November 12, 1973).
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) also clearly demonstrate this common aspiration. I reminded the Ambassador that the world expects the Republic of Belarus to fulfill the obligations it has undertaken as a member of the UN.
Perhaps I can make a small contribution to ensuring that in the future Belarus fulfills these obligations better than it has done so far. In my view, this also includes the Belarusian authorities allowing prisoners to contact the outside world, especially their friends and relatives and their political sponsors, as well as the transmission of letters addressed to prisoners. On this basis, I hope that soon my letter will be in your hands and sooner or later I will also read a few lines from you.
As always, I enclose with this letter some stationery sheets which you may use for your reply. I shall be very pleased to receive a letter from you. If there is anything I can do to help you or your family, I will be glad to do what I can.
Best regards
Helge Limburg
member of the Bundestag
Andrei Paheryla is a former mechanic-repairman of the Ammiak-3 shop at Hrodna Azot and a member of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union. He was sentenced in the Rabochy Rukh case to 14 years in a reinforced regime colony on fabricated criminal charges of treason against the state.
"Godfathers" of political prisoners continue to publish open letters for their wards, as the administration of Belarusian prisons deliberately does not pass letters from foreign persons to political prisoners.
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