House human rights commission hears former Belarusian prisoner describe harsh conditions, urges passage of H.R. 3225

A U.S. congressional human rights hearing on Belarus on Monday centered on testimony from a recently released political prisoner and human-rights organizations describing continued arrests, harsh prison conditions and the use of detainees as bargaining chips by President Alexander Lukashenko’s government.

"Diplomacy saves lives," Sergei Chihanovsky, a former Belarusian political prisoner who said he spent nearly five years behind bars, told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Chihanovsky described extended solitary confinement, cells under six square meters with a hole in the floor for a toilet, little to no medical care and long periods incommunicado.

Chihanovsky said his case is not unique and that more than 1,000 political prisoners remain in Belarus. "Lukashenko needs President Trump far more than President Trump needs Lukashenko," he said, arguing that the United States has leverage for further prisoner releases through targeted diplomacy.

Co-chair Rep. Jim McGovern cited rights-group counts and warned that Belarus "arrests people almost as fast as it releases others," calling the phenomenon a "political prisoner reserve." McGovern and other members said the hearing’s evidence supports stronger, sustained U.S. measures rather than episodic negotiations.

Witnesses outlined a set of policy recommendations that included: quick restoration of passports and identity documents at release to prevent forced statelessness; expanded and sustained humanitarian assistance and medical rehabilitation for released prisoners; stronger, targeted sanctions tied to concrete improvements; and support for exiled civil-society groups and lawyers.

Denis Kuchinski, diplomatic adviser to Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the Lukashenko regime has intensified repression since 2020, described punishment cells without heating amid sub-zero temperatures and urged U.S. and European partners to maintain coordinated pressure. "We need to keep helping our heroes to restore their lives after they are released," Kuchinski said, and he endorsed the commission’s pending legislation.

A Freedom House witness said diplomatic efforts in 2025 helped secure roughly 360 releases but that Belarusian organizations continue to document hundreds of new detentions. "The releases are transactional gestures designed to manage external pressure without altering the underlying system," the witness testified, urging coordinated burden-sharing with neighboring host countries that absorb many released prisoners.

The bill discussed at the hearing—titled in the hearing as the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2025 (H.R. 3225)—was presented as an update to earlier U.S. measures. Witnesses said the measure would broaden the list of individuals potentially subject to U.S. sanctions to include those involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children and those outside the top leadership who facilitate abuses. The bill was described as pending before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; no committee vote occurred during the hearing.

Members also pressed witnesses on access to detained people by international organizations. Witnesses said the International Committee of the Red Cross and other actors face constraints in Belarus and urged members to press Minsk for access and for the return of identity documents at the time of release so that released people are not left stateless.

The commission said it would transmit the hearing record to relevant U.S. and UN officials and press to advance legislative steps. "We will try very hard to get this bill passed," the chair said, calling for predictable, sustained pressure to prevent a cycle of release and re-arrest. The hearing concluded with plans for follow-up outreach and additional oversight by members concerned about ongoing human-rights violations in Belarus.