Defining Definitions
- Salidarnast Belarus
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
Yesterday, when new information and footage appeared showing Ukrainian buses, I caught myself experiencing a strange clarity. Perhaps, for the first time since the first similar release of political prisoners, everything seemed to fall into place.
On the buses there were clear inscriptions indicating their affiliation with the Coordination Headquarters for The Treatment of Prisoners of War.
This detail resonated with me very personally. Because during my own imprisonment, that is exactly how I perceived myself and my fellow sufferers – as hostages. When you end up behind bars not for an act, but for a position, for words, for professional or civic activity, the concept of “political prisoner” gradually ceases to be an abstract legal term. Inside, it feels different. It is a state of complete dependence on someone else’s will, of waiting for decisions that have nothing to do with law in its usual sense.
This feeling did not disappear even after my release. For a year and a half now, I have been participating in statutory events of the International Labour Organization related to the application of Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to Belarus. In essence, this is the harshest reaction of the ILO towards a country that has systematically, over two decades, violated the rights of workers and trade unions.
And each time one hears the same formula from representatives of the Belarusian government: these are not trade unionists and not representatives of workers, but criminals. This is not just rhetoric. It is a way of defining, in which a person is stripped of their professional, civic, and legal identity.
Against this background, the change in propaganda narrative is particularly striking. Previously, in similar situations, the talk was of “mercy,” “humanity,” “gestures of goodwill.” Now – not a word. Instead, dry arithmetic appears: 123 people handed over – sanctions on potash lifted.
And again, everything comes down to definitions. When the language of exchange, numbers, and equivalents is used, it does not describe an internal legal process or an act of humanity. It is a framework in which a person is fixed as a unit in a list, as an element of an agreement. In such logic, the word “captivity” ceases to be a metaphor and becomes an accurate description of the lived experience.
That is why the inscriptions on the buses did not look accidental. They coincided with how this reality has long been described – both from within and from outside, in international halls and behind prison bars.
And with all this, it is impossible not to say the most important thing. I sincerely congratulate all those released and those friends I know personally – Ales Bialiatski, Aliaksandr Fiaduta, Pavel Seviarynets, Maksim Senik, Uladz Labkovich. Coming out into freedom after years of imprisonment is another challenge.
I wish them the quickest possible recovery, resilience, and health. We will need all of this. For them – and for all of us.
Siarhei Antusevich
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