"She loved life." Ukrainian human rights defender who helped Belarusians dies

The death of Oleksandra Delemianchuk was reported by the Tbilisi Shelter City team. Delemianchuk founded this initiative in 2016 and managed the shelter. She was 43 years old.

"Sasha created a home"

"There are people who create organizations. And there are those who create a home. Sasha created a home for dozens of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who at some point were left without support, without safety, without the strength to continue. She found them in their darkest hour and did what seemed impossible: she restored hope where there was almost none left," her colleagues wrote about Oleksandra.

Belarusians also stayed in the Tbilisi shelter.

"The shelter in Tbilisi hosted Belarusians more than once. Including me. She never refused Belarusians. I don't remember a single case when Sasha refused anything. She helped Belarusians a lot. The last time we saw each other was in the summer of 2022. After that, I repeatedly turned to her for help for my colleagues — she warmed all of them. This is a very unexpected and painful loss," says Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorska, a Belarusian human rights defender and founder of a rehabilitation center for Ukrainian military personnel in Kyiv, about Oleksandra Delemianchuk.

Павялічыць

Andrei Stryzhak, former head of the Belarusian solidarity fund BySol, noted that Oleksandra was a co-founder and active participant in various projects in which Belarusians also took part.

"The focus of her work and the shelter she created concerned various post-Soviet regions: Central Asia, the Caucasus. But the Belarusian direction and support for Belarusian civil society were always important for Sasha," Stryzhak comments.

Worked with Belarusians and for Belarusians

Oleksandra Delemianchuk completed her master's degree in international law in Kyiv. From 2005 to 2011, she lived in Georgia and worked in international and local public organizations. Among other things, she documented war crimes of the 2008 war in Georgia.

Later she worked as an international programs coordinator at the "Center for Civil Liberties" in Kyiv. This Center became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate together with Ales Bialiatski, head of the Belarusian human rights center "Viasna", and the Russian organization "Memorial" in 2022.

Delemianchuk was a co-founder of the "Euromaidan SOS" initiative, which emerged in November 2013 in Ukraine to provide free legal aid to those affected during the crackdown on Maidan.

Павялічыць

"Our acquaintance began in 2014, when the 'Center for Civil Liberties' was an active part of Euromaidan. I was a short-time volunteer for the 'Euromaidan SOS' hotline. Later, we crossed paths on various platforms and in different campaigns and monitoring efforts, including supporting work in the zone of military conflict. Sasha actively participated in supporting the Belarusian human rights community after the 2020 protests," Andrei Stryzhak recalls his cooperation with Oleksandra.

Delemianchuk also worked in Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Nepal. in 2011, Oleksandra was a representative of the International Control Committee on the situation in Belarus. In the same year, she participated in the International Observation Mission, which analyzed the situation with journalists' rights in Belarus after the 2010 presidential elections.

"It should be noted separately that during the events on Independence Square on December 19, representatives of the authorities, in the form of the police and OMON, used force indiscriminately against both ordinary citizens and journalists performing their professional duties," Delemianchuk noted at the time.

Павялічыць

After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Oleksandra moved to Georgia with her 78-year-old mother. A year later, her mother passed away.

"She loved life"

Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorska recalls that they met Oleksandra in Minsk.

"I was giving Sasha a ride somewhere at the request of another friend from the human rights community. Sasha later revealed herself to me as a trainer. This role was her forte," the interlocutor recounts.

Tatsiana notes that Oleksandra had a difficult character.

"She cultivated this herself and emphasized that she liked to be called 'Luciferovna'. On the one hand, she sought to create such a tough image, and on the other hand, she helped people," says the human rights defender.

According to Andrei Stryzhak, Oleksandra's death reminds us that people who help others "are often themselves defenseless against illnesses, tension, and stresses that they experience not only for themselves but also for other people."

"She loved life in all its manifestations, which she loved to describe vividly and brightly, including in poetic form. She said what she thought. She was critical of shaming other people. She was harsh towards those who violated human rights. Because of her character, it was difficult to be indifferent to her. Such people are liked by many and make enemies for themselves," Andrei Stryzhak characterized Oleksandra.

"Sasha is no longer with us, but everything she built, all the people she saved, brought back to life and faith that help is possible, that is what will remain," Oleksandra's colleagues from the Tbilisi shelter wrote in their farewell message.

Oleksandra Delemianchuk made her last post on social media a few days before her death and dedicated it to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, in the USA:

"I stood near that memorial and didn't realize then that 25 years ago all that crap began, the consequences of which we still cannot cope with. Back then, war seemed very distant, and very televised. I had absolutely no idea how close it would come and breathe down my neck. And there's a feeling that this is far from the end. The only thing left for us, sweethearts, is to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and enjoy the September day."

The farewell ceremony and funeral for Oleksandra Delemianchuk will take place at 2 p.m. on September 17 in Tbilisi at Othoti Street, 2B.

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