Evidence Of Lukashenka's Crimes Against Humanity Handed Over To ICC
- 27.03.2025, 13:52
They were handed over by Belarusian human rights activists.
On March 20, six Belarusian and international human rights organisations submitted evidence of possible crimes against humanity, committed by representatives of the Belarusian authorities, to the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reports the HRC Viasna.
The documents were prepared by the M.A.R.A. Centre for Global Justice and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Viasna and Human Constanta.
In a joint statement issued on 27 March, the human rights defenders noted that, in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, they had sent information that ‘contains evidence of potential crimes against humanity committed by representatives of the Belarusian authorities since May 2020, taking into account the preliminary examination of the Belarusian situation initiated by the ICC prosecutor's office following its transfer by the Lithuanian government on 30 September 2024’. The information ‘includes evidence of deportations and persecutions committed against part of the civilian population of Belarus, including the country's citizens living abroad.’
In particular, the human rights defenders note, ‘the forwarded information demonstrates that representatives of the Belarusian authorities have created an atmosphere of fear, terror and persecution in order to ‘purge’ the population of ‘disloyal’ persons, forcing up to 6.4 per cent of the Belarusian population to leave the country as of 2020.’ In addition, they ‘continue to persecute Belarusians forced into exile and those living abroad through systematic prosecutions, including trials in absentia, as well as intimidation and threats against those in exile and their relatives remaining in Belarus, publicly disseminated hate speech, unjustified searches and confiscation of property.’ The information also refers to the ‘total deprivation of Belarusians in exile of access to state procedures, including the possibility to obtain identification documents, which de facto leads to statelessness’.
The information submitted by human rights defenders to the ICC prosecutor's office is based on ‘interviews with witnesses and victims of the alleged crimes, supplemented by extensive analysis of publicly available sources, including public statements by Belarusian high-ranking officials, proving that the alleged crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against that part of the Belarusian civilian population deemed ‘disloyal’ by the authorities. They also show that the Belarusian authorities are pursuing a state policy of intimidating and punishing those deemed ‘disloyal’ as part of a campaign that ‘officials have repeatedly referred to as a ‘social purge’.
It is noted that although Belarus is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, the information sent by the human rights defenders presents a legal analysis demonstrating that the said court can exercise its jurisdiction ‘since at least one of the elements of these alleged offences was committed on the territory of countries that are states parties to the Rome Statute’.