On September 23, UN independent experts issued a statement regarding the disappearance of Mikalai Statkevich. According to them, there are solid grounds to believe that the Belarusian politician has become a victim of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention. The experts stressed that the regime is obliged to immediately disclose the truth about his fate, whereabouts, and health condition.
On September 11, Mikalai Statkevich was taken to the Belarus–Lithuania border along with 51 prisoners who received so-called “pardons” as part of an agreement between Minsk and Washington. When he refused to cross the border and returned to Belarusian territory, he was accompanied by masked officers. Later, media reports claimed that the politician had been returned to prison, though the facility’s administration denied this. Since then, nothing has been known about Mr. Statkevich’s fate.
According to the statement, the attempt to forcibly expel Mr. Statkevich violates Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Belarus ratified back in 1973. The experts also noted that the actions of the Lukashenka regime may amount to crimes against humanity, as Lithuania has already claimed in its submission to the International Criminal Court.
The statement addresses the health of the 69-year-old politician, who had been held incommunicado and subjected to ill-treatment since February 2023. The experts also reiterate their call for Minsk to bring its “anti-extremism” legislation into line with international standards and stop torture and degrading treatment of political prisoners.
Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Legal Affairs, Leanid Marozau: “As soon as it became known that Mikalai Statkevich had refused forced deportation from the country and then disappeared, we immediately informed the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus. We insist that the regime must promptly provide information about the fate of Mikalai Statkevich and put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and politically motivated persecution. Belarus is obliged to fulfill its international commitments and end repression against citizens whose only ‘crime’ is their aspiration for freedom and democracy”.
