A year ago, in March 2021, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited Switzerland and held meetings with UN delegations and special rapporteurs, speaking about the importance of investigating and documenting the regime’s crimes against Belarusians. Following that visit, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Belarus, launching the UN mechanism to investigate and document crimes against humanity in Belarus. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, took up the investigation.
On March 17, 2022, a special report on crimes against humanity in Belarus will be presented at the UN Human Rights Council. This report is unprecedented as it will pave the way for international courts and universal jurisdiction mechanisms to prosecute the regime's accomplices involved in the large-scale crackdown.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will support the resolution at a briefing to human rights ambassadors. This resolution will shape further policy towards Belarus and the regime. The UN must use all available mechanisms to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe and stop Belarusian troops from being drawn into the war in Ukraine. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya will touch upon the discrimination against Belarusians and the possible consequences of the “referendum” on the so-called constitution, which came into force on March 15.
On March 16, in Bern, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya will meet with the Swiss Secretary of State and the President of the National Council, with whom they will hold a joint briefing for journalists. This will be the highest level of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's meetings with representatives of Switzerland. At the meetings, the national leader of Belarus will urge the politicians to support Belarusian human rights organizations collecting evidence of the regime's crimes.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya plans to discuss the non-recognition of the Lukashenka regime on an official level. As in the past year, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya will raise the issue of finding and blocking the accounts of the Lukashenka regime's accomplices, as well as Belarus' international reserves, so that the regime cannot spend these funds on the war.
In addition, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya will meet with Belarusians of Switzerland and hold a live stream with Natallia Hersche. The Belarusian leader will also discuss torture and overall conditions in Belarusian prisons with the leadership of relevant UN agencies, as political prisoners in Belarusian prisons face systematic discrimination and harsh treatment from the administrations.
