1) Are you in touch with NGOs and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus? Do you know what's the progress in investigating crimes against humanity?
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office maintains working communication with a great number of actors working to bring representatives of the Lukashenka regime to justice. At the level of lawyers and experts, we communicate with international lawyers and attorneys specializing in international criminal law, the International Committee for Investigation of Torture in Belarus, the International Accountability Platform for Belarus, the mission of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Organization Against Torture, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, international and Belarusian HROs. We are also in touch with national prosecution bodies, Ministries of Justice and criminal police of different countries.
The team of the Office participates in the overall development and implementation of the justice strategy through the instruments of universal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court and the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Belarus.
2) Since not every perpetrator can be brought to justice through international instruments, are you developing mechanisms and laws to bring perpetrators to justice in a democratic Belarus?
Regarding prosecution at the national level, various actors are now working hard to collect data and witnesses of the crimes committed by the Lukashenka regime’s representatives. This and other information will facilitate fair trials in democratic Belarus.
3) Are you planning to establish, or have you already established, democratic police units to prevent mass violence, murders, robberies in the absence of police when participants and accomplices of crimes are arrested? Who will arrest them?
Regarding democratic police units, please contact United Transitional Cabinet Representative on the Restoration of Law and Order Aliaksandr Azarau: https://t.me/OSB_By_Pol.
We emphasize that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office cannot be a body implementing justice, as justice is the sole prerogative of an independent prosecution and court. If we arbitrarily prosecute people, how then will we be different from the Lukashenka regime? For its part, the Office supports all initiatives that document crimes against Belarusians and will continue to take every measure to ensure that democratic Belarus has an independent judiciary.
