It was announced today that a group of Belarusian human rights organizations has compiled and submitted evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the regime in Belarus to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Legal Affairs, Leanid Marozau, explains how this can help Belarusians:
“Submitting this report to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is a crucial and logically necessary step toward justice and accountability for perpetrators of crimes in Belarus.
This document provides detailed evidence of the deportation and forced exile of hundreds of thousands of Belarusians (6.4% of Belarus’ population as of 2020), as well as the ongoing repression against Belarusians abroad, including:
- Trials in absentia;
- Threats against relatives;
- Hate propaganda;
- Systematic deprivation of access to essential state services, such as obtaining identity documents.
All of this constitutes a coordinated and large-scale attack on the civilian population, which falls under the definition of crimes against humanity according to the Rome Statute. This opens a real possibility for an official investigation and the issuance of international arrest warrants for specific Belarusian officials.
We thank the human rights community and firmly believe that these efforts will provide clear evidence of the gross and systematic human rights violations committed by representatives of the Lukashenka regime”.
Photo: AP nuotr.
