One in 30 Belarusians is a victim of deportation, opposition politician says at ICC

December 2, Pozirk. Fear, terror and persecution have forced about 300,000 Belarusians to flee their country.
“One in 30 citizens has left Belarus. They simply had no other choice. We consider all of them victims of deportation, a crime against humanity,” said Pavieł Łatuška, a Warsaw-based Belarusian opposition politician, at a side event of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Assembly in The Hague.
He called on ICC member states, especially Poland and Latvia, which have become a safe haven for many Belarusian refugees, to throw their weight behind Lithuania’s “brave referral” to the ICC, “thus strengthening efforts to ensure the accountability” of the Belarusian regime.
The Lithuanian government referred the case on Minsk’s alleged cross-border crimes against humanity to the ICC on September 30.
There are sufficient grounds to believe that the crimes have been committed against the civilian population of Belarus at the behest of high-ranking political, law enforcement and military officials since May 2020, the referral said.
Łatuška said that the regime “did not stop at expelling part of the population” and is trying to persecute Belarusians abroad. According to him, exiled Belarusians face intimidation and threats of violence, prosecution of their relatives and friends, politically motivated criminal cases and in absentia trials, as well as property confiscations.
Taken together, these and other actions “constitute a crime against humanity: extraterritorial persecution of exiled Belarusians by high-ranking regime officials,” he said. If other ICC member states joined the referral, this would contribute to the success of the case, he added.
The debate was organized by the human rights organization Redress and the M.A.R.A. human rights center in cooperation with the opposition National Anti-Crisis Management.
The event was attended by officials of the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice, members of the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus, and renowned experts on international crimes, including those who had previously worked on similar cases in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The ICC has appointed three judges to examine the referral: Iulia Motoc, Reine Alapini-Gansou and Socorro Flores Liera.

Lithuanian politicians vow to support Belarusians regardless of who is in power
- Politics, SecurityRussian-born Butraniec appointed as deputy chairman of State Border CommitteeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania, Latvia report a spike in irregular border crossing attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian steelmaker scales back output to maintain profitabilityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsBelarus' FM accuses the West of impeding development of other countriesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on May 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician slams prison sentences against Kalinoŭski fighters as revengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyGovernment allows hunting bears, lynxesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityJournalists expose Belarusian company’s links with Russian defense industryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups declare seven new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed activist Kaleśnikava turns 43The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus arrests French man on suspicion of hashish smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus’ police arrest Catholic priest, evangelical pastorThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Belarus to build nuclear disposal site in Mahiloŭ region, Astraviec district or radiation-contaminated areaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus, Russia postpone common oil market until 2027The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRussian-Ukrainian war to determine Belarus’ future - SikorskiThe material is available only to POZIRK+