Rights groups submit evidence of Minsk’s crimes against humanity to ICC

March 27, Pozirk. Six Belarusian and international human rights organizations have submitted victims’ accounts and other evidence of possible crimes against humanity committed by Belarusian officials to a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

The file submitted one week ago contains cases of deportation and persecution targeting Belarusian civilians, including Belarusians residing abroad, says a joint statement released today. It follows Lithuania’s referral to the ICC last September and the opening of a preliminary examination.

Belarusian officials have been fostering an atmosphere of fear, terror and persecution in the country to “cleanse” the population of “disloyal” individuals, forcing up to 6.4 percent of Belarusians to leave the country in 2020, rights groups stressed.

Persecution and harassment of exiled regime critics continue with trials in absentia, intimidation and threats against them and their Belarus-based families, public hate speech, unjustified searches and seizures of property.

Alaksandar Łukašenka’s officials deprived exiled Belarusians of access to public services, including the issue and renewal of passports, which leads to de facto statelessness, the statement noted.

The ICC request is based on eyewitnesses’ and victims’ accounts as well as an extensive analysis of publicly available sources, including public statements by Belarusian high-ranking officials. The latter prove that the alleged crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the current government’s political opponents, rights groups said.

Although Belarus is not a party to the Rome Statute, the legal analysis should enable the ICC to exercise its jurisdiction since part of the alleged crimes was committed in countries that are parties, they added.

The signatories are Viasna, the M.A.R.A. Center for Global Justice and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and Human Constanta.

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