"Since the suppression of Belarusian protests against the falsified presidential elections of 2020, Lukashenko has been pursuing a large-scale and systematic state policy to suppress dissent", — said Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and Head of the NationalAnti-Crisis Management Pavel Latushka at the international conference "Accountability for Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Belarus" in Vilnius on September 13.
During the conference, bilateral meetings at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, as well as meetings with representatives of international human rights initiatives, Pavel Latushka and NAM lawyers presented justifications and evidence for the commission of three of the four most serious international crimes:
crimes against humanity against the Belarusian people;
crime of aggression against Ukraine;
war crimes against Ukrainian children.
NAM lawyers proposed several ways to bring Lukashenko and his accomplices to justice, which are already being implemented, as well as those that can be implemented with the support of Western partners:
First, the application of the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible. Within the framework of universal jurisdiction, Belarusians who have become victims of crimes against humanity have already filed applications to initiate criminal cases in the following countries: Poland, Lithuania (at least 60 cases), the Czech Republic (at least 10), Switzerland, Germany. It is necessary to expand the application of this instrument.
Secondly, a proposal has been initiated to transfer the situation in Belarus by the participating states to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for consideration.
Thirdly, lawyers of the NAM spoke about the work in the direction of using the International Court of Justice as another institution to bring Lukashenko and his accomplices to justice for crimes against humanity.
It is necessary to apply the instrument of international criminal responsibility. Team of the NAM is working on this. This is a question of issuing an arrest warrant for Lukashenko for crimes against humanity against Belarusians and for war crimes — the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus. Lukashenko must also be held accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
"This is an important tool for changing the regime's policy and further political changes within Belarus. These changes will come. In this regard, Belarusian society differs from Russian society. Unlike Russians, Belarusians do not support war and dictatorship. We must understand this when developing a separate strategy regarding the regime in Belarus", Pavel Latushka noted.
It was also noted that NAM is the only Belarusian civil initiative working in the field of international criminal justice and interacting in this matter with various Belarusian human rights organizations and legal initiatives.
In his speech, Pavel Latushka also presented his vision of the sanctions policy against Lukashenko's regime, outlined its weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
The head of the NAM emphasized the need to increase the effectiveness of sanctions. "However, we must not forget who we are dealing with. Over more than 30 years of his rule, Lukashenko has become an expert in the world on sanctions and knows perfectly well how to lift them", — Pavel Latushka said in his speech.
The goal of the NAM is to isolate the regime, but not Belarusian society. It is critically important not to contribute to the transformation of Belarus into "North Korea 2.0". To prevent this from happening, sanctions must be smarter, which means that it is impossible to:
isolate Belarusian society;
impose sanctions on consumer goods;
significantly limit the mobility of people.
Despite the implementation of some of the important proposals of the NAM in the sanctions policy of the EU, the US and other countries, a number of our proposals have not yet found practical application. Western sanctions have a number of shortcomings and loopholes and need to be improved. Therefore, NAM representatives advocate:
expansion of sanctions pressure in order to achieve a change in the regime's policy and democratic changes;
more powerful financial sanctions;
use of sectoral sanctions;
full harmonization of EU trade sanctions against Russia and the Lukashenko’s regime;
expansion of national sanctions;
expansion of the list of personal sanctions.
Pavel Latushka also addressed the dictator: "Lukashenko, you know what to do! Stop the repressions and release all political prisoners! Stop the hybrid war with the help of migrants and support for Russian aggression against Ukraine!"
"We are not asking for F-16s and Leopards, give them to Ukraine as many as possible. Give us the most important tool - the tool of international legal responsibility to split the elites. I am convinced that among his entourage there will be few who want to board the Minsk-Hague train with Lukashenko", — Pavel Latushka concluded his speech, addressing representatives of Western countries.
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