«More than 65 thousand detainees, deaths in custody and deaths during protests, torture and cruel or inhuman treatment, violence. Lukashenko is a criminal who must be held accountable», — said the head of the National Anti-Crisis Management Pavel Latushka during his speech at the XXXIII Economic Forum, which is being held on September 3-5 in Karpacz (Poland).
The panel «Responsibility of the Lukashenko regime for international crimes», moderated by NAM Deputy Head Vladzimir Astapenka, discussed ways to hold Lukashenko and his accomplices accountable for serious international crimes that have been committed since 2020 in order to retain power, including crimes against humanity against the Belarusan people, the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and war crimes against Ukrainian children.
During his participation in this panel discussion, Pavel Latushka, head of the NAM, noted that since the protests against the falsified presidential election in 2020, Lukashenko has been pursuing a large-scale, systematic state policy of suppressing dissent. During this time, the Human Rights Center «Viasna» recorded:
more than 65,000 detainees;
5,000 complaints of torture and cruel or inhuman treatment filed by Belarusians. At the same time, there are 0 proceedings to investigate such complaints in Belarus;
at least 636 documented cases of torture;
6 deaths in custody;
5 deaths during protests;
1,371 officially recognized political prisoners;
more than 300 thousand Belarusians forced to leave Belarus.
Pavel Latushka spoke about the work of the National Anti-Crisis Management team to bring Lukashenko and his accomplices to justice in the following areas:
1. Universal jurisdiction.
Within the framework of universal jurisdiction, Belarusians who have become victims of crimes against humanity have filed applications for criminal proceedings in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Germany.
2. The International Criminal Court.
The scale of crimes against humanity has long gone beyond the borders of Belarus — 300 thousand Belarusians were forced to leave the country — this gives crimes a cross-border character, where at least one of their elements is committed on the territory of the countries to which these people fled, including the EU countries, which are member states of the ICC.
3. The International Court of Justice of the United Nations.
In light of the ongoing repressions in Belarus, including torture, there are grounds to claim that Belarus has violated its international obligations. The NAM team is also working towards using the International Court of Justice of the United Nations as another institution to hold Belarus accountable for grave human rights violations committed by the Lukashenko’s regime.
4. War crimes.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, our team has launched an investigation into the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Belarus, which, as we have established, began long before the outbreak of a full-scale war. In June and November 2023, the NAM transferred communications under article 15 to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
5. An act of aggression.
The issue of Lukashenko's responsibility for the war is of strategic importance. We welcome the resolution adopted by PACE, which approved its demands for the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, and also paid special attention to the fact that representatives of the leadership of Russia and Belarus should be responsible for the crime of aggression. The NAM team is ready to support the work towards a possible tribunal for these crimes.
The XXXIII Economic Forum in Karpacz is the largest political and economic event in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2024, the official partner of the forum is the National Anti-Crisis Management.
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