GENEVA/VIENNA – Victims of human rights violations in Belarus are in desperate need of truth, justice and reparations, the Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus said in a new report that details options for accountability.

In its report, the Group determined that Belarusian authorities systematically failed to investigate, prosecute and punish human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed since the 2020 presidential election, spurring a culture of impunity.

“With a judiciary in the hands of the executive, the systematic punishment of lawyers, systemic fair trial rights’ violations and the promotion of alleged perpetrators, Belarus clearly demonstrated its inability and unwillingness to prosecute international crimes under its jurisdiction,” said Karinna Moskalenko, chair of the Group. For that reason and for now, the impetus for accountability must come from the international community.”

The report found that President Aleksandr Lukashenko exercises total control across all State powers, institutions, bodies and agencies involved in human rights violations since 1 May 2020. The President gave orders and instructions, either directly or through individuals reporting to him, to the various institutions that have committed human rights violations and related crimes against real or perceived opponents.

“We have reasonable grounds to believe that the President established and implemented a policy aimed at suppressing any form of dissent by targeting real or perceived opponents in order to maintain power, and participated in the crimes against humanity of political persecution and imprisonment committed in Belarus since 1 May 2020,” said Susan Bazilli, an expert member of the Group.

Ensuring accountability for these violations and related crimes is imperative to ensure their non-recurrence. Countries around the world have already responded in a range of ways, including through a state referral to the International Criminal Court and attempts to open domestic investigations through extra-territorial jurisdiction.

The experts stressed that pursuing justice and accountability at the international level and in third-country states are not two options excluding each other, nor do they bar any future judicial proceedings in Belarus.

“When the day after the reign of President Lukashenko comes, bolstering domestic proceedings inside Belarus will be crucial to restore Belarusians’ trust in their own national institutions, in particular the judiciary,” said Monika Płatek, an expert member of the Group. “We encourage all relevant stakeholders to consider all those options as complementary, and to continue on documenting evidence for future accountability processes.”

It is crucial that any initiative to fight impunity in Belarus is not limited to legal measures, but is carried out to ensure all the basic rights of victims to reparation, to the truth, and to guarantees of non-recurrence.

Against the backdrop of the gravity of their findings on human rights violations and related crimes, the experts strongly recommended that no business enterprise active in Belarus should enter into an economic or financial relationship with the security forces of Belarus, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them or their individual members.

This holds particularly true for private military and security companies present and active on the territory of Belarus, notably PMC Wagner.

ENDS

Background: The Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus was established by the Human Rights Council on 4 April 2024 through resolution A/HRC/RES/55/27, for a renewable period of one year, to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Belarus since 1 May 2020, including their gender and age dimensions and their impact on victims and survivors.

More information about the Group of Experts can be found here.

For media queries, please contact: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the UN Human Rights Council’s Investigative Mechanisms, todd.pitman@un.org; or Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer simp@un.org.