Evidence of the crimes of the Lukashenka regime submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague
On September 30, the Lithuanian government officially handed over to the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague evidence concerning the commission of cross-border crimes against humanity against Belarusians by representatives of the Lukashenka regime. This procedure is stipulated by the Rome Statute. This is reported by the official channel of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus. Human Rights Center Viasna helped with the collection of evidence of crimes committed by representatives of the Lukashenka regime.
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Since the relevant crimes were committed both on the territory of Belarus and on the territory of the countries participating in the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction to handle this case.
The National Anti-Crisis Management has submitted data confirming the commission of these crimes by the regime's leadership. These data were submitted to the Lithuanian Government to assess the facts of the crimes. The Lithuanian side concluded that there are sufficient grounds to believe that Lukashenka and his accomplices have been committing crimes against humanity.
The Human Rights Center Viasna helped with the collection of evidence of crimes committed by representatives of the Lukashenka regime, Pavel Sapelka says:
"The decision was made after the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice assessed the evidence presented by the Belarusian democratic opposition of crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime: forced deportation and persecution of individuals, and other cruel actions in violation of fundamental international law norms. Viasna and other non-governmental organizations have collected, preserved, and systematized evidence of crimes. The submission of evidence to the International Criminal Court gives hope that the space for impunity will be systematically reduced: along with other forms of prosecution of the perpetrators, mechanisms of bringing to justice that were previously inaccessible to Belarusians can be activated."
The Belarusian democratic forces called on the participating countries of the Rome Statute to support the efforts of the Lithuanian side and expressed the collective desire of all Belarusians to secure justice for hundreds of thousands of victims and to bring Lukashenka and his accomplices to justice for the crimes he has been committing.
