Evidence of Lukashenka's war crimes handed over to court in The Hague

Children from the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine in Belarus, April 2023 / sb.by
Children from the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine in Belarus, April 2023 / sb.by

On June 27 in The Hague, the People's Anti-Crisis Management handed over to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court evidence of war crimes committed by Aliaksandr Lukashenka, Dzmitry Mezentsev, Ivan Halavaty, Aliaksey Talai and Volha Volkava. They concern the forced removal of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territory to Belarus.

As Pavel Latushka, the head of the NAM, writes, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court received materials on the "organized and systematic removal of Ukrainian children", which began in September 2022. Routes, cities from which more than 2,100 children were taken are listed. There are also known cases of "non-systematic organized transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus until September 2022".

"The materials handed over to the prosecutor indicate that Lukashenka personally signed organizational and administrative documents under the cover of the so-called Union State of Belarus and Russia, on the basis of which the transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus was organized and financed," Latushka emphasizes. Most of the children were taken to the Dubrava camp, which is owned by Belaruskali.

"At the same time, already today we are actively preparing the next "strike" in the prosecution of Lukashenka for the crimes he committed against the peace and security of humanity," adds the head of the NAM.

In March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Children's Rights Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. Both are responsible for a war crime - illegal deportation and illegal transfer of population from the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation to the detriment of Ukrainian children. Aliaksandr Lukashenka has so far joined them only in the PACE resolution. In April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide. Lukashenka and his regime are recognized as complicit in this crime. Minsk is very nervous about this.

In early summer, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis handed over to the ICC prosecutor detailed information collected by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the involvement of the Belarusian political elite and state enterprises in the transfer of children from Ukraine to the territory of Belarus. The head of the NAM, Pavel Latushka, handed over to the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine a dossier on 12 Ukrainian orphans taken from the Russian-occupied territories to Belarus. 

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