Lukashenka will answer for the crackdowns. EU threatens to toughen sanctions
The European Parliament calls on the EU to tighten sanctions against individuals and legal entities responsible for the repression in Belarus, including on the sanctions lists of judges, prosecutors and security agents involved in the persecution of representatives of the Belarusian opposition and civil society. Meanwhile, EU member states must provide all possible support to activists and human rights defenders persecuted by the Lukashenka regime: grant them visas without delay in case of urgent need to leave Belarus and provide the necessary protection.
This is stated in the resolution “On further repressions against the people of Belarus, in particular in the case of Andrzej Poczobut and Ales Bialiatski”, adopted on Wednesday, March 15. The resolution was supported by 557 deputies, 25 votes against and 40 abstentions.
The Lukashenka regime must answer for its crimes
Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski was recently sentenced by a Minsk court to 10 years in prison. A month earlier, the Grodno Regional Court of Belarus sentenced Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and Union of Poles activist, to eight years in prison with a sentence to be served in a high-security penal colony. In the resolution, MEPs condemned the sentences handed down against Poczobut, Bialiatski, other public figures and independent journalists in Belarus and called for their “immediate and unconditional” release.
The document also mentions the need for an exhaustive investigation of the crimes committed by the “Lukashenko regime against the people of Belarus”. The European Parliament urged member states to “apply the principle of universal jurisdiction and prepare legal proceedings against Belarusian authorities, including Alexander Lukashenko, responsible for or involved in systematic violence, repression and crimes against humanity”.
A separate paragraph of the resolution expresses “condemnation of the Lukashenka regime’s attempts to destroy Belarusian culture and pursue a policy of Russification of the Belarusian people”. In addition, MEPs are concerned about “the so-called integration of Russia and Belarus”, which they equate to the “real occupation”. “The progressive militarization of Belarus and the region, including through the presence of Russian troops, poses a challenge to the security and stability of the European continent, going against the will of the Belarusian people,” emphasizes the resolution.
Alexander Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials are involved in the war unleashed by Russia and the war crimes committed in Ukraine. And they “must be held accountable before a special tribunal and other relevant international tribunals”. The European Parliament recognizes the Lukashenka regime as “an accomplice of the state using means of terrorism” and expresses its support for Belarusian volunteers and guerrillas fighting for Belarus’ independence and helping Ukraine to fight the Russian army.
International surveillance and diplomatic isolation
The situation with the persecution of representatives of Belarusian civil society must constantly be in the focus of attention of the EU, the OSCE, the UN Human Rights Council and international human rights defenders, “to ensure the monitoring, documentation and reporting of violations of human rights” in Belarus and to ensure that all those involved are held accountable for crimes.
Meanwhile, the EU must strengthen unity with regard to its policy of diplomatic isolation from the current regime in Belarus. The resolution condemns “any actions, including visits by senior officials to Minsk, that could cast doubt on the unequivocal non-recognition of the Lukashenka regime by the EU”, as well as the fact that some EU member states issue Schengen visas to “persons close to Alexander Lukashenko.”
Source: DW
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