UK donates €500,000 to human rights project investigating Lukashenko regime in Belarus

Belarusian pensioners argue with a law enforcement officer during a rally in October 2020 to demand the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko and new elections

Credit: AFP

The UK is to contribute €500,000 to an international project that will gather evidence of human rights violations in Belarus, where longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has overseen a campaign of violence against citizens following a disputed election last summer.

International Accountability Platform for Belarus, which is led by a group of NGOs and supported by Western governments, will collect and store evidence of human rights violations to be used in potential future criminal proceedings against the Lukashenko regime, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The UK stands in solidarity with the victims of systematic human rights violations in Belarus and is committed to ensuring those responsible are held to account,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

“This independent initiative, free from political interference, will help defend democracy, media freedom and human rights. It will help the Belarusian people take a vital step further towards securing justice.”

Opposition supporters protest against disputed presidential elections results in Minsk's Independence Square last August

Credit: SERGEI GAPON /AFP

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Belarus last summer to protest against what they described as a rigged election that saw Mr Lukashenko win a landslide victory.

Police forces responded to people’s discontent with heavy violence, with around 10,000 people arrested in three days.

Roughly 1,000 people are believed to have been tortured in custody.

Riot police detain a demonstrator during a protest in Minsk after polls closed in Belarus' presidential election last August

Credit: SERGEI GAPON /AFP

The international initiative was set up following a report commissioned by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which exposed large-scale human rights abuse committed by the Lukashenko regime.

Despite the overwhelming evidence documented by local NGOs and journalists, Mr Lukashenko’s government denies any abuse at the hands of his law enforcement agencies.

Renewed international efforts to bring Mr Lukashenko to justice come amid an intensifying crackdown on civil society in Belarus, which has targeted random citizens including journalists for their opposition to the regime. 

Belarusian human rights group Viasna, one of the co-chairs of the project, currently lists 267 people as prisoners of conscience, but the scale of repressions in Belarus is much wider.

Investigators have launched criminal proceedings against more than 2,300 for their role in the protests since last August, according to official reports, with some facing charges for merely displaying the protests’ unofficial flag.