Yuri Dzhibladze: Bringing Lukashenka To Justice Is Western Countries’ National Interest

The initiative should be taken by the countries to which a large number of Belarusians have fled.

Human rights activist Yuri Dzhibladze, a member of the International Strategic Action Network for Security, is working to bring dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka to international justice. Why hasn't this been done yet? Who should take the initiative in this case? Does Lukashenka still have a chance to be convicted in the Hague? The human rights activist answered these questions in an interview with Polskie Radio.

“There are several ways to do this, none of them are easy. International law is implemented by states. Everything depends on their political will. Mass persecution of civilians on such a scale, which is part of state policy and contains gross violations of human rights, corresponds to the international definition of crimes against humanity. These crimes have already been recorded at various levels, including the UN. In order for the International Criminal Court to begin an investigation, a statement from any country that is a member of the Rome Statute is required. And again, this is not easy, since Belarus is not a member of the Statute. The initiative must be taken by the countries to which a large number of Belarusians have fled.

We have been talking about this with countries for 2-3 years. However, the big war, the colossal crimes in Ukraine have pushed what is happening to Belarusians into the background.

There is another way, in my opinion, effective, but perhaps less large-scale and noticeable. This is the prosecution of specific perpetrators. This is done in the national courts of the countries where the repressed Belarusians are located. In practice, only in Lithuania there is one major case combining more than 50 cases. And the case has not moved forward in the last year.”

Yuri Dzhibladze notes that, despite the lack of interest from Western countries, human rights activists continue to make every effort. The states themselves will not do this. They need to be pressured and offered specific solutions.

“For each country, this is a troublesome job. But countries must recognize that this is in their national interests. That the protection of the law, the protection of international law and order and, ultimately, international security, which is under threat because of crimes against humanity in Belarus, is a direct interest and direct responsibility of these states.

We hope that the current Polish government will be more interested in this issue than the previous one. We are talking to them, it seems there is hope,” said Yuri Dzhibladze.

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