Belarus's opposition in exile has welcomed Lithuania's plan to ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged crimes against humanity by Aleksandr Lukashenka's regime, saying the process could bring international accountability and hope to Lukashenka's victims.
Lithuania's Justice Ministry announced on September 30 that it was referring the "situation in Belarus" to the ICC, listing a litany of alleged crimes against the population by the regime that include persecution, deportations, torture, and "other inhumane acts."
"We are grateful to the Lithuanian government for the principled decision and action," the United Transitional Cabinet, an exile opposition group formed in 2022 and led by former presidential challenger Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said in a statement.
"For hundreds of thousands of victims, for all victims of repression, this gives hope. Hope for justice, hope that crimes will not go unpunished."
The ICC confirmed that it received Lithuania’s referral and said it would “examine the request within” and to determine “if there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the opening of an investigation.“
Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania amid a brutal crackdown after the disputed 2020 presidential election claimed by Lukashenka, added, "The guilty should be brought to international responsibility, the repression should be stopped."
Lukashenka's forces jailed and intimidated the opposition and sympathizers and are thought to have jailed thousands of Belarusians amid the ongoing clampdown on dissent.
Western governments have refused to recognize Lukashenka's authority, and the former communist-era leader has increasingly relied on Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep his tight grip on power in his country of 9 million.
In its appeal to the ICC, Vilnius accuses Lukashenka's regime of a campaign that includes: "serious deprivation of fundamental rights; arbitrary detention, prosecution, and conviction; serious unlawful violence; unlawful killings; sexual violence; physical and mental harm; torture, inhuman and degrading treatment; intimidation and harassment; forced labour; and enforced disappearance among several others."
Lithuania has been a leader in the pursuit of international justice and accountability stemming from Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine with Minsk's help, from the ICC to appeals to Eurjust and Kyiv's genocide case against Moscow before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
A request by Vilnius in 2022 prompted the ICC to open proceedings over Russia and Belarus's aggression against Ukraine.
The ICC has since issued multiple warrants, including against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children's rights, as well as Russian military commanders and others.
Signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, are bound to detain suspects for whom the court has issued an arrest warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no enforcement mechanism.
Rights groups have previously urged the ICC to investigate Belarus and Russia over the fate of Ukrainian children they say have been forcibly taken to Belarus during Russia's 31-month-old full-scale invasion and are being "reeducated" to turn against their homeland.
"Belarusian democratic forces call on the countries participating in the Rome Statute to support the efforts of the Lithuanian side and the common aspiration of all Belarusians -- to ensure justice for hundreds of thousands of victims and bring Lukashenka and his accomplices to justice for the crimes he committed and continues to commit," the United Transitional Cabinet said.
