On Immediate risk of further repression by Lukashenka’s regime in Belarus – threats from the Investigative Committee

B100219/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Immediate risk of further repression by Lukashenka’s regime in Belarus – threats from the Investigative Committee

(2025/2629(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus,

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas the Belarusian authorities are scaling up practises of internal and transnational repression against its citizens; whereas the Investigative Committee is a preliminary inquiry body that reports directly to Lukashenka; whereas in 2024, legislative amendments granted the Investigative Committee access to the personal data of Belarusians without their consent;

whereas the Investigative Committee has opened “special proceedings” against hundreds of Belarusians in exile, including 104 persons who had rallied in different European cities and 257 participants who had run in the elections to the Coordination Council in exile; whereas they were charged under various articles of the Criminal Code for discrediting Belarus, conspiring to seize State power, creating an extremist group, among others;

whereas the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus have stated in its 7 February 2025 report that the Belarusian authorities continue to rely on arbitrary arrests and detentions, accompanied by torture or ill-treatment, as its primary method of repressing society; whereas they also note that the thousands of Belarusians arrested and tried on politically motivated grounds are systematically subjected to a separate and harsher regime of detention designed to punish and humiliate them;

whereas the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported evidence for crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime, specifically in the context of unlawful imprisonment and persecution;

Continues to stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Belarus and demands the immediate and unconditional release and effective rehabilitation of all political prisoners;

Condemns the Belarusian authorities for its policy of transnational repression against its citizens abroad; deplores the “special proceedings” by the Investigative Committee targeting Belarusians in exile and considers them clear examples of transnational repression by the Belarusian authorities;

Calls on the EU and Member States to swiftly step up efforts to support and protect Belarusians in exile in the EU and those looking to flee Belarus; reiterates its call on the Commission and Member States to simplify the procedures for obtaining visas, residence permits and provisional identification documents for those fleeing Belarus for political reasons; calls on the EU and Member States to prepare procedures to deal with cases of statelessness of Belarusians in the EU who cannot return to Belarus to renew identity documents;

Welcomes the work of the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights situation in Belarus and supports the recommendations from its recent report; echoes the recommendation by OHCHR for UN Member States to consider working towards accountability through national proceedings, based on accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, consistent with international due process;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, OHCHR, the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and the authorities of Belarus.