On 30 September 2024, Lithuania referred the situation in Belarus to the ICC, alleging that senior officials have committed crimes against humanity since May 2020. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is conducting a preliminary examination.
What happens next? Our briefing explains the next stages of the referral and how States can support the opening of an investigation into international crimes in Belarus.
Belarus is no State party to the ICC, but Lithuania has argued that the ICC has jurisdiction since some crimes took place on its own territory, and the territory of other State parties to the ICC: The regime forced hundreds of thousands to flee and continues to persecute them even on foreign soil.
The ICC’s preliminary examination is a critical step in securing justice and accountability for victims of the serious human rights violations in Belarus, but broader support by States – through joining or submitting additional referrals, evidence sharing, and extraterritorial prosecutions at national level – will be essential to achieving justice for victims and survivors of the regime, and in signalling the international community’s intolerance for impunity.
Other State Parties to the ICC joining the referral of Lithuania would send a strong message that the international community will not tolerate impunity for such crimes.
States can also compliment ICC actions with extraterritorial prosecutions at the national level on crimes that are not subject to the referral.
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