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Agenda for International Support of a Human Rights and Democracy Transition in Belarus

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Agenda for International Support of a Human Rights and Democracy Transition in Belarus AGENDA FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF A HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY TRANSITION IN BELARUS Civil society recommendations to the international community 01 December 2020 This document has been produced by international and Belarusian civil society organisations at the end of November 2020. It contains recommendations to governments of concerned states, inter-governmental organisations, and civil society regarding international support to a human rights and democracy transition in Belarus. The document aims to stimulate various international actors to take active, consistent, and coordinated steps to end the current severe human rights crisis in Belarus and support the transition of this European country to democracy and rule of law. The recommendations draw inspiration from several documents, including the report in the framework of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, resolutions of the European Parliament and statements of the PACE Legal Affairs Committee, as well as deliberations at recent roundtable meetings and workshops organised by civil society groups1. 1. Ending human rights abuse by representatives of government bodies and weakening the support base of the regime a) States should much more actively and widely apply individual sanctions on representatives of government bodies, engaged in systematic and grave human rights violations (visa ban and asset freeze). This would serve to deter law enforcement personnel from committing new offences. Individual sanctions should cover a much wider circle of people than now, including low and medium rank officers and their high level superiors in the entire chain of command. They should include such sectors as police, prosecutors, judges, the staff of detention centres and the penitentiary system, and the KGB. Also, the management of enterprises, responsible for harassing and dismissing employees who speak out in favour of human rights and democracy, should be put on the sanctions list (see also point 4 d). States should regularly, on a monthly basis, expand the sanctions lists until tangible progress in stopping human rights abuse is achieved. In the EU, these sanctions should be applied at both the EU level and national level of EU member states. Magnitsky-type laws should also be used for applying sanctions where possible. Requirements for the proof of complicity could be less stringent as compared to criminal proceedings. b) States, civil society organisations (CSOs), and donors should support efforts to stimulate members of law enforcement and public servants in Belarus to distance themselves from the regime. As opposed to the negative stimulus of sanctions, this would positively stimulate thousands of those who are still in the system but feel uncomfortable about the regime policies and criminal orders. Such efforts address those who hesitate to resign because they are obliged to pay back large sums of money to the state in the case of resignation, have due bank loans, lack civilian occupation, suffer pressure from their superiors and peers, do not receive sufficient moral support from wider public, fear lustration in the case of transition of power, and have insufficient knowledge about the existing support systems. Larger support should be provided to the solidarity initiative By_Pol created by former law enforcement officers 1 In November 2020, an international NGO network the Civic Solidarity Platform organised a series of round tables and workshops to discuss the next steps of the international community to support a human rights and democracy transition in Belarus, with the participation of a wide range of international and Belarusian non-governmental organisations and experts, and coordinated the production of this document. who recently resigned or were fired, which works to support and encourage their former colleagues to leave the system and choose the side of the people. Larger funding should be provided for the direct support of law enforcement members who have left the system and their families, including for living costs and paying back “debts” to their agencies resulting from the resignation. States concerned and international donors should support vocational and educational programmes for the professional reorientation of former employees of law enforcement bodies and civil servants who were fired or voluntarily left the civil service. c) States and CSOs should run active informational campaign to target wide circles of members of the law enforcement bodies and civil servants, sending them a clear signal: “if you choose to continue being part of the criminal system, you will inevitably bear personal responsibility, including by inclusion in the sanctions lists and becoming a subject of criminal prosecution, both at the international level and in Belarus after a transit of power; if you step down and side with the people, you will receive strong moral support, financial support to pay back debts, vocational training to acquire a civilian occupation, or will be admitted into a reformed law enforcement system after a transit of power, if you choose so”. 2. Ensuring justice and accountability a) States, inter-governmental organisations, and CSOs should take active steps to establish an international investigation body for the in-depth investigation of human rights violations in the context of the presidential election and the ensuing protests in Belarus. Out of several possible models, a speedy establishment of such a body by a group of like-minded states from among the invokers of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism appears the most expedient. Urgency is essential as state violence and repression continue to increase in Belarus. The establishment of such a body may have a preventive effect on the human rights situation on the ground and weaken the regime’s key support base among law enforcement employees. An attempt to create such a body by a decision of an inter-governmental organisation, similar to commissions of inquiry established by the UN on situations in various countries, would take much longer and would not guarantee a favourable decision. However, political, institutional and expert support from the UN, the OSCE and the CoE would be essential for upholding the body’s legitimacy since it will not be derived from an official IGO mandate. Like-minded states beyond the group of the Moscow Mechanism initiators should be welcome to join at any stage. The body would need to work closely with Belarusian and international CSOs, forensic experts, and lawyers working to collect data, including evidence of crimes and linkages of perpetrators with crimes. The body’s objective would be to gather, analyse and preserve evidence to ensure that justice can be done. The body’s mandate would include collecting and storing documentation of human rights crimes that could be used in the future criminal justice procedures, be it at the national or international level; providing guidance and support to groups working on documentation to ensure high professional standard and quality of data collection; analysing collected information and presenting it in the form of reports and statements. The structure of the body could include: (1) a data depository (evidence collection centre) based in a respected and neutral academic institution which has strong expertise in international human rights law and the capacity to store evidence in a safe manner to make it available on request to judicial institutions; (2) an expert taskforce (secretariat) carrying out the day-to-day work on collecting and analysing evidence, establishing links, etc., to which the initiating states and inter-governmental organisations like the CoE (CPT), OSCE (ODIHR) or UN OHCHR (HRC special procedures) would provide experts as seconded personnel; (3) an expert commission (panel), composed of several high-profile, respected international experts such as former ICC and ECtHR judges, former members of the 2 international tribunals, former members of the UN treaty bodies (Human Rights Committee, Committee against Torture, etc.) and mandate holders of the relevant UN special procedures (e.g., Special Rapporteur on torture, Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances, etc.), and responsible for formulating key findings and conclusions, issuing reports and making public statements, etc.; and (4) an advisory group composed of representatives of well-known and respected international and Belarusian NGOs. The body would need to have a representation on the ground to work directly with the documenting CSOs and victims, including in Belarus and countries where victims of abuse have fled to (Lithuania, Poland, etc.). An inclusive approach should ensure that anybody who wants to contribute to the work of the investigative body should be able to do so. In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation body and to ensure impartiality and credibility of its findings, it should not be drawn into the political process, but rather be considered a professional tool to serve the interest of ensuring accountability and preventing impunity. Therefore, the group of initiating states, after taking the decision on its creation and making necessary arrangements for its work in terms of appointing an academic institution to host the data depository, inviting experts, hiring personnel, providing resources, etc., should abstain from influencing its work but commit to follow-up upon its findings and conclusions both at the national level and level of IGOs. Funding for the investigation body could come from the European Union and concerned
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