EU joins the International Accountability Platform for Belarus

The European Union has announced today (26 March) that it will join like-minded countries in supporting the International Accountability Platform for Belarus, an independent and impartial platform for the collection, verification and preservation of documentation and evidence of serious human rights violations perpetrated in Belarus during and after the fraudulent August 2020 presidential election. 

The EU support the platform politically at first, once preparations are finalised, it also intends to provide financial support. 

The European External Action Service statement says: “Belarusian authorities have committed unacceptable human rights violations against the people of Belarus. In the face of a massive, peaceful mobilization of the Belarusian population standing up for democracy and their fundamental freedoms, the authorities have responded with violent repression, arbitrary arrest and detention, hundreds of documented cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual and gender-based violence.

My, this is terrifying. If you are to walk down the street in Minsk with a camera, this is what would happen to you. #StandWithBelarus pic.twitter.com/GGVx1Xf3ka

— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) March 25, 2021

“Unprovoked, arbitrary detentions of over two hundred peaceful people across Belarus yesterday on the occasion of Freedom Day demonstrate that the scale of state-run repression does not decrease. The perpetrators must be held to account.

“The European Union, together with its international partners, is leading the fight against impunity. Together with a group of EU member states and other like-minded countries, the EU is supporting the International Accountability Platform for Belarus.”

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