CPTI statement in the Human Rights Council about the plight of those Belarussian men who have fled to Lithuania seeking to avoid military mobilisation
CONSCIENCE AND PEACE TAX INTERNATIONAL
ORAL STATEMENT
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, 53nd SESSION
ITEM 4: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON BELARUS
5th July, 2023
Delivered by Derek BRETT Contact:
Derek BRETT
Main Representative to the UN, Geneva
Tel: (41) 77 444 4420
We would like to draw particular attention to the plight of those Belarussian men who have fled to Lithuania seeking to avoid military mobilisation in the increasingly likely event that Belarus will join the conflict in Ukraine in support of Russia.
We understand that more than 300 have already been deported to Belarus simply on the grounds of past service in the Belarussian military, which paradoxically renders them at greater risk of such mobilisation.
In recent weeks even those who have been legitimately living and working in Lithuania have come under threat. No sooner had a court ordered the release of Vitaly Dvarashyn from immigration detention facilities pending his asylum appeal than we heard of the similar incarceration in solitary confinement at the refugee camp at Pabrade of Ivan Strashkevic, a former Belarussian border guard who left the service in 2019 but actively supported the protests in 2020 and who has subsequently contributed to a video documenting the brutality of Belarus’ border service.
He is being held in custody in a Lithuanian refugee camp in a closed room with barred windows, despite having a valid residence permit in Poland that has not been revoked. His laptop and phone were confiscated, and he is only allowed to use the phone for 30 minutes a day, and even that is not guaranteed.
While pleading with Lithuania to adhere to due process in all such cases, Conscience and Peace Tax International calls on all States to refrain from returning to Belarus persons at risk of military mobilisation.
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