Political Genocide in Belarus

"Political Genocide" in Belarus: The World Cannot Remain Silent

Another anti-Semitic statement made by Lukashenko on June 14, 2024, demonstrates a systematic state policy and is not a slip of the tongue. Such statements fuel anti-Semitic sentiments and desecrate the memory of Jews who lived in Belarus and suffered from the Nazi genocide during World War II. In today's world, where there is a global strive for tolerance and mutual understanding, such statements contradict the fundamental principles of human rights and democracy. They not only threaten the safety of a specific group of people but also undermine public trust in the government and legal institutions.

The ongoing repressions in Belarus since 2020 evoke partial associations with the periods of the "Red Terror" and the "Great Terror" in the USSR, the genocide in Cambodia, and even the Holocaust due to their scale and systematic nature. Tens of thousands of people have gone through prisons, and nothing similar on a per capita basis has occurred in Europe since World War II. It can be argued that "political genocide" is taking place in Belarus. The Lukashenko regime exhibits all the signs of fascism as classified by well-known theorists Lawrence Britt and Umberto Eco: disregard for human rights, identification of enemies, elimination of independent trade unions and media, contempt for intellectuals and the arts, cronyism and corruption, unlimited powers of security services, fraudulent elections, a manic obsession with national security, and discrimination based on gender and nationality.

Many citizens in Belarus have been arrested based on their nationality. According to Lukashenko, half of those arrested for corruption crimes are Jews. There is no "nationality" field in Belarusian passports. However, such statements indicate a deliberate state policy of persecution based on ethnicity. For example, a criminal case against former Belarusian Minister of Agriculture Igor Brylo was evidently fabricated solely because he is Jewish and publicly accused Lukashenko of incompetence in agriculture.

The world remembers the tragic pages of the 20th century when anti-Semitism and other forms of national discrimination led to mass arrests, deportations, and genocide. Historical examples vividly demonstrate where biased and dangerous statements by state leaders can lead. Anti-Semitic remarks contribute to the growth of hatred and violence, undermining peace and stability in society.

The ideological justification of the actions of the Lukashenko regime is based on the persecution of opponents and class enemies, and it shows signs of anti-Semitism and xenophobia. In modern Belarus, there are mass arrests of citizens for political reasons, forced expulsion of activists and political opponents from the country. According to human rights organizations, there are currently about 5,000 political prisoners in Belarus. Additionally, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, up to 300,000 people have been forced to leave Belarus since 2020 due to a systematic campaign of violence and repression. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens cannot return home. At least several dozen politicians and activists have been killed by the Lukashenko regime over the past thirty years.

In Belarus, citizens face discrimination and persecution for political reasons, including restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, forced closure of independent media and public organizations, politically motivated dismissals, and expulsions from educational institutions.

At the beginning of World War II, information about concentration camps in Germany was limited. Jews were required to wear yellow stars to be easily identified. The Nazi government hid its crimes, carefully controlling information about the concentration camps. Information from the Polish underground and other resistance groups was often seen as exaggerated. As a result, many people and governments did not take these reports seriously. The Soviet government also actively hid mass arrests, deportations, executions, and other forms of repression. Information was strictly controlled through censorship and propaganda, and any mentions of repression in the USSR were prohibited. Detention places and Gulag camps were closed zones with restricted access to information.

Political prisoners in Belarus are completely socially isolated, deprived of the opportunity to meet others, and are often held in solitary, cramped cells. All political prisoners wear yellow tags on their clothing. Among the prisoners are students, scientists, journalists, and former presidential candidates. Humiliation, moral and psychological pressure, sexual violence, slave labor, coercion to suicide, and other forms of driving to despair are widely used.

Confiscation of property for political reasons was a common practice in the USSR. Millions of people suffered, who the Stalinist regime considered enemies of the state, as well as those who fell under political repression. During the collectivization of the late 1920s and early 1930s, large landowners were subjected to mass confiscation of property. Gulag prisoners and their families lost their homes, money, valuables, and personal belongings. In Nazi Germany, the confiscation of property from Jews was one of the key elements of the policy of persecution and extermination of the Jewish population. Systematic confiscation began with the adoption of the Nuremberg Race Laws in 1938, which restricted the rights of Jews in Germany and other occupied countries.

In Belarus, a mechanism of illegal confiscation of property for political reasons has been launched. Assets and businesses are confiscated, there are pogroms and the destruction of personal property of citizens who do not support the Lukashenko regime. State propaganda is aimed at discrediting opponents, spreading false information, and manipulating public opinion. Belarus is destroying national history, books, and other cultural artifacts, banning the publication and distribution of independent literature and books.

Documentary evidence confirms the systematic nature of arrests and persecutions based on ethnicity. The international community cannot remain indifferent to the ongoing political genocide in Belarus. Already 40 Nobel laureates and Charlemagne Prize laureates have signed an open letter demanding the release of political prisoners. The situation in Belarus requires immediate intervention by the international community and measures to save thousands of people held hostage by the Lukashenko regime.