Aug 12, 2020
Free Russia Foundation Statement on the Crisis in Belarus

Free Russia Foundation stands in staunch solidarity with the People of Belarus.

We  demand immediate end to the violence and repression perpetrated by the usurpers of power against the citizens of Belarus as they exercise their inalienable right of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and protection of a democratic form of government.

Protests in Belarus, both in the form of peaceful assemblies and in the form of strikes, as well as in other ways, are a manifestation of the fundamental and inalienable human rights enshrined in international and national legislation. The violence and use of disproportionate force against civilian residents of Belarus from the side of the current authorities constitute an international crime.

It has been determined beyond doubt that Alyaksandr Lukashenka has personally ordered the falsification of  the election results and violent dispersal of peaceful protests. Such actions constitute gross direct violation of the norms of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Constitution of Belarus.

The dire plight of the Belarusian People behooves the international community to urgently use all available instruments of international pressure, including the imposition of personal and sectoral sanctions to the appliance to international justice.

We call on  all democratic states, the international community, international organizations to:

  • demand the end of the repressive acts in the Republic of Belarus;
  • reestablish freedom of speech and access to information;
  • bring to justice all those responsible for acts of violence and destruction of the institutions of democracy in the Republic.