Today is International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Abductions and killings of opposition politicians still remain uninvestigated in Belarus.

The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is marked on August 30. On this occasion, the Working Group of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances reminds that abduction of people cannot and should not be tolerated nor justified whether it is used to counter terrorism or fight organized crime or suppress legitimate demands concerning issues such as democracy, freedom of expression or freedom of religion.

The Declaration on the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance was adopted 20 years ago. A similar International Convention came into force recently. However, independent experts note abductions of people are still a means of intimidation and suppression of demands to respect human rights.

A number of well-known Belarusian politicians and public figures have disappeared under Alyaksandr Lukashenka's rule. The international community, opposition and human rights groups say “death squads” operate in the country under the shelter of the authorities.

Dzmitry Zavadski, a cameraman for Russian ORT TV channel and earlier Lukashenka's personal camera operator, disappeared under unclear circumstances on July 7, 2000 on his way to Minsk-2 Airport. A year earlier, opposition leaders – former interior minister Yury Zakharanka, vice speaker of the Supreme Council Viktar Hanchar and businessman and public figure Anatoly Krasouski – were kidnapped.

Christos Pourgourides, a special rapporteur at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, carried out an independent investigation into abductions of Yury Zakharanka, Viktar hanchar, Anatoly Krasouski and Dzmitry Zavadski and said in his report “Disappeared persons in Belarus” that Belarusian top officials had relation to enforced disappearances in Belarus.