In April 2021, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus decided to initiate a criminal case on the facts of the genocide of the Belarusian people committed by Nazi criminals, their accomplices, and criminal groups during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) and the post-war period on the territory of the BSSR and other states.
Article 127 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus “Genocide” – actions committed with the purpose of the systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of any racial, national, ethnic, religious group or group defined on the basis of any other arbitrary criterion, by killing members of such a group or causing them serious bodily harm, or by deliberately creating living conditions calculated to bring about the complete or partial physical destruction of such a group, or by forcibly transferring children from one ethnic group to another, or by taking measures to prevent childbirth among such a group.
The criminal case is being handled by the Prosecutor General’s Office, its investigation is being carried out by prosecutors of prosecutor’s offices at all levels: from the district to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Assistance in the investigation is provided by employees of the Investigative Committee, the State Forensic Expertise Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, employees of other state bodies and organizations.
The key objectives of a criminal investigation are:
- collecting evidence confirming the true scale of the tragedy that the Belarusian people experienced during the years of occupation;
- establishing all facts of criminal actions of punitive forces on the territory of the BSSR;
- bringing to justice Nazi criminals and their accomplices who escaped punishment;
- preserving historical memory, consolidating Belarusian society, educating it in the spirit of patriotism and love for the Motherland, ensuring ideological continuity between generations.
Among the main sources of information containing evidence of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War are archival materials (acts of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Atrocities of the Nazi Invaders and Their Accomplices, criminal cases against traitors to the Motherland, captured documents of Nazi punitive forces, and others), as well as testimonies (memories) of living eyewitnesses (victims and witnesses) of the atrocities committed by the Nazis on Belarusian soil.
In connection with the investigation of this criminal case, we appeal to all citizens of Belarus and other countries with a request to send to the Prosecutor General’s Office documents, materials, statements, and other information about the actions committed by the German occupation authorities and their accomplices, gangs to destroy the civilian population of Belarus, and other facts of genocide during the period under investigation.
Details can be found by following the link.
