On the adoption of the Law "On the Genocide of the Belarusian People", investigation of a criminal case

On 05 January 2022, the President of the Republic of Belarus signed the Law "On the Genocide of the Belarusian People".

The Law provides for the legal recognition of the genocide of the Belarusian people committed by Nazi criminals and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period (until 1951). The Belarusian people are understood as all Soviet citizens who resided in the territory of the BSSR during the specified period.

At the same time, criminal liability is established for public denial of the genocide of the Belarusian people, for example, by posting relevant information in the media or on the internet.

The implementation of the Law will contribute to the inadmissibility of distorting the outcomes of the Great Patriotic War, as well as to the cohesion of Belarusian society.

The Law is adopted for the purpose of preserving the memory of millions of Soviet citizens who became victims during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period*, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, as well as based on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War and Crimes Against Humanity of 26 November 1968, and is aimed at legislative provision for the protection of the fundamental values of the Belarusian people, establishing effective barriers against attempts to falsify the events and outcomes of the Second World War, and giving a fair assessment of the atrocities committed by Nazi criminals and their accomplices, and nationalist formations during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period.

How the investigation into the large-scale criminal case on the genocide of BSSR residents during the Great Patriotic War is progressing

The investigative group of the Prosecutor General's Office has already interrogated about 12,500 people in the criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. More than half of them are prisoners of concentration camps and death camps

Thus, in the Gomel region, within the forest area of the Chenkovskoye forestry, based on the analysis of archival criminal cases, other documents, and witness testimonies, 34 pits-graves were discovered, which may contain the remains of at least four thousand deceased. During excavations conducted from October to November 2021, the remains of at least 400 people were found, as well as items of civilian clothing, personal hygiene products, and cartridges and shell casings from Wehrmacht weapons.

In the Minsk region, in the Uruchye tract, at the 9 km mark of the Minsk-Moscow highway, a burial site was discovered which may contain the remains of over 38 thousand people. Information about this site of mass extermination was reflected in the act of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Crimes of the German-Fascist Invaders and their Accomplices. In the early 1990s, unsuccessful attempts were made to locate this site, but it has only now been discovered thanks to the work of the investigation group of the Prosecutor General's Office.

In the Brest region, based on witness testimonies, four locations have been identified, each potentially containing the burial of over 100 people.

In the Vitebsk region, two locations have been identified, each potentially containing the remains of over 200 people. In the Gomel region, four locations have been identified, potentially containing burials of 100 to three thousand people.

In the Mogilev region, at least two locations have been identified, where it is presumed that 300 to a thousand people are buried. Similar burial sites have been identified in other regions of the republic. In total, search operations are planned in over 100 locations, as reported by the head of the investigation group.

Seventeen places of forced detention of the civilian population have been identified, which were previously unknown to the public.

The Prosecutor General's Office proposes the creation of an interdepartmental commission and entrusting it with the implementation of issues related to the identification of memorial consolidated burial sites of the remains of victims of the genocide of the Belarusian people, the preservation, and reburial of remains discovered during the investigation. The establishment of a unified memorial complex in memory of the victims of genocide and a unified memorial book of victims is also being discussed.

As part of the execution of the Head of State's instructions, employees of the Prosecutor General's Office are working with the archival fund of the Russian Federation. Working meetings were held in Moscow with representatives of the Federal Archival Agency, the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, and other archives.

Currently, information is available on over 400 German-fascist

on perpetrators residing in 17 countries. Materials on rendering legal assistance in the criminal case, including for the purpose of deciding on bringing these persons to criminal liability, have been sent to these states.

The main goal is to ensure a complete, comprehensive, and objective investigation of all circumstances of the criminal case. With this investigation, we are reaching a fundamentally new level for our country. This is not only ensuring the principle of the inevitability of responsibility but also large-scale work of an ideological, political, historical, and international legal nature.

Assistant Prosecutor

of Lepel District T.V. Lukutina