On 24 March 2021, the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB), established with the aim of systematically documenting human rights abuses in Belarus and preserving evidence, is being put into operation.
The international platform is based on a recommendation set out in the Moscow Mechanism report by an independent OSCE Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus.
The IAPB will be led and coordinated by non-governmental organisations – DIGNITY (Copenhagen), REDRESS (London), Viasna (Minsk), and the International Committee for Investigation of Torture in Belarus (Minsk). The work of the platform will be supported by several countries, including Latvia.
The objective of the platform is to collect and preserve, in a secure and accurate manner, the information and evidence of human rights abuses in Belarus in the aftermath of the presidential election in August 2020. This evidence could serve any future criminal investigations and criminal proceedings to hold to account perpetrators of the crimes that have been committed.
The evidence obtained and information collected by the IAPB will be handed over to a UN investigation mechanism being established at the United Nations level.
The work of the platform is supported by Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Since the 2020 elections, Latvia’s non-governmental organisations have been providing support for the victims of political persecution and repression. Evidence collected by Latvian NGOs on human rights abuses and cases of torture will also be handed over to the platform.