Joint Press Release — on July 31, 2024
They are threatened with deportation to Belarus in Lithuania!
Lithuania should protect Belarusian conscientious objectors and deserters, grant them appropriate legal protection, and urgently prevent their deportation to Belarus!
The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about the threat by Lithuanian authorities to deport Belarusian conscientious objector Vitali Dvarashyn and Belarusian deserter Mikita Sviryd to Belarus. There, they face persecution, imprisonment, and in the case of desertion, the death penalty. We call on the Lithuanian authorities to take immediate action to prevent the deportation of the affected individuals to Belarus and to grant them asylum in Lithuania, where they have sought protection for years.
Belarusian conscientious objector Vitali Dvarashyn, like other Belarusian asylum seekers in Lithuania, was declared a “threat to national security” in 2023 after seven years of residency in Lithuania. Consequently, he was held in solitary confinement in a refugee camp. On May 29, 2024, his asylum request was denied on the grounds that he was not in danger in Belarus. On June 13, 2024, he escaped detention and the risk of immediate deportation, going into hiding out of fear.
Belarusian deserter Mikita Sviryd had his asylum request denied on November 20, 2023. Although he, like Vitali, has filed an appeal, he has not been allowed to present his case in a hearing. This is particularly significant given the reintroduction of the death penalty in Belarus. He is therefore desperately seeking ways to protect his life.
We urge the Lithuanian authorities to urgently prevent the deportation of Vitali Dvarashyn and Mikita Svyrid, as well as all other deserters and conscientious objectors, to Belarus and to grant them adequate protection in Lithuania.
As reported by UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, Anaïs Marin, during the last session of the UN Human Rights Council, the human rights situation in Belarus is alarming. Belarus is not a safe country for conscientious objectors and deserters. The UN Special Rapporteur also highlighted that “the government [of Belarus] continues to actively support the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”
Continue reading PROTECTION FOR BELARUSIAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS VITALI DVARASHYN and MIKITA SVIRYD
