Ukraine on Tuesday announced it is investigating allegations that Belarus aided in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin’s office told Reuters it started criminal proceedings against the country following a report from a Belarusian opposition group that alleged thousands of Ukrainian children were sent to at least three locations in Belarus for a Russification process before being taken to Russia for adoption.
The allegations against Belarus come after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. The duo face counts of being “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
Philip Ingram MBE, a former British military intelligence officer and founder of Grey Hare Media, told Newsweek that “100 percent the ICC should be investigating Belarus in their support for what Russia is doing.”
Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik/AFP/Getty
The National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM), a dissident group headed by former Belarusian Minister of Culture Pavel Latushka, said in its report that 2,150 Ukrainian children—ranging in age from 6 years to 15 years—were placed in Belarusian camps and sanatoriums.
The report also claimed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko—a staunch ally of Putin—had “personally ordered the transfers of orphans to Belarus and facilitated their arrival by financial and organizational support.”
“Lukashenko is a Putin puppet and needs to realize there are consequences for being so,” Ingram said.
Meanwhile, Belarus has denied NAM’s allegations.
“The allegation of Belarus’ involvement in the forced removal of Ukrainian children looks absolutely wild and inappropriate, even against the backdrop of the usual accusations and demands toward us that have nothing to do with reality,” said Anatoly Glaz, spokesman of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, according to the Associated Press.
George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government professor Mark N. Katz told Newsweek that the NAM report alone is likely not “a sufficient basis to trigger any international arrest warrants.”
However, he and others feel that an international body should at least look into the allegations.
“I think this report…about Belarus helping Russia take children out of Ukraine should trigger an investigation of the matter by the UN and/or the ICC,” Katz said.
Lawrence C. Reardon, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, also told Newsweek that “if there is solid evidence concerning Belarus’ violation of human rights by transferring 2,150 children from the Russian-occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is obligated to investigate.”
“However, as of summer 2022, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that they lacked clear evidence of missing children from state-run centers,” Reardon added. “So any action take by the ICC will be dependent on documentation of Belarusian involvement.”
David Silbey, an associate professor of history at Cornell and director of teaching and learning at Cornell in Washington, was also cautious about saying an opposition party should be believed without the presence of concrete evidence.
“If they [NAM] do have evidence, that’s a different matter of course, and I’m sure the ICC is looking into it, but it comes down to what they can prove not what they think is plausible,” Silbey told Newsweek.
However, he also said that he suspects an “ICC investigation has already been looking at the behavior of Belarus’ government, given the close ties between them and Putin.”
Newsweek reached out to NAM and Lukashenko’s office via email for comment.