Amnesty International Demands Investigation Into Facts From Audio Recording of Karpiankau's Voice

According to international law, the police gave the order to commit crimes.

The international human rights organization Amnesty International is demanding an investigation into the facts from the audio recording made public by the ByPOL initiative, in which a man with a voice similar to that of Deputy Interior Minister Mikalai Karpiankou speaks of (tough methods of fighting protesters), naviny.by reported.

"This recording - if it is authentic - is the most horrifying out of a string of incriminating leaks showing that the Belarusian authorities have made a decision to suppress a peaceful protest through deliberate human rights violations," the organization's website quoted the deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Denis Krivosheev. "Everything said on the recording must be investigated immediately, impartially, and effectively. If a high-ranking police officer orders his subordinates to shoot rubber bullets in the genitals, in the stomachs, and in the head, if he proposes to create internment camps for the most active protesters, implying that their death will simply rid the country of people no longer needed, then, according to international law, he gives an order to commit crimes."

"The voice on the recording also refers to the direct instructions of the "head of state." The question arises as to how, in this case, the facts contained in this record can be effectively investigated in Belarus. However, the state is in any event responsible for investigating violations of human rights law and must prosecute perpetrators through a fair trial. We do not demand less," added Krivosheev.

On January 15, the ByPOL initiative, which unites former law enforcement officers, published an audio recording in which a man with a voice similar to that of Karpiankou, who previously headed the GUBOPiK, talks about methods of fighting protesters in Belarus. The recording was made in October 2020 after Ivan Kubrakov was appointed to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs (this happened on October 29).

The person on the record reports that Aliaksandr Taraikouski, who died on August 10 near the Pushkinskaya metro station, died "from a rubber bullet that hit his chest," and Russian traumatic weapons "are no different from combat weapons at close range." With reference to the president, this person gives instructions to use non-lethal weapons point-blank. According to him, the time has come when no law enforcement officer should go out to riots without firearms. He also notes: "We are covered from all sides by Lukashenka in terms of the use of weapons."

The same person reports that a database of protesters is being created in Belarus, and those who are included in it for the second time "should stay there." According to him, a "camp for especially sharp-hoofed animals, for resettlement," surrounded by barbed wire, will be created in the country.

As follows from the recording, the police have the task of "protecting everyone: Lukashenka, his entourage, and his family - along with the security service, to protect the deputies and people who run the state from these threats, and also to put things in order on the streets."

According to the person on the tape, the task was to deal with the street protests until December.