Belarusian Human Rights Activists Appealed to the UN Special Rapporteurs About the Audio Recording With Karpiankou's Voice

Urgent action must be taken against the regime.

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the human rights center Viasna have appealed to the UN special rapporteurs with a message that the Belarusian authorities are ready to take even more radical actions in relation to the protesters, making the realization of human rights absolutely impossible.

The reason for the appeal was the released audio recording with a man whose voice is similar to the voice of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mikalai Karpiankou, BHC reports.

The appeal is addressed to the following UN mechanisms: Special Rapporteur on Truth Assistance, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Repetition Fabian Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Agnese Callamard, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Professor Nils Melzer, Working Group on Arbitrary detentions, special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, Anais Marin, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

On January 15, the ByPOL initiative, which includes the resigned Belarusian security forces, an audio recording was released in which a man whose voice is similar to the voice of the current Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mikalai Karpiankou informs his subordinates about the plans discussed at a meeting with Aliaksandr Lukashenka to toughen actions against peaceful protesters.

The person on the recording says that Aliaksandr Taraikouski, who died on August 10 near the Pushkinskaya metro station, died "from a rubber bullet that hit his chest." With reference to the president, this person gives instructions to use non-lethal weapons point-blank. 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.

"Although it is currently impossible to assert the authenticity of the recording, several facts indicate that the published recording is highly likely to be authentic. In particular, the events that took place in November 2020 (that is, immediately after the meeting with Lukashenka) testify to the escalation of violence by the security forces against the participants in peaceful protest actions," the human rights activists note.

They point out that the released audio recording contains a reference to complete freedom of action authorized by Lukashenka, which shows the complete disregard of the authorities for basic personal human rights, such as the right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from servitude and forced labor, freedom and personal inviolability.

Human rights defenders ask the special rapporteurs to appeal to the government of Belarus with a demand to take urgent measures to fulfill its international obligations in the field of human rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international legal documents, as well as to use all necessary and available means of the international legal response to the gross violations of human rights in Belarus.