This was the topic of the conference held on June 27 in Vilnius. It was organized by the human rights organization "Doctors for Truth and Justice" with the participation of the Seimas of Lithuania and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee. The main topic was the violation of the rights of children (both Belarusian and Ukrainian) by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
According to Artem Bruhan, a member of the coordination council, during the war in Ukraine, about 2,500 Ukrainian children were brought to Belarus via Russia and placed in various medical institutions, including the Dubrava camp of RUE Belaruskali. The "healing of Ukrainian children" program, as it is called in the official circles of Belarus, was carried out through a foundation headed by Paralympian Oleksiy Talai and financed from the budget of the "Union State of Belarus and Russia." According to the data of the "People's Anti-Crisis Administration", only during the period from autumn 2022 to May 2023, 1,050 children from the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia visited Belarus. The decision on this was supported by the "Union State" and Lukashenka personally.
Human rights activists refer to this program as "abduction of Ukrainian children". In addition to the Alyaksei Talai Foundation, BRSM — a pro-government youth organization, modern "Komsomol" — was involved in this. Activists of the BRSM took part in events aimed at re-educating Ukrainian youth, Bryukhan believes.
"The topic of the Russian world always dominated there, children were under the influence of pro-Kremlin propaganda, the purpose of which is to erase their Ukrainian identity," Artyom noted. As evidence, the politician cited the meetings of children with activists of the pro-Russian biker club "Night Wolves" organized by the Belarusian side, as well as a concert with the participation of the Belarusian singers of the Gruzdov sisters. One of them loudly said from the stage: "Let Biden die, let Zelensky die, and Putin prosper and rule Ukraine," Brukhan recalled.
Now the Belarusian authorities have begun to mask their actions, their representatives say that everything was allegedly done with the permission of the parents or relevant authorities. But this only strengthens their desire to avoid responsibility. That is why we continue to collect evidence in order to submit it to the International Criminal Court. "Ukraine is actively helping us, where criminal cases have been initiated for the illegal export of Ukrainian children to Belarus," said Artem Brukhan.
Ekaterina Dziakala, a human rights activist from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, also mentioned another category of children whose rights are regularly violated - Belarusian children who, since 2020, have been subject to repression for their political views. "Meanwhile, a simple school has also turned into a tool of repression, only ideological," the human rights activist notes. According to her, the massive violation of children's right to education by the Belarusian state should be talked about without an ideological component: "Education has become like this: think only this way, or you will sit. They replaced such a concept as patriotism. Now it's not just love for Belarus as a native country, but above all an indicator of loyalty to the current government," says the human rights activist, "these changes are already reflected in official documents: the Education Code establishes an equal sign between patriotism. and state ideology, in the rewritten Constitution they made patriotism a civic duty, and now they already say that patriotism is the subordination of personal interests to national ones."
At the same time, historical symbols of Belarus - the coat of arms "The Pursuit" and the white-red-white flag - are deliberately denigrated in schools. "Through deception, they are equated with fascism and instilled in children's minds in this way. The last example: when they talk about the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Patriotic War, they simply compare the fascists with the protesters of 2020. It is written about in textbooks for high school, illustrated with a suitable selection of photos!" - Ekaterina Dziakala was indignant, - "The worldview based on the concept of humanism is collapsing. This will not only cause great damage to the child's psyche, but may also call into question the future of the entire nation .
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