UK imposes new sanctions on Belarus

The UK has sanctioned further seven individuals and entities on the fourth anniversary of the deeply flawed 2020 presidential elections in Belarus in coordinated action with international partners, taking the total number of sanctions against Belarus to over 200.

The conduct of the election, which was widely condemned by the international community, sparked widespread peaceful protests across the country, Caliber.Az reports citing the message posted on the website of the UK’s government.

These were met by a brutal campaign of repression and a purging of civil society, independent media and the democratic opposition at the hands of the Lukashenko regime, with political prisoners detained in penal colonies. Commanding officers of 4 of these penal colonies, who have contributed to human rights violations and the repression of civil society, have been hit with UK sanctions today.

Belarus has also provided instrumental support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine since it began in 2022. It has allowed the use of its territory and airspace to launch attacks and provided kit and logistical support, with three Belarusian entities in the defence and military industrial sector being added to the UK’s sanction list, preventing them from doing business with UK companies.

Following the designations, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

Four years on from the brutal scenes we witnessed in Belarus, Lukashenko’s relentless crackdown on civil society has shown no signs of abating: over 40,000 citizens arrested on trumped up political charges, civil society and independent media trampled and a regime with no regard for democracy or human rights.

We stand with the people of Belarus and their pursuit of freedom and democracy and call on the regime to release all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally.

 The sanctioned individuals and entities are:

1. Denis Anatolievich Tolstenkov: commanding officer of penal colony 4
2. Andrei Sergeevich Palchyk: former commanding officer of penal colony 1
3. Filip Vladimirovich Sturchanka: commanding officer of penal colony 3
4. Aleksey Valerievich Lazarenko: commanding officer of penal colony 15

All 4 individuals are, or have been, responsible for, engaging in, providing support for and promoting the commission of a serious human rights violation, repression of civil society and democratic opposition and actions and activities that undermine democracy and rule of law in Belarus. 

5. OJSC StankoGomel: a Belarusian machine tool manufacturer exporting goods to Russia for use in the Russian military industrial sector
6. JSC NIIEVM: a Government of Belarus affiliated entity carrying on business in the Belarusian defence sector
7. Ruchservomotor LLC: a Belarusian machine tool manufacturer exporting goods to Russia for use in the Russian military industrial sector

Alongside sanctions, the UK is announcing planned funding of 2.5 million pounds this financial year to supporting Belarusian human rights and civil society causes, including further funding to the International Accountability Platform Belarus - a coalition that collect, verify, and preserve evidence of gross human rights violations constituting crimes under international law allegedly committed by Belarusian authorities.  

Since August 2020, the Belarusian authorities have made over 40,000 politically motivated arrests and pursued at least 12,000 politically motivated criminal cases. According to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, a Belarusian non-governmental organisation, 1389 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Belarus, including human rights defenders, journalists, members of the democratic opposition and trade unionists.

At least 6 political prisoners have died in detention since 2021, while many others remain held in appalling conditions, subject to violence, deprived of medical attention and starved of contact with the outside world.