Opinions & Interviews

Call to identify all perpetrators of genocide of Belarusian people

MINSK, 11 December (BelTA) – The names of all those responsible for the genocide of the Belarusian people must be established for the sake of the victims of this tragedy and their descendants, Aleksei Volkov, Chairman of the State Forensic Examination Committee said at the international conference to mark the 77th anniversary of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide that was held in Minsk on 11 December, BelTA has learned.

“Belarusian soil has witnessed terrible tragedies. Occupation, punitive operations, and the extermination of civilians represent only a fraction of what our ancestors endured,” said Aleksei Volkov. He urged to identify all perpetrators and secure justice for the victims and their descendants.

According to him, historical truth is now a frequent target of falsification. Active attempts are underway to rewrite history and to challenge long-established facts. At the same time, extensive investigative work continues under the criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people. It is this work, he noted, that keeps alive the memory of the victims of one of humanity’s most heinous crimes.

“In our time, genocide is not only the physical destruction of people, but also the erasure of historical memory. The paramount task is to prevent the suppression and distortion of the facts,” emphasized the chairman of the committee.

Objective and independent verification of historical events, he explained, is directly linked to the work of the committee. The State Forensic Examination Committee is involved in collecting irrefutable evidence of crimes against the country’s civilian population. Hundreds of thousands of items recovered from mass execution and burial sites have been examined. “The truth, which was once buried together with the victims of the genocide, is being meticulously restored piece by piece,” he said.

It is particularly vital, the State Forensic Examination Committee chairman concluded, to convey the evidence obtained about these tragic events to present and future generations, in order to preclude any future attempts to justify the atrocities committed against innocent people.

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