ICC opens investigation into Belarusian authorities over politically motivated deportations after 2020 protests

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has opened a formal investigation into Belarusian authorities over a crackdown against the country’s civilian population that began after the 2020 election, according to a March 12 statement on the court’s website.

Because Belarus is not a member state of the ICC, the investigation is being pursued based on a referral from Lithuania concerning crimes committed, at least in part, on its territory — the Minsk regime’s politically motivated deportations of Belarusian citizens to Lithuania, in particular. A preliminary examination has been underway since 2024, and the ICC prosecutor concluded that the case falls within the court’s jurisdiction thanks to the fact that, under the Rome Statute, politically motivated deportations constitute a crime against humanity.

“There is also a reasonable basis to believe that these crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, considering their large scale, the number of victims, and the organised nature of the acts,” the statement said.

At the same time, the prosecutor issued a decision on the “Situation in Venezuela II,” which had been under preliminary examination since 2020. The Venezuelan government had argued that U.S. sanctions led to “murder, extermination, deportation, persecution and other inhumane acts constituting crimes against humanity.” The prosecutor said the causal links between those events had not been proven, with “the evidential requirements of causation and intent…not met.” “The decision is also unrelated to the January 2026 events in Venezuela,” the document noted separately.