Representatives of the Belarusian diaspora have launched a campaign on social networks #TyrannyPoisonsRedCross to draw the world’s attention to the participation of the Belarus Red Cross (BRC) in the rigging of the presidential elections. The NAM supported the campaign and sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The document contains facts that confirm the participation of the BRC in the mass fraud in the elections on August 9. So what really happened?

During the presidential elections 2,998 people were included in the local election commissions as representatives of the BRC. 2,532 of them had already participated in the parliamentary elections in 2019. However, a quarter of the people on this list were then representing altogether different organizations. 

At 362 polling stations where the above-mentioned representatives of the BRC worked the Golos platform (https://t.me/votebelarus2020) proved the facts of the falsification – the number of photographed ballots with votes for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya exceeded the number of votes counted for her in the protocols signed by members of the commissions. Among the consequences of these falsifications were mass repressions that followed the elections. 

According to the Medical Solidarity Foundation, after the 2020 elections, 35 doctors were fired for expressing their views and more than 200 doctors were detained for participating in peaceful actions. A nurse Yulia Kashavarava and a student of the Belarusian State Medical University Uladzislau Martsirovich, are in prison on criminal charges. Doctor Artsiom Sarokin was sentenced to two years in prison and given a fine just for honestly disclosing information on Raman Bandarenka’s conditions. 

The NAM has sent three requests to the International Committee of the Red Cross:

1) to consider the attached materials on the violation of the principles of neutrality and independence by the BRC, declared by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement;

2) to withdraw financial support from the BRC and redirect the funds directly to those in need;

3) to suspend the membership of the BRC in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as well as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, until the organization proves its compliance with the principles of the movement.