The Belarusian Red Cross Society ('';'' ) is a Belarusian humanitarian organization and a suspended
member of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
. Its purpose is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever and whenever it occurs, voluntarily and without discrimination.
Though first operating in the territory of what is now
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
in 1872 as the
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
local branch of the
Russian Red Cross, the organization was officially founded in 1967. Within Belarus, it currently operates 166 regional and local branches.
Involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian War
In an interview in Russian-occupied
Lysychansk
Lysychansk ( , ; , ; , ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonet ...
,
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
that was aired on state TV channel
Belarus-1
Belarus 1 () is a state-owned television channel in Belarus.
It is the oldest television channel in the country. The channel is on air from 6:00 am to 2:00 am on the next day, in contrast with most public channels in Europe, which broadcast 24-ho ...
on 19 July 2023, the head of the organization,
Dzmitry Shautsou, wearing military clothes with the
Z symbol, openly admitted to the
abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus for “health improvement” reasons during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, saying that it would continue to do so.
The
dissociated itself from his statements, while expressing "grave concern" and demanding a halt to the practice. It also triggered an investigation by the body's investigative committee.
On 4 October 2023 the IFRC completed its investigation, finding that Shautsou breached the organisation's guidelines, and called for him to be removed by 30 November 2023 under the threat of suspending the BRC's membership. After the BRC refused to take any action on removing Shautsou, the group was formally suspended on 1 December 2023. Shautsou condemned the organisation's suspension, calling it "absolutely politicised" and claiming that he was assisting the safe return of Ukrainian children.
On December 5, 2023, the
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments.
...
’s
Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...
has added Dzmitry Shautsou to its
Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...
.
In January 2024, the Buro Media project published an investigation that the BRC spent a significant part of the funds (including those received from the IFRC) on maintaining an inflated staff and on business trips for its own management.
In February 2024, the European Union announced the 13th round of sanctions on Russia, and Shautsou was included in the sanctions list. He was also blacklisted by Australia on the same day, by Switzerland in March and by New Zealand in September.
References
External links
IFRC - Where We Work - Belarus Red Cross Profile- Belarus Red Cross donor day
Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies
1967 establishments in Belarus
Organizations established in 1967
Medical and health organizations based in Belarus
{{Belarus-stub