Pavel Latushka: Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, Ambassador
Murders of dissenters: what does Lukashenko's decree allowing the military to shoot Belarusians, including without warning, tell us?
On 1 February, Lukashenko signed a decree № 37, according to which he allows the military to use firearms against Belarusians without warning. And exempts them from responsibility for the consequences, even lethal ones.
It is important to understand that in the conditions of a dictatorial regime, which Belarus is, any permission for the military and security enforces to use violence or weapons will be interpreted not only as their "legal" right, but even as an obligation.
As for the fact that while before the adoption of this decree the military could still refuse to use weapons, now we cannot even doubt that the regime will actively work to instil in the minds of the military the "right" granted to them by this decree in such a way that they will not consider other options (i.e. non-use of weapons) as a priority.
Here it is worth remembering how during the protests in Belarus the head of GUBOPiK (the Main Department for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, now Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Karpenkov, gave instructions to law enforcers to kill protesters in leaked audio recordings. Now the same instructions can be expected in military units, in the army.
Moreover, the decree will be aimed at preventing the military from disobeying the order to "shoot to kill" in case of, for example, suppression of street protests involving the military. That is, thus, at the legislative level (as it is known, Lukashenko's decrees in Belarus have the force of law, in fact, they are above the law) moral and service restrictions and deterrent for the military are eliminated. Now the order to kill without warning is no longer a crime. On the contrary, failure to comply will be a criminal offence.
It is also worth noting the increased coverage in the state media of episodes involving the use of weapons by the police during arrests. What the regime used to prefer to conceal is now easily put into the public space.
Recently, the Lukashenka regime also authorised KGB officers to shoot at protesters, and even earlier, Interior Ministry officers used weapons to suppress protests.
This is not to say that the security forces have not done this before. We remember how Alexander Taraikovski was shot in the chest from a short distance with a traumatic weapon in Minsk on 10 August 2020. We remember how on 11 August 2020 in Brest Gennady Shutov was killed with a shot in the head - from a firearm. None of the special services was held responsible for this, although the law allowed and even obliged them to do so.
Now the laws of Lukashenko's regime encourage and motivate the security forces, and now the military, to kill. At the same time, since March 2023, Belarus has had a law providing for the death penalty for officials and military officers for treason.
In general, all this looks like a purposeful campaign to normalise killings, to normalise the use of firearms against those who disagree with the regime and against Belarusians in general. A campaign to accustom some people to the "right" to kill, including without warning, and others to be killed.