GENEVA – UN experts* today welcomed a decision by a Swiss court which found Yurii Harauski, a former member of the Belarusian special police unit SOBR, criminally responsible for the enforced disappearance of Anatol Krasouski, one of three Belarusian opposition figures who were forcibly disappeared in 1999.
All three cases remain outstanding before the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
“This judgment marks a significant step in the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for victims of enforced disappearance,” the experts said. “It demonstrates that such crimes cannot remain beyond the reach of justice merely because they were committed many years ago.”
The appeal judgment by the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen partially overturns the 2023 acquittal of Harauski in proceedings that have become a landmark test of universal jurisdiction in cases of enforced disappearance. The judgment imposed a two-year suspended prison sentence for the enforced disappearance of Mr. Krasouski.
Harauski confessed to kidnapping Yury Zakharanka, in May 1999 and Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski in September of the same year. All three Belarusian opposition figures were reportedly killed following their abduction, although their remains have not been located, exhumed and identified.
The experts welcomed the opening of the proceedings in 2023, noting their significance for the implementation of universal jurisdiction in cases of enforced disappearance. In its 2025 study, Universal criminal jurisdiction in cases of enforced disappearance, the Working Group underscored that universal jurisdiction is crucial both to promoting accountability for crimes under international law and to providing a victim-centred response.
“Where justice is unavailable in the country where violations occurred, universal jurisdiction can provide an essential avenue for judicial scrutiny and accountability,” the experts said. “This case demonstrates the important role national courts can play in implementing international obligations concerning enforced disappearance.”
Enforced disappearance is a crime under international law and a gross violation of multiple human rights that places victims outside the protection of the law and inflicts profound and continuing suffering on their relatives.
“For more than a quarter of a century, the families of Zakharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski have sought answers regarding the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. Today’s judgment constitutes an important acknowledgement of the rights of victims of enforced disappearance to truth and justice,” they said.
“Accountability is an essential component of States’ obligations under international human rights law, including the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and a fundamental safeguard against recurrence.”
“The disappearances of Zakharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski remain unresolved, and the truth concerning their fate and whereabouts has yet to be established,” the experts said, urging Belarusian authorities to conduct investigations into the enforced disappearances and ensure all those responsible are brought to justice.
“We express solidarity with families of the disappeared and with all victims of enforced disappearance in Belarus and around the world,” they said.
