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Polish officials are increasingly denying Belarusians international protection, claiming that the intensity of repression in Belarus has decreased. In doing so, they allegedly rely on data from the Belarusian human rights center “Viasna.” Uladzislau Labkovich, a human rights activist with “Viasna,” explained how this came to be on the program “Morning with Belsat.”

Since May, Poland has been increasingly denying international protection to Belarusians, as it believes that repression in Belarus has decreased. In June alone, 25 Belarusians were granted international protection, while 52 were denied it, and another 13 cases were suspended. By comparison, in all of 2025, out of 2,993 applications, only 112 Belarusians were denied. According to Uladzislau Labkovich, the data in the Polish document used by the Polish side does not correspond to the data from human rights activists. At the same time, the Polish side did not contact “Viasna” with any additional questions.

“We are aware of this document, but it does not correspond to the reporting and analysis that ‘Viasna’ produces, nor to the assessments that the ‘Viasna’ Human Rights Center makes in clarifying the evolving situation,” says Labkovich. — And this is such an arbitrary interpretation of our reports. If you look at them, you can indeed see that, compared to 2021 and 2020, the level of repression — visible repression (I want to emphasize) — has decreased. But this is also due to the fact that the regime has changed its tactics. Whereas before it was very important to demonstrate the very existence of repression in order to intimidate society—when the level of repression was public, clear, and demonstrative (that is, the authorities themselves, so to speak, boasted about these repressive measures and displayed them ostentatiously), now the regime’s position is the opposite—to show, including to the international community, that the level of repression has decreased. They have moved into a phase of invisible repression. But we are observing, on the contrary, an increase in the level of such invisible repression, which has become part of everyday life in Belarusian society. And the level of repression remains very high.”

According to the human rights activist, the Polish bureaucracy may have reached this conclusion when it extracted a passage from the report simply to make life easier for itself.

“Bureaucrats always want to simplify their work and their lives. That’s why they took out of context a statistic from the article stating that the number of criminal prosecutions under Article 342 has dropped to almost zero. But they didn’t read further to see that this ‘wave of repression’ has shifted to a different arena. And this, of course, is a challenge for the human rights community. We need to work—and we’re already discussing this with our colleagues — to collaborate with Polish government agencies, state bodies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and immigration authorities. And we need to explain that this situation remains critical and that denying people asylum is simply a catastrophe. Because people find themselves in a situation where they cannot return to Belarus, as that would undoubtedly lead to repression. On the other hand, they are not receiving protection from democratic states, which are obligated to grant asylum.”

The human rights activist also notes that it is now increasingly difficult to document repression precisely because the security forces have shut down all mechanisms for gathering information. It is currently impossible to serve as an observer in courtrooms, and information on sentences, statistics, and data from places of detention are virtually inaccessible.

“At present, the authorities have shifted from flaunting their repressive mechanisms to concealing them. And this is indeed a challenge that we will also combat, and we will explain the human rights situation more accurately to the international community.”

Officials in European countries may think that people are no longer being detained under Article 342 of the Criminal Code — the so-called “people’s article” (“Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them”) — since its term has expired. But in reality, repression against Belarusians under this article continues in defiance of all legal norms.

Moreover, Belarusians are now increasingly being prosecuted under the far harsher Article 356 of the Criminal Code (“Treason Against the State”). And by “treason against the state,” the Belarusian authorities mean any manifestation of disloyalty to the regime.

“Article 356 of the Criminal Code, which was previously used only in exceptional cases, has become a sort of ‘common article’ since the 2020s. Hundreds of people on the list of political prisoners are being prosecuted precisely under the ‘Treason Against the State’ article. And this is a very dangerous trend, since this article carries particularly severe penalties: people are receiving sentences of more than 10 years, even under the first part of the article. Therefore, the authorities have created a fairly extensive arsenal of articles for themselves that fully compensate for the fact that Article 342 of the Criminal Code is about to expire due to the statute of limitations, since more than five years have passed since the last mass protests in Belarus.”

Source: Belsat

Viasna human rights activists have received information that students in Belarus who are studying in Poland or preparing documents for study abroad have been summoned for questioning by the KGB. It is reported to happen shortly after the visa application is submitted. Viasna reports new facts of politically motivated pressure on Belarusians.

According to a source of Viasna, officers question minors in the presence of their parents. They are interested in information about the educational institution: who studies there, how much it costs, why it may be free for foreigners, as well as students' plans, area of study, and friends in Poland.

According to our data, special attention is paid to contacts with other Belarusians. During conversations, officers may ask about classmates, about Telegram chats, last names, phone numbers, and people who are abroad. Also, according to the source, during such meetings, the contents of the phone and Telegram can be viewed or photographed. At the same time, KGB officers talk without pressure.

The aim is probably to study possible involvement in activities that the Belarusian authorities consider "destructive." According to the data obtained, this practice is becoming more common. One of the reasons for the increased attention may be that many Belarusian citizens are studying in Polish lyceums.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

The story of Illia — a Ukrainian national whose name has been changed for security reasons — is an account of how an ordinary family life in Belarus turned into a nightmare following the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. For posting comments online and transmitting data to the Belaruski Hajun bot about the movements of Russian troops, he endured abuse by security forces, denial of medical care in a remand center, and threats of the death penalty. In December 2025, Illia was taken out of his cell in the middle of the night and driven to a forest, before being forcibly expelled from Belarus and handed over to the Ukrainian side.

Illia told Viasna Human Rights Center how he tried to talk Russian soldiers out of going to Ukraine, how the KGB attempted to recruit him while security officers threatened his wife, and about his unexpected encounter with Kyrylo Budanov.

Moving to Belarus and starting a family

Illia's life in Belarus began as a typical story of emigration for love. An online match in the early 2010s, a move from Ukraine, marriage, and children. The couple spent several years in Minsk before eventually receiving state housing in the regions as a large family. He found work as a taxi driver — until the war shattered his peaceful life.

I met her online and came over. I'm from Ukraine, from a region that is now under occupation. I spent about a year traveling back and forth to see my future wife. Then I stayed for good, we registered, got married, everything was fine. At first we lived in Minsk. We lived in the capital for maybe seven years. Then, because we're a large family, my wife found out we could get housing. We pursued that, and the state gave us two apartments in a regional town. About a year later, around the summer of 2021, we moved there. I got a job as a taxi driver.

Belaruski Hajun and the first detention

In February 2022, Illia witnessed with his own eyes columns of Russian military vehicles and troops passing through Belarus on their way to Ukraine. He did not stand aside. He began filming the movements of troops for independent monitoring channels. His actions soon attracted the attention of the security forces. His first arrest in 2023 — for comments on social media — was accompanied by physical violence and brutal threats.

When the war in Ukraine started, I was working as a taxi driver. I saw the movements of Russian troops. I drove Russian military personnel and talked with them — I asked them what on earth they needed this for. I recorded all of this on my phone and sent it to the Belaruski Hajun Telegram channel.

I worked as a taxi driver for almost a year. Then I was offered good work in Minsk. I would travel to the capital on work trips and rent a room. The first time I was detained was in 2023. As they later told me at the KGB, they had seen a comment I left on TikTok saying I had a friend serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and that someone should 'keep their mouth shut.' They held me for about six hours at the Centralny District Police Department.

The comment went like this. One Ukrainian wrote under a video that 'we stand with Belarus, we and Belarusians are one people' — but he was living in Ukraine and was pro-Russia, pro-war. I wrote back to him: 'You'd better shut your mouth, because I have a friend in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.' There was also a comment on YouTube under a video featuring Lukashenka. A guy was saying something about the Ukrainian people, and I wrote to him directly: 'You don't know the Ukrainian people — you speak about them from the outside.' For that, they hit me — gave me a good smack on the head.

They gave me 15 days at the Minsk temporary detention facility. After three days, a trial was held over Skype. I served the time and paid the fine. They warned me to stay out of trouble, and after that I kept my head down. But occasionally I would post comments about the war in various Ukrainian Telegram channels. When everything came to light in 2025, though, they went through my entire phone — and it had a huge amount of my activity and files on it.

The criminal case and pressure from security forces

In 2025, when Belarusian security forces gained access to the Belaruski Hajun databases, a new wave of repression began. Illia was lured under false pretenses to see his local police officer, where he was detained by GUBOPiK officers. After his detention, Illia was subjected to psychological pressure: as a father of many children and the family's sole breadwinner, he was first threatened with the death penalty and then remanded in custody.

The second time I was detained was around the autumn of 2025. By then I was no longer working in Minsk and was living at home, since it was hard for my wife to manage the children on her own. I had taken up doing home renovations and registered as self-employed. Even before that, they had been pulling me in periodically: summoning me to the KGB and the district police department, holding 'intimidation meetings,' wanting me to report to them if anyone contacted me with any proposals.

Then one evening my local police officer called and told me to come to the migration office the next day — a Monday. Monday was a public holiday, but I didn't think much of it and said I'd come at ten. I arrive and there's no one there. I call the officer and he says: 'Wait, we'll be there shortly.' I'm standing by my car at the side of the road. A grey Skoda with untinted windows pulls up — two men inside. Then a tinted grey Geely arrives. I thought they were just passing cars. I was about to go to my car for a cigarette. The Geely pulled up in front of my car. I open the passenger door, and four GUBOPiK officers come rushing out. I immediately dropped my phone on the seat and raised my hands — I understood this was about me. There was no one around.

They then explained to me that it was about the Hajun in 2022. I said: 'That was so long ago, I'd already forgotten about it.' It turned out they had earlier detained the Hajun administrator, and it emerged that the data from those who had sent information about military equipment had not been deleted and remained in their possession. GUBOPiK and the KGB had it all laid out in front of them — who had sent what, and from where.

At that moment I felt fear — not so much for myself as for the children and my wife, because I was the only one bringing in money. At first they told me I'd get 'about a year,' but then it turned out to be between three and seven years imprisonment — I was in shock. They took me in gently, they didn't beat me, although other guys in the remand center told me they had been badly beaten. I'm a Ukrainian citizen; I only had a Belarusian residence permit. I was taken to a young investigator — an unpleasant fellow. He was conducting the interrogation, with two GUBOPiK officers and an operative sitting beside him. After an hour, a state-appointed lawyer came in, who simply said: 'Tell them how it was.' And the investigator immediately issued a threat: 'You do understand that what you did carries the death penalty?' I completely lost it and was in shock. They do it deliberately, to scare you.

After the interrogation I was taken to a temporary detention facility, where I spent about three days. They summoned me before the prosecutor — my neighbor (in that area, police officers, investigators, and the prosecutor are all my neighbors). My wife went to see him, she cried, she pleaded, because I was the sole breadwinner. He didn't care. He signed the paper to transfer me to the remand center. I was then brought there by escort. The criminal case was opened under Part 1 of Article 361-4 (facilitation of extremist activity).

Life in the remand center and the treatment of political prisoners

In detention, Illia witnessed how the Belarusian penitentiary system functions. As he described, political prisoners in the remand center occupy the very bottom of the administration's hierarchy — they are regarded as more dangerous than serial murderers. Abuse, yellow disciplinary register cards, constant handcuffing during transfers, and total isolation are accompanied by complete indifference from medical staff. When Illia's peptic ulcer flared up, the prison doctor responded to his request for help with obscenities. Meanwhile, investigators continued to apply psychological pressure, terrorizing his wife on the outside.

No one told me when the trial would be. Rumor had it that people were tried five or six months after detention. I spent almost three months in the remand center. During that time, the investigator allowed only one visit with my wife. I was taken for interrogations twice, as he was gathering personal references from everywhere I had worked and lived. He was very surprised that all the references were exclusively positive. After that, his manner became softer.

I wasn't subjected to heavy pressure, but they put pressure on my wife. The investigator demanded she give permission to access the cameras in the apartment. She refused: 'You've taken my husband — why do you need to watch me doing homework with the children and cooking food? I don't even have cameras.' So they threatened her: 'If I find anything on your phone, you'll be detained for three days.' They were asking me whether I had any contacts in Ukraine who were in the military, the SBU, or the police. I have police contacts, but not from the SBU. My brother is fighting, but I didn't mention that — thank God they didn't know about it.

In general, everyone in the remand center — even murderers and fraudsters — is struck by how political prisoners are treated. Political prisoners are equated with maniacs — they are labeled especially dangerous, always in handcuffs during transfers, forbidden from speaking to many people, silenced. They can plant a cell informant who works for the operative to listen in on you. Political prisoners have yellow cards on their cell doors — the preventive register. They are only allowed to sleep on the top bunks, directly under the surveillance camera, so they're always visible.

One time I called for a doctor — I have a peptic ulcer, and for two weeks the pain was so bad I could barely stand it. I asked for medication. He came in and said: 'Get lost, stop making things up, there's nothing wrong with you.' He gave me nothing. I personally wasn't subjected to physical abuse, but the other guys told me that sometimes people in masks and with batons would rush into the cells, put everyone against the wall in a stress position, and conduct searches.

The pardon and a new life

One night in December 2025, Illia was taken out of his cell and driven in handcuffs to an unknown destination. Finding himself in a winter forest surrounded by armed security officers, he said his goodbyes, convinced he was being taken to be shot. Instead, however, Illia and other political prisoners were handed over to the Ukrainian side. Today Illia is safe in Europe, working and saving money to bring his family out of Belarus as quickly as possible.

I never made it to trial. No one warned me I was about to be freed. I only understood what was happening when I saw Kyrylo Budanov and found myself on Ukrainian territory. That day — 13 December 2025 — began at around four in the morning. They came in with dogs, and the escorts said: 'Pack your things and come out.' Before that, we had heard news on the radio about John Coale's visit, and the guys were joking: 'Oh, looks like you're going home.' I was called to the changing room, where a woman and two men were standing — one in a balaclava; I understood it was the KGB. They gave me some paper to sign, returned my passport and the remaining $7 I had on the books. They said: 'Take your bag, follow us.' I asked where to, and they replied: 'Shut your mouth and don't make a sound.'

I came out — there's a minibus, seven or so KGB officers, dogs. I was very frightened. They sat me in the back of the minibus, bent me over, and handcuffed me to some metal fixture. We drove around the city for a while. Then they picked someone else up. They took us to a forest and a field. I was genuinely terrified — I thought they would shoot me. There were loads of vehicles, people in masks with weapons. Then they began moving us into buses. They drove us to the forest wearing hoods; then they took them off, then put them back on. They taped our hands with adhesive tape. They returned my belongings, except for my Ukrainian birth certificate.

I began to suspect it was an exchange, but I had no idea where we were heading — Poland, Lithuania, or Ukraine. As we were approaching, I managed to catch a glimpse from under the mask. I saw Ukrainian military personnel. The minibus stops, the doors open, they remove the hoods and the tape from us. I get out — and there stands Kyrylo Budanov, surrounded by journalists and doctors. I understood I was home. From the sudden burst of joy and the stress, I got a severe headache — they even had to call a doctor.

I told Budanov that my family — my wife and children — had remained in Belarus. He passed the information on. I was told that Ukraine could help, but that it would take a very long time. So I started looking for ways to manage on my own.

Right now I'm in one of the European countries; I've obtained temporary protection status. I found work straight away. The wages are small, but I need to earn something. I spend money on food, on the apartment, and I send the rest to my wife. She's been left on her own. And there are children to feed, an apartment and a kindergarten to pay for. My main goal is to get them out as soon as possible. I'm trying to get the paperwork sorted — I need to have seven documents apostilled, and each one costs $173. The help I've received isn't enough; I wasn't able to fully cover the costs through fundraising campaigns, and I'm waiting for other opportunities to come through. But I really hope that we'll be together again soon.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

On 19 September 2026, around 1.200 people will gather at NDSM-wharf in Amsterdam to take part in A Percussion Piece, a large-scale participatory performance authored by Maxim Tyminko and organized and produced by antiwarcoalition.art. Wearing cardboard masks of real Belarusian political prisoners and playing improvised percussion instruments made from everyday objects, participants will turn their collective presence into a public act of solidarity.

The work is built around a simple warning: freedom is fragile, and it survives only when people protect it together.

Organised by Belarusian and Ukrainian art practitioners, the performance will draw attention to the hundreds of political prisoners still behind bars in Belarus, since the stolen elections of 2020 and raise awareness of the fragility of freedom, also in a long established democracy like the Netherlands.

Foundation antiwarcoalition.art, together with its partners including Belarus-focused organisations Politzek.me and MÀRA, human rights organisations Viasna and Libereco, PEN Nederland writers association, Pavetra e.V., strategic communications and design agency JUST, and NDSM, the Amsterdam wharf where the performance will take place — invites everyone who believes that freedom must be actively protected to join the performance on 19 September.

Each participant will wear the mask of a person imprisoned for political reasons in Belarus and carry their stories into public space. Participants are also invited to bring simple household objects — pots, pans, cans, buckets or lids — and use them as improvised percussion instruments. Together, these individual sounds will form a collective soundscape: a temporary voice for those whose own voices have been silenced.

The performance itself will last approximately 20–30 minutes and will express solidarity with people imprisoned for exercising their fundamental human rights. It will also draw attention to the need to stand up for freedom around the world, recognising how easily it can be restricted or taken away. The performance will be filmed, with the resulting video artwork intended for future presentation in museums, galleries and other cultural spaces, extending the conversation about why freedom must be actively defended. For participants, the experience will stand at the intersection of art and human rights: a collective act of solidarity, presence and shared responsibility.

The performance will be preceded by a kick-off event on 5 September in Amsterdam debating centre De Balie, where prominent former political prisoners from Belarus will discuss the need to stand up for freedom. This will include the talks by human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and philosopher and feminist thinker Olga Shparaga as well as an audiovisual performance centred around readings of essays by Belarusian lawyer, writer, and former political prisoner Maksim Znak.

The organisers are also calling on volunteers and sponsors to support the event and help bring this large-scale participatory artwork to life.

To register, visit makenoise.art.

The artist

The artist and the author of the original artistic concept is Maxim Tyminko, responsible for the artistic development and realisation of the work.

Maxim Tyminko is a media artist, curator, and developer based in Amsterdam. For more than three decades, he has been among the key figures shaping the field of Belarusian media art while actively contributing to international discourses on digital culture, networked media, and artistic experimentation. His practice explores media infrastructures, software, networked communication, and the politics of digital culture.

His work has been presented internationally at transmediale (a festival and year-round project in Berlin), WRO Media Art Biennale, documenta fifteen, Manifesta 14, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Mystetskyi Arsenal, and numerous museums and media art festivals across Europe and beyond.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski, and representatives of Belarusian CSOs met with the Director for Eastern Europe at Austria’s Ministry for European and International Affairs, Thomas Mühlmann.

The Belarusian organizations represented at the meeting included:

• the Belarusian Helsinki Committee;

• the Viasna Human Rights Centre;

• the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum;

• the Belarusian Council for Culture.

This was the first meeting with Mr. Mühlmann as the department’s director. Participants briefed him on the current situation in Belarus, presented their work, and discussed how to build on cooperation following Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s previous visits to Austria.

The discussion focused on:

• the situation of political prisoners and the ongoing repression in Belarus;

• transnational repression and the persecution of Belarusians in exile;

• support for civil society and cultural initiatives;

• legal stay issues faced by Belarusians in Austria, including expired passports and access to travel documents;

• cooperation between Ukraine and the democratic forces of Belarus.

Representatives of the human rights organizations spoke about the number of political prisoners, the situation inside Belarus, and the persecution of Belarusians beyond the country’s borders. They stressed that while the release of individual prisoners is welcome, it does not resolve the broader problem. Systemic change, an end to repression, and support for everyone who has suffered imprisonment and persecution remain essential.

Among those attending was Uladzimir Labkovich of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, who is a former political prisoner. He shared his personal experience of imprisonment and the challenges he has faced since his release. Persecution against him continues, including new criminal cases.

Representatives of CSOs described how they continue to operate despite repression and exile and maintain contact with people inside Belarus and outlined the types of support they currently need. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation with Austrian partners.

The Belarusian Council for Culture presented an overview of the current situation in the cultural sector and highlighted the work of Belarusian artists in the European context.

Dzianis Kuchynski thanked Austria for joining the International Humanitarian Fund and contributing €20,000 to support political prisoners and other repressed individuals in Belarus:

“It was important for us to establish contact with the new head of the department and continue implementing the agreements reached during Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s previous visits to Austria. We are grateful to Austria for supporting political prisoners, repressed individuals from Belarus, and the broader European policy of pressure on the regime.

We also discussed the situation of Belarusians living in Austria. Expired passports, travel documents, and other legal stay issues have become serious challenges for many people. We understand that there are no simple solutions, but we need to keep looking for them and remain in close contact with the Belarusian diaspora.

Austria is also home to Belarusian cultural figures and professionals from other fields who are unable to return home. We should help them continue their work and maintain their connection with Belarus”.

The participants agreed to turn the initiatives discussed into practical follow-up actions and to continue coordinating at the working level.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On July 9, the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic adopted a resolution in support of Belarus’s democratic forces and called on the Czech Government to continue supporting Belarusians. The resolution was introduced by the Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Security, Pavel Fischer.

Here is the English translation:

The resolution was supported almost unanimously: of the 49 senators present, 48 voted in favour, none voted against, and only one abstained. This decision confirms that support for democratic Belarus remains an important priority for the Czech Republic.

Kryścina Šyjanok, Director of the Office of the Democratic Forces in the Czech Republic, said:

“For Belarusians, it is very important to know that there are partners in Europe who consistently stand up for our rights and freedom. We are sincerely grateful to the Senate of the Czech Republic for this strong gesture of support and its principled position.”

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

As Columbia Global Freedom of Expression (CGFoE) continues to analyze the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) cases on freedom of expression violations in Belarus, Senior Legal Researcher Lautaro Furfaro interviews UN Special Rapporteur Nils Muižnieks about the country’s unabating crackdown on dissent.

Nils Muižnieks has served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus since November 1, 2024. A political scientist and human rights expert based in Riga, Latvia, he has previously served as Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Regional Director for Europe at Amnesty International, Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Latvia’s Minister for Social Integration, and Director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies. His UN mandate is to monitor the human rights situation in Belarus, make recommendations for its improvement, support civil society, and report annually to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

This interview focuses on freedom of expression in Belarus, in light of the Special Rapporteur’s recent reports and CGFoE’s work on UN Human Rights Committee decisions involving Article 19 of the ICCPR. 

The interview has been edited for clarity.

Lautaro Furfaro: In your April 2025 report to the Human Rights Council, you described the January 2025 presidential election as taking place amid a complete crackdown on freedom of expression, assembly, and association. For readers who are not specialists on Belarus, how would you describe the current state of freedom of expression in the country?

Nils Muižnieks: Until 2020, Belarus was a relatively mild authoritarian regime with significant censorship, but with easily accessible independent media, relatively free access to Western media, and a variety of online media. The big protests against fraudulent elections that year prompted a massive crackdown against all dissenting voices that continues today. The main targets of government persecution are journalists, editors, bloggers, and online activists. Those who have not been prosecuted and sent to prison fled abroad, mostly to Lithuania and Poland. Currently, Belarus has one of the most restrictive environments for freedom of expression in Europe. 

Liking or sharing posts on social media could lead to persecution

The same report describes continued pressure on journalists and media workers, the use of anti-extremism and counter-terrorism laws against independent media, and restrictions on online expression. What are the main tools currently used to silence journalists, independent media, and dissenting voices?

Many media workers have been prosecuted and are serving long prison terms under vaguely worded and arbitrarily applied “anti-terrorism” and “anti-extremism” laws, on charges of “inciting social hatred,” “discrediting Belarus,” “insulting the President,” or organizing protests. All independent media outlets have been shut down, and a large number of journalists have fled into exile. Many media outlets resumed their work from abroad, broadcasting TV or radio into Belarus and using various digital platforms, such as YouTube, Telegram channels, etc. The authorities have labeled many of these outlets “extremist.” In addition, if someone is found to have subscribed to the outlawed media outlets, cooperated with them, or even “liked” or “shared” their posts on social media, they could face persecution.

At CGFoE, I have been closely reviewing the Human Rights Committee’s Views on Article 19 of the ICCPR. According to my estimates, of roughly 230-240 Article 19 freedom of expression Views in the Committee’s history, around one-third concern Belarus. What explains this concentration, and what patterns do you see across these cases, including those involving peaceful protest, public events, political symbols, or expression of support for the opposition?

The large number of cases to the Human Rights Committee can be attributed to both the scale of repression in Belarus and the professionalism of its human rights defenders. Belarusian human rights defenders, led by organizations such as Viasna and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, are extremely well-versed in all the major regional and international human rights mechanisms and use them all regularly. I think they see the Human Rights Committee as one of their main avenues for advocacy. I have not studied the Belarusian cases in detail, but my sense is that the nature of the cases has evolved along with the arsenal of repression used by the authorities. For example, the red-white-red flag and the Pahonia coat of arms have become very prominent symbols of the democratic movement since 2020. Though these symbols are not banned, the authorities began to penalize their display during the broader crackdown over the last few years. “Anti-extremism” legislation has existed since 2007, but was significantly expanded and tightened from 2021 to 2023, along with large and growing official lists of “extremist formations” and “extremist materials.”     

Additional avenues for possible accountability: universal jurisdiction cases, the newly created special tribunal, and a hybrid tribunal

Given Belarus’s limited cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms, an issue discussed in the 2024 report transmitted by the Secretary-General, and its denunciation of the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, what do you see as the most realistic role for your mandate in the coming year? What mechanisms remain available to document violations, seek accountability, and keep these cases visible? 

Let me start with the latter question about available mechanisms, especially accountability mechanisms. Alongside my mandate, which was created in 2012, is an investigative body called the Group of Independent Experts on Belarus (GIEB), which the Human Rights Council created in 2024. The mandate of the GIEB is to gather evidence, particularly victim testimony, about violations of international law in Belarus with a focus on accountability. The GIEB and a non-governmental support body created by a number of European countries called the International Accountability Platform for Belarus have a huge amount of evidence that can be used for proceedings in international justice mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice, both of which are examining referrals regarding Belarus submitted by Lithuania. There are additional avenues for possible accountability, such as universal jurisdiction cases, the newly created special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine (which may examine cases where Belarus was complicit in or facilitated the aggression), or possible hybrid tribunals.

My mandate is a bit broader, and I use a slightly different methodology than that of the GIEB. The evidentiary standards used by the GIEB are higher, as their work is intended for possible use in judicial proceedings. I also interview victims to understand the situation better, but my work is more focused on highlighting broad trends in violations and bringing individual cases to the attention of the authorities through communications (letters to the authorities). I have more flexibility in public communications as well, while the GIEB is quite cautious in making public statements. 

As for the coming year, I have already issued a call for inputs for my next report to the General Assembly, which will focus on women’s rights and gender equality, examining the treatment of women in detention, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and more. I will continue to raise cases with the Belarusian authorities as needed, as I have received feedback from victims that this sometimes makes a difference. I also hope to engage more with the European Union.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

We, the undersigned members of national parliamentary delegations to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,

Guided by the principles and commitments enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, and other OSCE documents;

Emphasizing the importance of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as core values of the OSCE community;

Recalling that international observation missions of the OSCE ODIHR and the OSCE PA have for many years found that electoral processes in the Republic of Belarus do not meet OSCE commitments and standards;

Expressing concern over the continued political repression, the existence of political prisoners, and the restriction of civil and political rights and freedoms in Belarus;

Recognizing the forced emigration of a significant number of Belarusian citizens as a result of political persecution;

Recognizing the importance of supporting the democratic forces of Belarus and civil society in their pursuit of peaceful democratic change;

Welcoming the establishment of the informal Delegation of the Democratic Forces of Belarus for cooperation with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly;

Agree on the following:

1. To establish, within the OSCE PA, an informal cross-party parliamentary group “For a Democratic Belarus.” 

2. To define the group’s goal as promoting the restoration of democratic institutions, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and the holding of free and fair elections in the Republic of Belarus in accordance with OSCE commitments and standards.

3. To coordinate efforts of OSCE member states’ parliamentarians in support of the democratic development of Belarus.

4. To maintain regular dialogue and cooperation with the Delegation of the Democratic Forces of Belarus, representatives of civil society, and other interested parties.

5. To promote awareness within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of the situation regarding human rights, democratic institutions, and electoral processes in Belarus.

6. To carry out other activities consistent with the goals of this Memorandum and the principles of the OSCE.

This Memorandum is open for accession by any member of national delegations of OSCE participating States who share its goals and principles.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) condemns the use of Belarusian territory as a springboard for hybrid threats against OSCE participating States. This is stated in the organisation’s Hague Declaration, adopted on 8 July following its 33rd Annual Session.

In the document, parliamentarians noted that under Aliaksandr Lukashenka, Belarus “is no longer a factor of stability in the region, but, on the contrary, has turned into a source of threats to regional security in the OSCE area.”

“The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly condemns the use of Belarusian territory as a springboard for hybrid threats against OSCE participating States, calls for the immediate cessation of the Lukashenka regime’s use of migration as an instrument of political pressure and destabilisation. The Assembly also condemns actions that violate the security of the borders and airspace of OSCE participating States and calls on OSCE participating States to maintain and, where necessary, strengthen sanctions until real and verifiable changes are achieved, including an end to repression, participation in the aggression against Ukraine, and hybrid activities,” the resolution states.

At the same time, the parliamentarians welcomed the release of political prisoners. However, they stressed the need for the full and unconditional release of all detainees, without their forced deportation abroad and without using this process as an instrument of political pressure or a subject of bargaining.

Source: Zerkalo

In The Hague, on the sidelines of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the OSCE Secretary General, Roberto Montella, and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President, Pere Joan Pons. She was joined by a delegation of the democratic forces of Belarus, including representatives of her Office, the United Transitional Cabinet, the Coordination Council, and political parties.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the establishment of the Interparliamentary Group “For a Democratic Belarus” within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which has already been joined by MPs from 17 countries. The group will promote Belarus-related issues within the Assembly, organize events dedicated to Belarus, and advance support for the Belarusian democratic agenda.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked President Pere Joan Pons and the national delegations for enabling the Belarusian delegation to work as a shadow delegation and for providing it with the opportunity to participate in the Assembly’s activities. She welcomed the fact that the voice of Belarusian society — not the regime — is represented within the OSCE. The Belarusian leader expressed hope that the situation in Belarus would change and that the OSCE’s significance as a platform for dialogue would increase for the country’s future democratic transition.

The sides discussed the draft resolution on Belarus before its consideration. They also addressed the possibility of organizing Belarus-related events during the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s winter session.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

UN experts expressed serious concern over the arbitrary invalidation of passports of eight former Belarusian political prisoners forcibly expelled from Belarus after their release from detention, warning the measure may amount to a continuing form of transnational repression and expose them to risks of statelessness and other human rights violations.

The sequence of politically motivated imprisonment, forced expulsion and subsequent invalidation of passports points to an escalating pattern of transnational repression,” the experts said.

The eight individuals were forcibly expelled to Lithuania or Ukraine on 13 December 2025, where they discovered that their Belarusian passports had been unilaterally declared invalid despite remaining formally valid at the time of their expulsion. None received any official notification, decision or explanation.

“The arbitrary invalidation of identity documents can severely affect a person's right to freedom of movement, family life, legal status and access to employment, healthcare, banking services and other essential rights,” the experts said.

The experts recalled that they raised similar concerns in their 8 December 2025 public statement following the deportation of Belarusian political prisoners to Lithuania, and in a 22 October 2025 communication. The Group of Independent Experts on the human rights situation in Belarus also strongly condemned these actions. They also recalled their past concerns related to the 2023 Belarusian Presidential Decree on consular services, which put an end to the issuance and extension of identity documents in Belarusian consular services abroad.

The experts noted that Belarus had accepted recommendations to continue efforts aimed at reducing statelessness and to move towards accession to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions during its 2025 Universal Periodic Review.

The experts highlighted concerns regarding Leanid Sudalenka, a former political prisoner, human rights defender and former head of the Gomel branch of the Human Rights Centre Viasna. Following his release from prison in 2023, Sudalenka left Belarus due to continuing persecution. He was subsequently convicted in absentia under Belarus’ ‘special proceedings’ framework and is now reportedly facing three additional criminal investigations for “extremist” offences related to his human rights activities and public expression.

“Belarus must urgently cease using its vague and overly broad anti-extremism legislation to punish the legitimate exercise of protected rights.”

The experts recalled previous concerns about Belarus’ ‘special proceedings’, warning that the procedure is incompatible with fundamental fair trial guarantees, including the rights to effective notification, access to case materials, legal representation, meaningful appeal and effective remedy.

“Continuing criminal proceedings against Mr. Sudalenka, his inclusion in wanted-person databases and his inability to safely return to Belarus to reunite with his family illustrate the lasting and harmful effects of transnational repression, which seeks to intimidate, punish and silence human rights defenders even after they have left their country,” they said.

The experts have requested clarification from the Government of Belarus and continue to monitor the situation.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

A Belarusian citizen, identified as A., has been granted international protection (asylum) in the Czech Republic after more than two years of waiting, a rejection by the Ministry of the Interior, and a successful court appeal. Throughout the process, he received support from the Office of Belarus Democratic Forces in the Czech Republic, Czech lawyers, the BYSOL Foundation, and the Belarusian community in the Czech Republic.

A. first contacted the Prague Office in August 2024. At that point, he had already been waiting nearly two years for a decision on his application for international protection. The Office reviewed his case, provided a personal consultation, and helped him find part-time work and new accommodation.

In December 2024, A. received a negative decision on his application and turned to the Office again. The team helped him find a lawyer from the partner law firm BUCHTA, POKORNÝ & PARTNEŘI, which regularly handles cases involving Belarusians. It coordinated the next steps of the legal process.

To cover legal expenses, a fundraising campaign was launched through the BYSOL Foundation. The Prague Office verified the campaign and helped share it within the Belarusian community in the Czech Republic. Following the court appeal, A. was granted international protection and received a residence document valid for ten years.

“I would like to thank Kryścina Šyjanok, the entire Office, and everyone who supported me along the way. The support covered everything from finding housing and work to simply being there for me during difficult times. I am especially grateful for the help in finding a lawyer who filed an appeal after my application for international protection was rejected. Thanks to this support, I won the case and am now officially under the protection of the Czech Republic. I would also like to thank the BYSOL Foundation for providing financial assistance at the moment I needed it most”, A. says.

The Director of the Office of Belarus Democratic Forces in the Czech Republic, Kryścina Šyjanok, emphasizes that a refusal of international protection does not always mean the end of the process:

“We are pleased that, after a long wait and a successful court appeal, A. has been granted international protection. For our team, this is also an important result of our joint efforts with lawyers, the BYSOL Foundation, and the Belarusian diaspora in the Czech Republic.

The process of obtaining international protection can be lengthy and challenging. That is why it is important to seek assistance as early as possible — ideally while preparing the application. Even if a person has already received a refusal, in many cases the decision can be challenged in court.

Our Office does not have a staff lawyer, but we work closely with specialized organizations and Czech attorneys who have experience handling Belarus-related cases. We help people find the right legal experts, establish communication, and coordinate support from different organizations and the Belarusian community”.

The Prague Office continues to strengthen cooperation with Czech human rights organizations, lawyers, and NGOs that assist migrants. It also maintains dialogue with Czech government institutions to make procedures for Belarusians clearer and ensure they take into account the new forms of threats and repression posed by the regime in Belarus.

When should one contact the Prague Office?

Write to czechia.office@tsikhanouskaya.org if:

• you are planning to apply for international protection after you have had to leave Belarus, or you are already living in the Czech Republic and have learned that you are facing political persecution in Belarus. If possible, you should seek assistance while preparing your application;

• your application for international protection has been rejected, but returning to Belarus would put you at risk;

• you are facing an emergency or urgent issues related to documents, legal status, or personal safety;

• you need advice or contacts for organizations that provide support with integration, psychological assistance, or learning the Czech language;

• you need help promoting a fundraising campaign or initiative within the Belarusian community in the Czech Republic. Before sharing such information, the Office verifies it.

Kryścina Šyjanok: “We work to ensure that Belarusians are not left alone with their problems during difficult times. This case once again demonstrates what can be achieved when professional assistance and solidarity come together”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Summary:

• Severe state terror continues in Belarus, and the human rights situation is assessed by experts as critical. Systemic repression shows no sign of abating and continues to be directed against dissidents, political opponents, participants in protests, journalists, and human rights defenders.

• The absence of improvements in the human rights situation at the level of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms indicates stagnation and provides no grounds for hope of any evolution of the regime.

• These and other negative factors keep Belarus in the focus of international attention in connection with gross and systematic human rights violations.

• The political opposition in Belarus has been crushed, and the persecution of dissidents continues. Transnational persecution is expanding and includes deportations under the threat of arbitrary criminal prosecution. Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment continue to be documented.

• As of the end of June 2026, 859 political prisoners were held in detention facilities in Belarus, including 117 women. The number of former political prisoners stands at 3,867.

• Human rights defenders have registered at least 176 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerable due to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

• In June, human rights defenders recognized 43 individuals as political prisoners.

• In June, human rights defenders became aware of at least 74 cases of repression arising from criminal or administrative prosecution, including detentions, searches, and trials. Over the past three months, more than 270 such cases have been recorded.

• Cross-border repression continues in the form of arbitrary criminal prosecution, inclusion in extremist lists, coercion into clandestine cooperation with security services, surveillance, pressure exerted through relatives and loved ones who remain in Belarus, and confiscation of property belonging to those who have left the country.

• Statistics on the designation of organizations and groups of individuals as “extremist entities” indicate an increased potential for criminal repression compared to last year. There were 46 entities in the current period versus 41 in the same period in 2025. This level is the same as in the first half of 2022 and 1.5 times higher than in the first half of 2023.

• Statistics on additions to the List of Individuals Involved in Extremist Activities indicate that the level of criminal prosecutions remains higher than in 2024, averaging approximately 100 individuals per month. This figure is slightly below last year’s average of more than 110 individuals per month, but higher than the 2024 average of 97 individuals per month.

International accountability mechanisms

On June 2, UN Special Rapporteurs and experts expressed serious concern about the conditions of detention and the deteriorating health of political prisoners in Belarus, stating that cases of inhuman treatment may be occurring, and calling on the authorities to ensure urgent medical assistance and to review the application of the laws on “extremism” and “terrorism.” 

UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus Nils Muižnieks published a new report on the human rights situation in Belarus covering the period from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. The report addresses the systematic deterioration of human rights, including political repression, restrictions on freedom of expression and the media, persecution of opposition members and activists via “extremism” laws, violations of prisoners’ rights, discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals and users of the Belarusian language. The report also discusses the widespread pressure on cultural and educational spheres, accompanied by the ideologization of history, russianization, and intensified political control over society.

On June 18, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.  

In the Global Torture Index 2026, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) placedBelarus in the “very high risk” category for the second consecutive year, indicating systematic violations of the absolute prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, as well as extremely weak guarantees for the prevention of and protection against torture and ill-treatment. 

Politically motivated persecution and political prisoners 

Statistics 

Since 2020, at least 9,914 individuals have faced politically motivated criminal prosecution, and at least 8,590 have been convicted, including in absentia. These figures continue to grow each month, although human rights defenders are significantly limited in their ability to obtain information on prosecutions.

As of the end of June, 859 political prisoners remain in detention, including 117 women. After several groups of political prisoners were pardoned, causing a sharp drop in the total number, the figure has gradually risen again as new criminal prosecutions have increased.

Human rights defenders have registered 176 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerable due to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

The number of former political prisoners stands at 3,867, including 769 women. 

Repression

On June 25, Kanstantsin Bychak, the head of the Investigative Committee of Belarus, stated at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that “legal assessments have been made of all participants in the mass riots, including organizers, individuals who resisted law enforcement officers, and, most importantly, those who planned to change the constitutional order violently.” This statement does not indicate that the prosecution of participants in the 2020 protests has ceased. Rather, it reflects a definitive legal assessment by prosecutors and an expansive approach to defining who is subject to criminal liability.

Widespread attempts to recruit Belarusians in exile are being documented, including through parents remaining in Belarus, and allegedly on behalf of human rights defenders and journalists.

The KGB continued to conduct mass searches of the homes of exiled Belarusians. Some of these searches were connected to participation in diaspora events marking Freedom Day on March 25. Since the beginning of June, more than 60 searches involving students and their parents have been documented in connection with studies at the European Humanities University.

The persecution of members of chats for relatives of convicted individuals — some of which were previously designated as extremist entities — continued.

Enhanced checks, smartphone inspections, interrogations, and detentions at border crossing points continued. Reports included the detention of a Lithuanian national and of a former KGB officer holding both Polish and Belarusian citizenship.

Reports were also received of the prolonged detention of Ukrainian national Natalia Batashovain a temporary detention facility.

Reports continued to emerge of the sale of property seized in the context of politically motivated criminal cases against political prisoners, and pursuant to in absentia court decisions against activists in forced exile. For example, a car belonging to deported political prisoner Vital Tsynkel was put up for auction; the apartment of Pavel Daneika — an in absentia convicted former member of the Coordination Council and former director of BEROC — was sold; and icons belonging to political prisoner, Catholic priest, Henryk Okołotowicz were put upfor auction.

Conditions of political prisoners

Uladzimir Kniha has remained in incommunicado detention since September 5, 2023. Political prisoners Ihar Alinevich, Mikita Dranets, and Artsiom Salavei — anarchists — are also likely held in incommunicado detention; they are reported to be held in Correctional Facility No. 20, where they are constantly placed in punishment cells and a Secure Housing Unit (SHU). Reports were also received about political prisoners convicted in the Black Book of Belarus case being isolated from other prisoners.

Among the political prisoners are three individuals who were detained as minors: Dzmitry Zakharoshka, Trafim Barysau, and Aliaksandra Pulinovich.

Reports were received of a deterioration in health and a mini-stroke suffered by Kiryl Ashurak; Aliaksandra Kasko has been diagnosed with an illness. Vasil Verameichyk has serious cardiac problems and may have suffered a heart attack while in detention.

Human rights defenders have registered 176 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerabledue to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

Human rights defenders continue to document pressure on former political prisoners and their families, including reports of visits from KGB officers for “informal intimidation meetings.”

Persecution of human rights defenders 

Human rights defenders Uladzimir Tseliapun, held in a remand center on charges of extremism and defamation, and Vital Chopik, serving a seven-year sentence of imprisonment for transmitting information about politically motivated court proceedings, remain in detention.

On June 12, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders — a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) — issued an urgent appeal in connection with the arbitrary detention of Uladzimir Tseliapun.

Torture and prohibited treatment

June 26 marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture — a date intended to remind us of the inviolability of human dignity. In Belarus, notwithstanding all international obligations, ill-treatment and violence by law enforcement agencies remain a systemic state practice and an instrument of political control, the scale of which remains critical. Human rights defenders described how the character of repression in Belarusian places of detention has changed in recent years, why torture survivors often remain silent about their experiences, and why the recent opening of an International Criminal Court investigation offers a genuine prospect of justice.

Human rights defenders continue to document instances of torture and ill-treatment in Belarus. The KGB Remand Center remains the most closed and brutal facility, where individuals are subjected to all means of coercion. Testimonies of former political prisoners describe suspension in handcuffs, placement in a “padded cell,” suffocation with bags and water, tazing, sleep deprivation, and constant psychological pressure. It also became known today that the KGB held the parishioners of the political prisoner, Catholic priest Henryk Okołotowicz, hostage to exert pressure on him. Earlier, human rights defenders published the harrowing account of the persecution and torture of a family from Ukraine in Belarus. Mikola Dziadok described being beaten and placed in a “padded cell” in the KGB facility before his release. On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Viasna Human Rights Center interviewedhuman rights defender Uladzimir Labkovich, who was detained in the KGB Remand Center, and compiled several accounts of torture and abuse that occurred there.

These and other facts support the position of human rights defenders that crimes against humanity and gross human rights violations in Belarus are ongoing — they were not limited to 2020 — and require investigation followed by the accountability of those responsible. Central to this must be the key demands of survivors, including access to medical, psychological, and social support.

Suppression of the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association

The suppression of freedom of peaceful assembly continues. Of the current political prisoners, 147 were deprived of their liberty, in part, under Article 342 of the Criminal Code for participating in peaceful protests in 2020–2021.

On June 9 in Brest, Natallia Bandaruk — sister of former political prisoner Daniil Bandaruk — was detained for three days pending an administrative hearing on charges of participating in an “unauthorized mass gathering” for distributing Christian teachings on Easter Sunday; on June 12, a court imposed a fine of $78.

The situation regarding freedom of association remains critical. According to Lawtrend, since 2020, at least 2,033 civil society organizations have been dissolved or are in the process of dissolution. This figure continues to rise.

According to Ecohome, more than 140 environmental organizations have ceased operations since 2021. Over 80 environmental organizations have been forcibly dissolved, including the most prominent — Ecohome, APB BirdLife Belarus, Bahna, and the Minsk Cycling Society. Approximately 60 organizations also suspended their activities, either independently or under pressure from the authorities.

Four Greek Catholic (Uniate) parishes reportedly failed to re-register: the parish in Orša and all parishes in Brest Region — in Brest, Baranavičy, and Ivacevičy. Re-registration was required under the 2023 Act on Amendments to Acts Concerning the Activities of Religious Organizations. The new requirements included an absolute ban on political activity by believers and a mandatory requirement of Belarusian citizenship for the head of a religious association. Religious activity without the establishment and state registration of a religious organization is prohibited on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Organizing or participating in the activities of a religious organization that has not undergone state registration in the established manner constitutes a criminal offense under Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code and may be punishable by imprisonment.

The Supreme Court examined the appeal against the in absentia verdict of the Viciebsk Regional Court against the election observation initiative Honest People; the verdict was left unchanged.

The persecution of newly elected members of the Coordination Council — the alternative representative body of Belarus’s pro-democratic forces — continued. Ryta Hatsikh, a representative of the Latushka Coalition and For Freedom Movement faction, received threats, most likely from Belarusian security services.

In the Black Book of Belarus case — an online project that exposed the identities of those involved in falsifying the 2020 presidential election and of individuals responsible for torture and ill-treatment of detained protesters, and in connection with which Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega were detained in 2021 following the unlawful forced diversion of a Ryanair flight — at least 31 people are known to have been convicted, 21 of whom remain in detention.

Violation of freedom of expression

Criminal prosecution for criticism of the authorities and manifestations of disloyalty continued. 

A new instance of disproportionately harsh detention for the peaceful expression of opinion became known — involving five fully equipped riot police officers — against a 41-year-old resident of Salihorsk.

Andrei Makouski, director of the Minsk architecture studio ZROBIM architects — at which searches and detentions of staff had previously taken place following the studio management’s public criticism of the authorities’ requirement to introduce an ideological officer position on staff — was detained and remanded in custody on charges of an economic nature.   

Former police officer Mikhail Kutsko was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment under Article 356 of the Criminal Code (high treason). On June 12, the Hrodna Regional Court found him guilty of “disclosing state secrets of the Republic of Belarus to a foreign state and its representatives and otherwise assisting a foreign state and its representatives in conducting activities aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus, committed intentionally by a citizen of the Republic of Belarus.”

At least 151 individuals are known to have been convicted on charges of treason (including incitement to treason). This is an extremely high figure. In total, at least 185 individuals have been convicted since 2020 on charges of treason, espionage, and intelligence activities. By way of comparison, in Russia — which is at war — courts (including military courts and courts in the occupied territories of four regions) have handed down, by various estimates, between 1,035 and 1,100 convictions on equivalent charges over the same period. Taking into account the 16-fold difference in population size (approximately the same ratio applies to the adult population), a sixfold difference in the number of convictions indicates a level of repression in this area that is almost three times higher in Belarus.

Aksana Valvachova was convicted by Minsk City Court under Part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code (calls for actions aimed at causing harm to national security) and Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting Aliaksandr Lukashenka) for statements made in Telegram, including referring to herself as “a Ukrainian from occupied Minsk.” 

Persecution for the receipt and dissemination of information from independent Belarusian media designated by the authorities as extremist materials continues without abatement. Cases of administrative prosecution were documented for screenshotting the media outlet Nasha Nivaand for subscribing to the media outlet Charter’97 on the social media platform Odnoklassniki.

Khatereh Khodadadi, an Iranian national detained in Belarus for online statements about the Iranian authorities, was deported from Belarus and banned from entry for 30 years. It also became known that another Iranian national was deported from Belarus and banned from entry for 30 years following an administrative penalty under Article 19.11 of the Administrative Violations Code (distribution of extremist materials). Their detentions were directly connected to their political beliefs and the exercise of freedom of expression. Repressive actions by Belarusian security services against individuals for criticizing the undemocratic official government of Iran represent a stark example of the mutual support rendered between totalitarian regimes. 

On June 19, amendments to the Administrative Violations Code entered into force, introducing liability for “propaganda of homosexual relationships, gender transition, childlessness, and pedophilia” (Article 19.16) and “unlawful representation of the Republic of Belarus at international events” (Article 24.62).

Media outlet Nasha Niva disclosed the list of government officials responsible for the List of Printed Publications Containing Information and/or Materials Whose Distribution May Harm the National Interests of the Republic of Belarus. This list arbitrarily censors the print media market, exploiting vague, legally undefined formulations to impose extrajudicial restrictions on the freedom to seek, receive, and disseminate information. The officials named are: Liliya Ananich, Dzianis Yazerski, Dzianis Ilyashevich, Artsiom Shkrobat, Siarhei Kabakovich, Maksim Litsvinski, Yury Dyrman, Siarhei Hlazyryn, Aliaksandr Haradnichenka, Uladzimir Makarau, Yuliya Yarotskaya, Anastasiya Kudreika, Larysa Mialhui, Ryhor Vasilevich, Ihar Lutski, Halina Shyshkina, Volha Papko, and Mikalai Sukhotski.

Violations of rights and freedoms under the pretext of combating extremism and terrorism 

In June, human rights defenders continued to document new criminal prosecutions and detentions on fabricated charges of “extremism” and “terrorism.”

Vasil Herasimau, Chair of the State Control Committee, stated at a joint session of the chambers of parliament that “in 2025, 100 crimes related to the financing of terrorism and extremism were terminated.”

On June 2, it was revealed that a criminal case had been opened in connection with the activities of the European Humanities University (EHU) in Vilnius. The EHU was previously designated an extremist organization by the Supreme Court of Belarus. Throughout the month, the KGB conducted searches, interrogations, and informal intimidating conversations at the homes of students, former students, and their relatives in Belarus. They demanded that students either withdraw from the university or provide proof of graduation. At least 60 students and former students are known to have faced searches, interrogations, detentions, and various forms of intimidation. It has been documented that, during the conduct of these procedural measures, law enforcement agencies fail to provide the required copies of search records, summonses for interrogation, and other procedural documents.

As in previous months, a large number of criminal charges and convictions for “assistance in extremist activity” were recorded across a broad spectrum of peaceful interaction with independent media, human rights organizations, pro-democracy political formations, solidarity funds, and similar entities. During the month, Viasna Human Rights Center published reports on 19 such cases of persecution, including those involving Dzmitry Zhuk, Kiryl Loika, Hanna Krasneuskaya, Sviatlana Karaliova, and others. 

The persecution for making donations continued, including through the solidarity fund BYSOL. At least 159 individuals are known to have been convicted of making donations. The longest sentences of imprisonment were handed down against Iryna Rashkevich (nine years) and Mikalai Vasilevich (nine years and six months). By the end of 2023, the authorities had already reported more than 37 million Belarusian rubles (more than 10 million euros) in “voluntary donations” extorted from citizens under threat of criminal prosecution for financing solidarity initiatives. 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Committee, as in previous months, continued to expand — through extrajudicial procedures — lists and registries designating individuals, organizations, and initiatives as “extremism” or “terrorism.”

The List of Organizations and Individuals Involved in Terrorist Activities contained 1,628 individuals at the end of June, of whom 714 are Belarusian citizens included on political grounds. 14 individuals were added to the list in June, all of them Belarusian citizens. The List of Terrorist Organizations contains 484 entries, six of which are Belarusian organizations. No additions were made this month.

The List of Belarusian Citizens, Foreign Nationals, or Stateless Persons Involved in Extremist Activities was expanded by 95 individuals, bringing the total to 6,745. The List of Extremist Entities was expanded by two entries — the satirical cultural project Chyn Chyn Channel and the Association of Belarusians in America — and now includes 373 organizations and initiatives.

The National List of Extremist Materials was also expanded during the month. For example, pursuant to court decisions, more than 50 sticker sets on Telegram were added to the list.

Violations of the right to a fair trial

Special (in absentia) proceedings — which allow the imposition of a conviction without the defendant’s presence — have long since extended beyond the prosecution of politicians and activists in exile and now encompass a broader range of statements and activities that the authorities classify as manifestations of disloyalty.

For example, special proceedings were initiated against Katsiaryna Mankevich, vocalist of the band Dymna Lotva, on charges of terrorism and extremism.

Defendants in such proceedings are systematically denied even the minimal guarantees of due process and a fair trial.

For instance, the investigation in the special proceedings criminal case against five Kastus Kalinouski Regiment volunteers — Mikalai Boika, political prisoner Natallia Nikitsina, Krystsina Stankevich, and Mikhail Chuprynski — was completed in three days. The criminal case has been forwarded to the Prosecutor General for referral to court.

Courts continue to play an active role in politically motivated prosecutions, including through the abuse of anti-extremism and anti-terrorism legislation.

As a result of such in absentia decisions, defendants’ property is frequently seized and auctioned off to recover monetary fines. For example, the apartments of Aliaksandr Azarau — head of BYPOL, convicted in absentia of 25 years’ imprisonment and a fine of almost $135,000 — have been put up for sale.

Human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka, whose TikTok account was designated as an extremist web resource by a decision of the Maladziečna District Court, was denied a copy of the decision.

Appeals remain ineffective. Courts of appellate jurisdiction, in the vast majority of cases, leave sentences unchanged; where they do amend decisions in favor of defendants, it is typically on formal grounds or involves minor changes. This occurred in the appeal in the case against journalists Uladzimir Yanukevich and Andrei Pakalenka. On June 8, the Supreme Court heard the appeals and left Yanukevich’s sentence unchanged, while reducing Pakalenka’s sentence from 12 to 11 years’ imprisonment.

Courts continue to abuse the procedure of closed hearings, which is permissible under international standards only in exceptional circumstances. For example, all proceedings known to Viasna Human Rights Center in cases involving charges of “high treason” (Article 356 of the Criminal Code) are held behind closed doors — while, since 2023, this article has, in certain cases, provided for the death penalty as a possible punishment.

Persecution for solidarity with Ukraine in the context of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine 

Siarhei Stasenka was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, apparently in connection with a new rail sabotage case.

In the Belaruski Hajun case — in which individuals are charged with transmitting information about Russian military equipment and its movements on Belarusian territory via the Belaruski Hajun Telegram bot — at least 200 individuals are known to have been convicted.

Among those convicted, Yana Hurynovich and Volha Marchanka — who had been held in a remand center — were sentenced to home confinement. In contrast, Pavel Charniak was sentenced to four years of confinement in an open correctional facility.

Viasna Human Rights Center also published an anonymized account of the torture of an individual detained in the Belaruski Hajun case, including death threats and beatings during detention, painful methods of physical coercion in a temporary detention facility, the use of an electric shock device, physical violence, and systematic psychological pressure during pre-trial detention and in a correctional facility.  

Dzmitry Korsakau and Tatsiana Korsakava were sentenced to 14 and 12 years’ imprisonment, respectively, and their daughter, Pelaheya Korsakava — who is in Ukraine — was sentenced in absentia to 11 years’ imprisonment, all on charges of “treason.”

It was revealed that Andrei Siarheyeu, a volunteer in the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, was detained in August 2025 while attempting to cross from Belarus into Poland.

Persecution of journalists

Journalists continue to face persecution for their work, both inside the country and abroad.  

According to data from the Belarusian Association of Journalists, 21 media workers were in detention as of the end of June 2026.

On June 8, the Supreme Court examined the appeals of Uladzimir Yanukevich and Andrei Pakalenka — former heads of the regional independent newspaper Intex-Press — charged with “high treason” (Article 356 of the Criminal Code). Yanukevich’s sentence was left unchanged at 14 years of imprisonment. Pakalenka’s sentence was reduced by one year — to 11 years of imprisonment.

On June 26, Minsk City Court handed down verdicts against journalist Kiryl Pazniak and his daughter Yanina Pazniak. Kiryl was sentenced to three years and six months of imprisonment and a fine of $8,542 for offenses under Articles 361-1 (establishment of or participation in an extremist entity) and 369-1 (discrediting Belarus) of the Criminal Code of Belarus. The journalist and his daughter were found to have established an extremist entity: the YouTube channel Platforma 375, which covered economic and political events in the country. The YouTube channel Platforma 375 was designated as an extremist entity on the day of Kiryl and Yanina’s detention, September 3, 2025.

Journalists are subjected to transnational repression.

On June 30, the apartment of journalist and human rights defender Uladzimir Khilmanovich — convicted in absentia in 2024 — was sold at auction. Earlier, the authorities had sold all of the family’s household appliances, as well as the human rights defender’s dacha in Masty District. On August 19, 2024, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Khilmanovich in absentia to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of approximately 11,500 euros.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

During the meeting, which took place on 30 June, Yulia Yukhno met with the honorary consuls in attendance, spoke about the work of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Italy and the Centre of the Belarusian Democratic Community in Italy, and also about support for Belarusians who have been forced to leave their homeland.

“Such meetings contribute to the development of international cooperation, the expansion of professional contacts, and greater awareness within the international community about the situation in Belarus. At the same time, the activities of the Belarusian democratic community in Italy are becoming increasingly visible,” Yulia said.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

The Human Rights Center Viasna presented the final report Hidden Repression in Belarus 2020–2026, which analyzes how the nature of persecution in the country has changed dramatically over the past six years. The growth of criminal cases against the background of silence, the information blockade, and the threat of a civilizational regress are the main topics of the document. Pavel Sapelka, a human rights activist from Viasna, explains why the repression has become "invisible" and how this threatens the Belarusian society.

In 2020–2021, the authorities acted as demonstratively as possible, but in recent years, the regime's tactics have changed. The external calm in the country is an illusion that hides harsh and deep pressure.

"While in 2020–2021 the repression was demonstrative, with mass detentions on the streets and high-profile trials just to intimidate society, then closer to 2026 the system switched to the tactics of 'hidden repression.' This means that outwardly everything looks calm, but in reality, the pressure remains no less deep, but invisible. The authorities have created a real information blockade: they have classified statistics on 'extremist' cases, conduct mass closed trials, use sentences in absentia, and silence lawyers and relatives through non-disclosure agreements and intimidation," says expert Pavel Sapelka.

Read the full text via the link.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

Emigration no longer guarantees complete security. The Belarusian authorities have learned to circumvent the rules of Interpol and started fabricating economic crimes against their political opponents abroad. A Belarusian might go on a business trip or on vacation to a country "friendly" to the regime and be put in a pre-trial detention center under threat of extradition to their homeland. Viasna reviewed how the traps of the international search work. And Sviatlana Halauniova, a lawyer at Viasna, commented on the details.

The work of international mechanisms of cross-border persecution in theory

To harass their political opponents abroad, the Belarusian authorities use a whole arsenal of international tools: from manipulating Interpol databases to shadow diplomacy and cooperation of special services.

Interpol mechanisms and fabricated "economic crimes"

The main tool on a global scale is Interpol's Red Notice, an international search and extradition request. According to the rules, an Interpol special commission checks such requests and must block them if it sees a political motive behind them.

However, the Belarusian authorities have found a loophole: criminal cases are initiated against activists and political migrants (most often after absentee trials) solely under economic articles such as "tax evasion", "embezzlement", or "fraud". If the Interpol commission does not see an explicit political context behind the economic article, the person is put on the international wanted list.

This creates huge problems even in the EU countries. Even if a Belarusian is a resident of the European Union or is under international protection, they will be detained when crossing the border until the circumstances are clarified. The trial can take from several days to many months. That was the case with Belarusian film director Andrei Gnyot in Serbia, who spentalmost a year behind bars.

In another case, a Belarusian-Polish citizen, Karyna Zdanevich-Spykhalskaya, was arrested at Italy's Bergamo airport on an Interpol warrant. Back home, a “financial” case was fabricated against her — allegedly for intentionally bankrupting a company — to punish her for participating in solidarity demonstrations in Warsaw in 2020. Although the Italian prosecutor's office immediately noted the risk of political persecution, it took the woman several months to prove her case. It was only in June that the Court of Appeal definitively denied Minsk's extradition request, and Karyna was able to return to Poland.

Although the European courts eventually release people, understanding the political context, the Red Notice itself does not disappear. Removing one's name from the Interpol database is a separate, extremely complex procedure that requires contacting a commission and can take years.

In addition to Red Notice, other mechanisms are used through Interpol:

Diffusion: a direct request from the Belarusian office of Interpol to the office of another specific country. This mechanism does not pass verification through the central office in Lyon. Thus, Minsk bypasses the commission for checking political motives (for example, in 2023, a Belarusian was detained in Spain).

Blue Notice: A request not for arrest, but for information collection. It allows special services to check whether a person is in a certain country and track their movements.

Database of lost and stolen passports

According to international human rights activists (for example, the IAPB), Minsk enters the documents of political emigrants there to monitor their trips and create problems for them at the border.

CIS interstate search

While Interpol has at least some checks and balances, there are none in the CIS interstate search database. It is very easy to extradite a person through it. The most dangerous situation is in Russia, where mass detentions and extraditions of Belarusians have been recorded within the framework of the Union State cooperation over the past year. Human rights defenders are also aware of a successful extradition from Kyrgyzstan and cases of detention in Armenia.

Thus, Brest activist Viktar Klimus was detained on June 15 at Armenia's airport when he arrivedin the country from Poland on a business trip. Armenian border guards said his name was on an international wanted list. Later that same day, the activist was released.

Bilateral agreements and "shadow" diplomacy

The authorities do not have to use Interpol to get a person. Belarus has dozens of bilateral agreements on legal assistance (which include extradition). According to the Ministry of Justice, such agreements have been officially signed with the UAE, Serbia, Vietnam, China, Cuba, Qatar, India, and others. Formally, such agreements exist with EU countries (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, etc.), but democratic countries take into account the context and reject requests.

If a country is considered "friendly" to the regime, often even formal treaties are not needed. Through diplomatic relations, direct contacts between the special services, the police, or the ministries of defense, these countries agree on the extradition of a specific person.

Passport problems and the threat of deportation

The inability to exchange a Belarusian passport abroad makes political migrants even more vulnerable. Being on the international wanted list makes it very difficult to find a country that will grant asylum (outside Poland and Lithuania, it is often much more difficult to obtain international protection).

If a European country refuses protection, a person is deprived of the legal grounds for staying there and must leave the EU. For example, in 2024, due to problems with legalization, a Belarusian man and his mother were deported from Sweden to Belarus. After crossing the border, the man was detained for political reasons.

Dangerous countries for travel

On Pashpart.org, supported by the Democratic Forces of Belarus, the office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Joint Transitional Cabinet, and the People's Embassies, there is a detailed guide on which countries are safe for travel and which places are dangerous to go to.

Does a Geneva passport and refugee status guarantee safety?

According to Sviatlana Halauniova, a lawyer at the Viasna Human Rights Center, international search and extradition issues have complex migration and criminal specifics.

Many emigrants hope that having a Geneva passport or refugee status (for example, in Poland or Lithuania) guarantees complete protection from detention. This does provide the highest degree of international protection, but there is never a one-hundred percent certainty.

On the one hand, Interpol has a special policy of protecting refugees from persecution. If the country where a Belarusian has received protection confirms their status (this primarily applies to persons with a Geneva passport), Interpol blocks or deletes requests from the state carrying out the persecution.

However, the threat is not limited to Interpol. There are always direct extradition requests between individual states and local databases of the special services of some countries on the territory of others. Therefore, even with refugee status, when planning a trip, it is necessary to take into account the political context of the country of entry and its relations with Belarus.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

On 25 June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution No. 2669 on combating transnational repression. This is not just another international document, as it clearly states that authoritarian regimes “pursue their citizens beyond national borders, using administrative, legal, and economic instruments of pressure.”

For the first time at the PACE level, the resolution describes in detail how this happens in practice. It openly states that such instruments include “cancellation or refusal to issue passports,” “denial of consular protection,” “abuse of Interpol mechanisms,” “financial discrimination,” and “pressure on family members.” These are precisely the forms of persecution faced by thousands of Belarusians in exile.

Importantly, the document not only identifies the problem but also proposes concrete solutions. PACE calls on states to “create alternative mechanisms for issuing documents to persons deprived of passports for political reasons,” “ensure access to banking services,” “take into account the risks of transnational persecution when examining asylum applications,” and “introduce targeted sanctions against those responsible for such persecution.”

In this way, the resolution turns recognition of the problem into a set of practical tools for protection. It provides European states with clear recommendations on how to respond to pressure from authoritarian regimes and how to protect people who are under threat abroad.

This document is the result of long-term joint work by parliamentarians, experts, and representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces.

We sincerely thank PACE President Petra Bayr, rapporteur Constantinos Efstathiou, the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly, and all the members who supported this important initiative.

Special thanks go to the Belarusian team that took part in preparing expert materials, consultations, and work with the authors of the resolution. This includes Pavel Latushka, Valery Matskevich, Kseniya Lutskina, Rita Gatikh, Marharyta Vorykhava, Pavel Tereshkovich, and other representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces, whose professional contribution helped make the document well-grounded and closer to the real needs of Belarusians.

However, the adoption of the resolution is not the end, but the beginning of a new stage of work.

Now, PACE’s recommendations must be reflected in the legislation and administrative practice of European states. It is at the national level that decisions will be made on the issuance of documents, access to banking services, protection against abuses of Interpol and other mechanisms that directly affect the lives of Belarusians.

In this work, the People’s Embassies of Belarus also have an important role to play. Together with Belarusian associations, activists, national authorities, and international partners, we will work to ensure that PACE’s recommendations do not remain empty words on paper, but become real mechanisms for protecting our fellow Belarusians in every country where Belarusians live.

Source: People’s Consulate of Belarus in Nice

On June 22, a briefing dedicated to the work of Belarusian democratic and civil society organizations took place in Vilnius for representatives of Ireland. The Irish side was represented by Ireland’s Ambassador to Lithuania, Seadhna MacHugh.

From the Belarusian side, participants included the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Volnyja, the A Country to Live In Foundation, RADA, the Belarusian Council for Culture, and former political prisoners Eduard Palchys and Kim Samusenka. The Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was represented by the Advisor on Parliamentary Cooperation and Constitutional Reform, Anatoli Liabedzka.

Representatives of the NGOs presented their work and outlined their current needs across a range of areas. These included cooperation with people inside Belarus, support for independent media and civic initiatives, cultural projects, and new opportunities for Belarusian youth.

The participants also discussed preparations for a conference on Belarusian culture planned for October, as well as possible formats for participation and support from international partners.

Following the briefing, Irish representatives received informational materials and documents containing proposals from Belarusian NGOs. These focused on continued support for civil society and ensuring that Belarus remains on the European agenda.

The meeting took place ahead of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is set to begin on July 1, 2026.

Anatoli Liabedzka: “It was important for us that representatives of Ireland hear directly from Belarusian NGOs about how they work today, the challenges they face, and the support they need. We presented concrete materials and proposals across a range of areas — from cooperation with people inside the country to cultural projects and opportunities for young people. We hope these issues will be taken into account during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

"When speaking about the situation of Belarusian citizens residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of humanitarian visas, temporary residence permits obtained for humanitarian reasons, or subsidiary protection, it should be clearly emphasized that close family members of these individuals (parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren) have the opportunity to apply for visas on the basis of notarially certified invitations," — as stated in the response of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the corresponding appeal by Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet, delegate of the Coordination Council of Belarus Pavel Latushka.

Belarusian citizens residing on the territory of Poland on the basis of a residence permit for humanitarian reasons approached Pavel Latushka with a request to help resolve the issue of inviting relatives to Poland.

The problem was that, following an approach to the Polish consulate in Minsk with a request to consider the possibility of issuing visas for parents, a response was received stating that persons holding a temporary residence permit may invite their parents to Poland provided that an invitation is arranged for them through the Voivodeship Office. The Voivodeship Office, in turn, responded that an invitation may be issued by a foreigner who, immediately prior to issuing the invitation, had legally and continuously resided on the territory of the Republic of Poland for no less than 5 years, or holds a permanent residence permit, or a long-term EU resident permit.

In responding to Pavel Latushka's appeal on this matter, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted that "in correspondence with the consul for the purpose of scheduling a date for submitting a visa application, these individuals must provide full information about the basis on which they obtained the right to reside in Poland. A consul, having received only a scan of a residence card marked 'access to the labour market', cannot determine whether the card was obtained on the basis of a temporary residence and work permit, or for humanitarian reasons, which also grant the right to employment, even though the actual basis for applying for the right of residence is entirely different. In order for the consul to make the correct decision regarding the application of the preferential procedure to a specific individual, he must have complete information about the inviting party. Possible misunderstandings may result from the absence of a full picture of the matter."

"The United Transitional Cabinet expresses its gratitude to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for facilitating the obtaining of visas for relatives of Belarusian citizens, including those residing in Poland on the basis of international protection, humanitarian visas, and temporary residence permits obtained for humanitarian reasons. We highly value the cooperation with the Consular Department of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consular establishments of Poland abroad," — noted Pavel Latushka.

Source: NAM

The United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus notes a significant increase in threats to the security and independence of Belarus in connection with the continued involvement of the Lukashenko regime in the war against Ukraine.

Today it is vitally important for Belarusians to find paths toward achieving civil consensus and effective protection of national interests. Both the preservation of the Belarusian state and its sustainable development will depend on this.

The United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus calls upon the functional authorities of the country to cease support for Russian aggression, to begin negotiations in the format of a Round Table with representatives of the united democratic forces and civil society, with the aim of preventing Belarus from being drawn into armed confrontation, ending the internal political crisis and security crisis.

The independence of Belarus and non-participation in the war are the key elements of achieving national consensus and the foundation for the restoration of civil accord.

Long Live Belarus! Warsaw, June 21, 2026

Source: United Transitional Cabinet

On June 17, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met in Brussels with the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Séamus Boland. The parties discussed the situation in Belarus, support for civil society, implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation signed last year between the EESC and the democratic forces of Belarus, and new mechanisms for institutional cooperation.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked the EESC leadership for its consistent support for Belarus, for organizing her speech at the Committee’s plenary session, a dedicated event on Belarus, and for keeping Belarus on the agenda in Brussels.

She proposed establishing an advisory or working group on Belarus within the EESC that could serve as a permanent platform for cooperation with Belarusian civil society organizations. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stressed that Belarus represents a unique case, as its civil society largely operates in exile and requires dedicated mechanisms for cooperation with European institutions.

The parties also addressed the situation of independent trade unions in Belarus. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya noted that all independent trade unions in the country have been dissolved and their leaders imprisoned. Mr. Boland and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also discussed possible joint campaigns in support of trade unions and political prisoners in Belarus.

Other proposals included expanding internship programs for Belarusian students and young professionals, supporting independent media, organizing cultural and educational initiatives, launching joint campaigns against disinformation, and ensuring that Belarus is more actively included in European discussions on security, democracy, and the future of Europe.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “I am grateful to the EESC for viewing Belarus not as a problem but as a future partner. While the regime is trying to isolate Belarusians from Europe, we must build new bridges. It is people — civil society, independent trade unions, journalists, and cultural figures — who will form the foundation of a new democratic Belarus”.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addressed the plenary meeting of the EESC and took part in a discussion on Belarus. As part of her visit to Brussels, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also met with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and gave interviews to RTÉ (Ireland) and ANSA (Italy).

The European Economic and Social Committee is an advisory body of the European Union representing employers, trade unions, and civil society organizations from EU member states. In June 2025, the EESC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the democratic forces of Belarus, despite Belarus not being an EU member state or candidate country.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On June 18, the Deputy Secretary General of the Directorate General for Political Affairs and International Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Minister Plenipotentiary Antonino Claudio Cascio, held a meeting with the democratic forces and civil society organizations of Belarus. The meeting took place at the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius and was organized and chaired by its Director, Dzianis Kuchynski.

Participants included representatives of the Belarusian Council for Culture, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Viasna Human Rights Center, the A Country to Live In Foundation, and former political prisoner Pavel Seviarynets.

The meeting provided an opportunity for Belarusian organizations to speak directly about developments in their respective fields, share current challenges, and discuss the needs of Belarusian civil society. Particular attention was given to support for political prisoners and their families, the preservation of independent media, culture, and human rights work.

The parties discussed Italy’s role in supporting a democratic Belarus, cooperation at the European level, and practical assistance for Belarusians in exile. Visa support was also addressed. Dzianis Kuchynski noted that over the past year, Italy has significantly increased the number of visas issued to Belarusians, including long-term ones, and has become the leading EU country in terms of the number of visas granted to Belarusian citizens.

The meeting followed up on agreements reached during Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s recent contacts with Italy’s leadership, including meetings with President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

As Lithuania prepares for its upcoming Presidency of the European Union, such consultations are becoming increasingly important. They allow international partners to receive first-hand information about the situation in Belarus directly from the democratic forces and civil society.

Dzianis Kuchynski: “It is important for us that Belarusians’ voices are heard directly in European capitals and that our partners can hear from representatives of culture, media, the human rights community, and people who have experienced political repression, just as they hear from politicians. This is how a genuine understanding of the situation in Belarus is formed. We are grateful to Italy for its principled support for Belarusians, its assistance to civil society, and for efforts to keep Belarus on the European agenda”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On June 18, the European Parliament adopted an urgent resolution by an overwhelming majority in response to the worsening situation of political prisoners in Belarus. Particular attention in the document is given to the case of Aliaksandra Pulinovich, who was detained at the age of 16, accused of involvement in anti-war graffiti actions in the ‘Black Nightingales’ case, and sentenced to more than ten years in prison.

The European Parliament’s resolution calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Aliaksandra Pulinovich and all political prisoners in Belarus, as well as their full rehabilitation and restoration of rights. MEPs condemn the Lukashenka regime’s use of “extremism” and “terrorism” charges to persecute citizens, including minors, and call for an end to torture, incommunicado detention, forced labor, and other forms of ill-treatment of prisoners.

The European Parliament acknowledges the efforts of international partners to secure the release of political prisoners but stresses that individual releases cannot serve as grounds for normalizing relations with the regime. The resolution sets out a clear position: the release of all political prisoners and an end to repression must remain key conditions for political dialogue and economic cooperation with the authorities in Belarus.

The resolution also calls on the European Union to strengthen sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for repression, support the documentation of the regime’s crimes, and advance international accountability mechanisms, including through the International Criminal Court.

The Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya conducted targeted outreach with the European Parliament’s main political groups during the preparation of this document.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Parliamentary Cooperation, Anatoli Liabedzka, notes: “This resolution demonstrates that Belarus remains in Europe’s focus. Today, voices from Poland and Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark, France and Germany are speaking up for Belarusians. Europe has not forgotten political prisoners in Belarus and continues to support Belarusians in their struggle for freedom and democracy”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

A large-scale persecution related to the European Humanities University (EHU) is unfolding in Belarus. The security forces have initiated a criminal case for facilitating and financing "extremist activities". As of 15 June, Viasna human rights activists know of more than 60 searches conducted at the places of residence of graduates, students, and other people connected to the university, as well as their relatives. To force the students to return from Lithuania, the KGB is blackmailing them and threatening with criminal prosecution of their parents. Viasna reports what is known about the new repressive campaign.

What is known today?

On June 2, mass searches and interrogations of people connected to the university, as well as their relatives, took place in Belarus. On the third and fourth of June, the searches continued. It is known that interrogations and searches are conducted under articles for "facilitating extremist activities" and "financing extremist activities." At the moment, human rights activists are aware of more than 60 searches.

Parents are forced to contact children who study at the EHU and live in Lithuania and persuade them to leave the university and return to Belarus. They are given up to 10 days to withdraw from the university. The security forces say this directly: if their children do not leave the EHU, then the parents will be detained in a criminal case. It is known that some relatives of the students have already been detained.

The KGB also comes to university graduates. Human rights defenders know about the visits to the graduates from 2019 to 2025. They are required to show graduation certificates.

How are the searches in the EHU case conducted?

Two people who introduced themselves as KGB officers came to the parents of one of the graduates, who live in a large Belarusian city. At the same time, they did not present any documents and refused to give their first and last names, writes MAYDAYMog. The parents were immediately made aware that the search was part of a criminal case for collaboration with an "extremist group." The reason was the graduation of their child from the EHU. The search itself was conducted calmly, and an appropriate report was written. However, after it was over, no documents were provided to the parents. The security forces demanded that the graduate send them electronically a copy of their diploma confirming their graduation from the university. In this case, the graduate would ostensibly escape punishment.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

On June 10–11, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited the Czech Republic to hold meetings with the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senate leadership, the Mayor of Prague, representatives of civil society and the Belarusian diaspora, take part in events, and give interviews to Czech and international media.

The meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka, took place at the Office of Belarus Democratic Forces in Prague, serving as a symbolic confirmation of the Czech Republic’s support for Belarusian democratic institutions. The discussions focused on visa issues, sanctions, international coordination on holding the Lukashenka regime accountable, and support for Belarusians in exile. Minister Macinka informed Ms. Tsikhanouskaya that the Czech Republic would issue visas to relatives of Belarusians residing in the country.

With President Petr Pavel, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya discussed the situation in Belarus, efforts to secure the release of political prisoners, support for Ukraine, sanctions, regional security threats, Russia’s growing influence in Belarus, and possible scenarios for Belarus after Lukashenka. The meeting took place at Prague Castle. 

At the Senate, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya met with Speaker Miloš Vystrčil, addressed the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Security, chaired by Pavel Fischer, and met with Czech senators. The discussion focused on support for the democratic forces of Belarus and aid for political prisoners, further cooperation with Ukraine, and preparations for a post-Lukashenka Belarus.

With Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya discussed cooperation with Belarusian initiatives in Prague, the upcoming Congress of Belarusians of the Czech Republic, and ways to strengthen ties between Belarusian and Czech local communities. She thanked Mayor Svoboda for supporting the Belarusian community and for participating in Freedom Day events.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya met with Belarusian NGOs in the Czech Republic. Discussions focused on support for Belarusians in exile, challenges related to legal status and documents, and Belarusian cultural and civic presence in the country.

Cultural events played an important role in the program. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya attended a preview of the exhibition “DATAS: The Data and the Sovereign” at the Rudolfinum Gallery, which featured works that explored digital control, surveillance, and the connections between Belarusian and Russian monitoring systems.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya joined the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Oto Klempíř, to visit the Matter of Art 2026 Biennale, where works by Belarusian artists Rufina Bazlova and Gleb Amankulov were exhibited. She emphasized that culture and national identity remain key factors in preserving the Belarusian nation in the face of repression, exile, and Russification.

The visit concluded with a discussion at the Václav Havel Library, attended by more than 120 participants, including diplomats, experts, representatives of international organizations, and members of the Belarusian diaspora. The discussion focused on political prisoners, Belarus–Ukraine relations, support for Belarusian culture, and Belarus’s European future.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya gave interviews to several leading Czech and international media outlets, including Česká televize, Český rozhlas, Seznam Zprávy, Respekt, Aktuálně.cz, Moravec.cz, and Suspilne (Ukraine). She spoke on the results of her recent visit to Kyiv, cooperation between Ukraine and the democratic forces of Belarus, regional security threats, political prisoners, sanctions, and the future of a democratic Belarus.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

A meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, and representatives of Belarusian civil society, the diaspora, independent media, businesses, and educational and religious initiatives operating in Lithuania took place at Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office in Vilnius.

Before the meeting, the Director of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office in Vilnius, Dzianis Kuchynski, gave Minister Budrys a tour of the Office and introduced him to the team that continues its work in Lithuania.

The meeting brought together 40 representatives from 35 Belarusian organizations: NGOs, media outlets, businesses, a Belarusian school, religious communities, diaspora groups, human rights, cultural, educational, and youth organizations, as well as initiatives supporting political prisoners, former political prisoners, repressed Belarusians, and their families.

Belarusian organizations presented their work in Lithuania and shared the key challenges facing Belarusians today.

The topics discussed included:

• support for Belarusian civil society in Lithuania and its role in strengthening a democratic Belarus;

• visas and possible short-term visits for relatives of Belarusians living in Lithuania who cannot safely return to Belarus;

• support for Belarusian students and educational initiatives;

• the work of independent Belarusian media in Lithuania and issues related to residence permit renewals;

• support for Belarusian culture, artists, and cultural organizations;

• security, countering disinformation, and the role of the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania;

• issues related to Belarusian children, education, and preserving ties to the Belarusian language and culture;

• support for political prisoners, former political prisoners, and repressed Belarusians;

• public rhetoric regarding Belarusians in Lithuania and dialogue between societies.

Minister Budrys noted that a free and democratic Belarus is a goal Lithuania shares with the country’s democratic forces. He added that the current authoritarian regime in Belarus poses a threat to Lithuania’s national security because it remains Russia’s political and military ally, stressing that the EU must continue its policy of non-recognition, isolation of the regime, and sanctions, while at the same time strengthening support for the democratic forces and the people of Belarus.

On behalf of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Dzianis Kuchynski thanked Minister Budrys, the Lithuanian Government, and the Lithuanian people for their consistent support for Belarusians and a democratic Belarus.Kęstutis Budrys was also presented with a symbolic gift — a Slutsk sash.

Dzianis Kuchynski: “Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office in Vilnius continues its work, and its main priorities are maintaining a diplomatic hub, continuing and further strengthening cooperation with the Lithuanian Government, and working closely with Belarusian organizations. Today’s meeting brought together all of these areas. On behalf of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, we thank Lithuania — Minister Budrys, President Nausėda, and the Government — for supporting the Belarusians who live here”.

Photographer: Aliaksandr Haidalym

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski, visited Paris, where he held a series of meetings with senior representatives of the French President’s Office at the Élysée Palace, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and the National Assembly.

He met with: 

• Bertrand Buchwalter, Advisor to President Emmanuel Macron on Continental Europe and Türkiye;

• Brice Roquefeuil, Head of the Directorate for Continental Europe at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; 

• Patrick Renard, Advisor on Consular Affairs, Continental Europe, and the Balkans in the Cabinet of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot; 

• Frédéric Petit, Head of the Parliamentary Group “For a Democratic Belarus” in the National Assembly.

The meetings focused on Belarus–France relations, the current situation in Belarus, the regional context, and coordination of efforts in response to the ongoing political and security crisis in the region.

Particular attention was paid to the priorities of France’s G7 Presidency and the need to keep Belarus on the international agenda. Dzianis Kuchynski stressed that issues related to Belarus, political repression, and the release of political prisoners must remain among the priorities of democratic states.

The parties discussed efforts to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for crimes against the Belarusian people, political repression, participation in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and other violations of international law. Mr. Kuchynski emphasized that accountability must remain one of the key pillars of international policy toward the regime.

The discussions also covered France’s current approach toward the Lukashenka regime, including official contacts between Paris and Minsk. Džonijs Kuchynski called for maintaining alignment with the common European policy on Belarus and stressed that any changes in relations with the regime should be tied to concrete and measurable steps on its part.

Visa issues were another important topic. Dzianis Kuchynski thanked the French side for the work of the French Embassy in Minsk and for issuing thousands of visas to Belarusian citizens. He emphasized the importance of preserving opportunities for Belarusians to obtain visas, maintain ties with Europe, and use legal channels of mobility.

The following issues were discussed separately:

• preserving and strengthening the mandate of the French Special Representative for Relations with the Democratic Forces of Belarus as an important mechanism for continuous political dialogue;

• France’s potential contribution to the International Humanitarian Fund that supports political prisoners and repressed people in Belarus;

• additional mechanisms to support those affected by political repression and their families;

• the development of Belarus–Ukraine relations following Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s recent visit to Kyiv;

• prospects for further dialogue between Ukraine and the democratic forces of Belarus;

• joint efforts to counter Russian aggression and the threats posed by the alliance between the Lukashenka and Putin regimes;

• strengthening parliamentary cooperation between the French National Assembly and the democratic forces of Belarus.

As part of discussions on the parliamentary dimension, Frédéric Petit and Dzianis Kuchynski agreed to develop regular public communication with Belarusian media. Under the agreement, Frédéric Petit is prepared to appear monthly in Belarusian media through a program titled “Chagall Hour: Belarusian–French Relations”, commenting on the state of Belarusian–French relations, parliamentary cooperation, and France’s position on Belarus.

EU sanctions policy was also discussed. Dzianis Kuchynski called for continued coordination of sanctions against Russia and the Lukashenka regime, including in the preparation of future sanctions packages, as well as stronger efforts to identify and prevent the circumvention of existing restrictions.

The parties also discussed the need to maintain close coordination between France and the democratic forces of Belarus on key Belarus-related issues:

• support for civil society;

• assistance to independent media;

• support for human rights defenders;

• aid for political prisoners, repressed individuals, and their families;

• ways to maintain international attention on Belarus.

A separate focus of the talks was the preparation of conditions for an inclusive national dialogue in Belarus. Dzianis Kuchynski stressed that the release of political prisoners and an end to repression must be the first necessary steps toward resolving the political crisis. In this context, the parties discussed preparations for a future negotiation platform involving representatives of Belarusian society, the democratic forces, and members of the state system who support Belarus’s independence.

The discussions highlighted the potential role of France and the European Union as international partners that could facilitate future dialogue, serve as mediators, and help guarantee the implementation of possible agreements during a peaceful democratic transition in Belarus.

The French side reaffirmed its support for the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people and expressed its readiness to continue close cooperation with the democratic forces of Belarus.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

That evening, representatives of British civil and political society, the Belarusian and Ukrainian diasporas, as well as long-standing friends of Belarus gathered in the club’s historic halls.

During the event, organized by the People’s Consulate of Belarus in Scotland, participants discussed the future of Belarus, political prisoners, the role of Belarusians abroad, and international support for the democratic forces.

A special moment of the evening was the presentation of medals from the United Transitional Cabinet to people who have supported Belarus and Belarusians for many years.

“This was not just a political gathering. It was a conversation about people who, despite living in exile, continue to work for the benefit of Belarus, preserve its culture, support their fellow Belarusians, and build international ties.

We would like to thank all the guests, friends of Belarus, and partners who made this evening possible,” shared Irina McLean, representative of the People’s Consulate of Belarus in Scotland, reflecting on the meeting.

Special thanks to Alan Flowers for the opportunity to hold the event at the club’s premises.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

Recently, human rights activists learned that Natallia Batashava, a 62-year-old citizen of Ukraine, has been held in the temporary detention facility at Akrescina for almost a year without charges. According to the testimony of former prisoners, several other citizens of Ukraine are in the same situation behind bars. According to the Human Rights Center Viasna, since 2020, at least 111 foreign citizens have been subjected to political criminal prosecution in Belarus, 27 of them women. 17 citizens of other countries continue to be held behind bars in Belarus on politically motivated charges. These are political prisoners with citizenship of Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan. Most of the foreign political prisoners in Belarus are Russian citizens. Viasna reports on the current situation of political persecution of foreigners in Belarus and recalls the stories of some of them.

How many foreigners are behind bars?

Since 2020, at least 111 foreign citizens have been subjected to political criminal prosecution in Belarus. As of June 9, 2026, at least 17 foreign citizens detained for political reasons are incarcerated. All of them are men.

Foreign citizens are currently being held behind bars for "agent activity", "espionage," "assistance to extremist activities," "calls for sanctions," "participation in actions grossly violating public order," "discrediting Belarus," "an act of terrorism," and even "international terrorism." Currently, six foreigners are being held behind bars in Belarus in connection with the war in Ukraine. Five citizens of other countries are included in the so-called "terrorist list".

79 foreigners have the status of a "former political prisoner" in Belarus. At least 39 foreigners were pardoned and deported from Belarus.

Lithuanian citizen sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony

Miraslavas Trotskis, a Lithuanian citizen, went to Belarus in the fall of 2024 to visit relatives, but did not return home. He was detained in November 2024 and charged under Article 358 ("espionage") and Article 358-1 ("espionage activities"). On March 11, 2026, he was sentenced to 15 years of medium security imprisonment in a penal colony.

Six Ukrainian citizens held behind bars

According to Viasna, at least six Ukrainian citizens are serving time on political charges. Human rights activists have noted that with the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, pressure on Ukrainians in Belarus has increased. They are thoroughly interrogated at border checkpoints, and some are not allowed into the country without explanation, even to this day. Citizens of Ukraine are being detained in Belarus for "agent activity," "espionage," and "attempted sabotage." They are accused of collaborating with the Ukrainian special services. Since 2020, about 20 Ukrainian citizens have been pardoned and exchanged.

In December 2025, the human rights defenders of Viasna were told a terrible story by a family from Ukraine who were held behind bars in unbearable conditions without charges. Through torture and pressure, confessions of collaboration with foreign intelligence services were extracted from them.

There are at least 9 political prisoners with Russian citizenship behind bars.

Most of the foreign political prisoners in Belarus are Russian citizens — 9 people. Two Russian citizens, Dzmitry Shlethauer and Andrei Padniabenny, died behind bars.

Citizen of Kazakhstan

Maksim Matyrka was detained under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (active participation in actions grossly violating public order) for participating in protests in 2020 and for setting fire to a car under Part 3 of Article 218 (intentional destruction or damage to property). Earlier, Maksim told the story of his detention to journalists, where he said that he had been living in Belarus for 16 years.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

A meeting of the International Alliance of Parliamentary Groups “For a Democratic Belarus” is taking place at the Palace of Westminster in London. The event has brought together MPs from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, and Luxembourg, as well as members of the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the democratic forces of Belarus, and the broader Belarusian community.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivered opening remarks, thanking MPs from the UK for consistently supporting Belarus and noting that Belarus remains an important part of the European agenda. She stressed that the security of Belarus, Ukraine, and Europe is inseparably linked, and that supporting democratic change in Belarus is an investment in the region’s overall security and stability.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for maintaining international pressure on the Lukashenka and Putin regimes, pursuing accountability for crimes committed against Belarusians and Ukrainians, and preparing for future democratic change in Belarus. She stressed the need to discuss a positive vision for the country — what Belarus could become after the end of dictatorship, how democratic reforms can be implemented, the rule of law restored, and the country returned to the European family of nations.

“People living under dictatorship want to hear about the future we are fighting for, not just the repression and war they endure today. What will life look like after dictatorship? How can we free ourselves from dependence on Russia? How do we carry out constitutional reform and economic modernization and restore democratic institutions and the rule of law? All of this is part of the only path toward returning Belarus to its place in Europe.

Let me remind you that all dictatorships seem invincible until they suddenly collapse. We cannot know when or how it will happen. What we can do is bring that moment closer. And that is why we are here”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On June 2, Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya met with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, in London.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked the United Kingdom for its consistent support for democratic Belarus, its non-recognition of the Lukashenka regime, and sanctions against regime representatives. She also highlighted the two rounds of Strategic Consultations held between the UK and the democratic forces of Belarus in 2025 and 2026, Belarus’s invitation to participate in the European Political Community Summit in 2024, and the UK’s support for Belarusian human rights and civil society initiatives. In 2024, the UK announced £2.5 million in support for Belarusian human rights and civil society organizations.

Topics discussed included: 

• continued support for independent media and civil society; 

• the release of and support for political prisoners; 

• support for Ukraine and the role of democratic Belarus in European security; 

• further Strategic Consultations between the United Kingdom and the democratic forces of Belarus; 

• efforts to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for its crimes, including in connection with the forced displacement of Ukrainian children and through international justice mechanisms; 

• the current situation in Belarus and continued repression; 

• coordination between UK and EU policies on Belarus, including sanctions; 

• Belarus on the international agenda, including within the G7 and G20 (the UK will hold the G20 Presidency in 2027); 

• the Lukashenka regime’s dependence on Russia.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stressed that supporting democratic Belarus is important for the security of all of Europe, including the United Kingdom. She noted that Belarusian society remains pro-European and anti-war, and that independent media and civil society help people inside Belarus access truthful information and maintain ties with Europe.

She also highlighted Prime Minister Starmer’s role in establishing the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine. She emphasized that democratic Belarus is ready to contribute to international support for Ukraine, as Belarus’s future and Ukraine’s security are directly linked.

In addition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya encouraged the United Kingdom to consider joining the International Humanitarian Fund to support those affected by repression in Belarus.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “I am grateful to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the United Kingdom for their principled position on Belarus. We truly appreciate that London continues to support Belarusian society and does not recognize the legitimacy of the Lukashenka regime.

Supporting democratic Belarus is an investment in the security of all of Europe. Belarus must not remain in Russia’s shadow or become a bargaining chip in international negotiations. Belarusians want to live in a free, independent, and European country.

Today, it is vital that our partners continue backing political prisoners, independent media, civil society, and all those safeguarding Belarus’s European future”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Following Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s meeting with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine hosted a working meeting focused on supporting Belarusians in Ukraine and developing cooperation with the democratic forces of Belarus.

The meeting was organized by the Parliamentary Group “For a Democratic Belarus” in partnership with the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Participants included:

• representatives of the United Transitional Cabinet and the Coordination Council;

• Belarusian volunteer fighters;

• Ukrainian MPs Vadym Halaichuk and Ihor Huz;

• Oleksandr Merezhko, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs;

• Yurii Barabash, Constitutional Court member; 

• Yaroslav Chornohor, Ukraine’s Ambassador-at-Large for Belarus.

Participants discussed the key challenges currently facing Belarusians in Ukraine, including documents, legal status, and support for Belarusian volunteers. They addressed possible legislative solutions and coordination with Ukraine’s executive authorities.

The parties welcomed the establishment of new mechanisms for cooperation — in particular, the position of Ukraine’s Ambassador-at-Large for Belarus and the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Ukraine. They also discussed a possible intersectoral contact group on Belarus involving Ukrainian MPs, representatives of executive authorities, and the Belarusian democratic community. Such a group could ensure permanent coordination and joint work on issues related to Belarus and Belarusians in Ukraine.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

The Mission of Democratic Belarus in Ukraine has been officially opened in Kyiv.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and representatives of the Cabinet, the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and the Coordination Council.

Representing the Ukrainian side at the opening were officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Deputy Foreign Minister, Yevhen Perebyinis, as well as other officials and friends of democratic Belarus.

The opening of the Democratic Belarus Mission is an important step toward more systematic cooperation between Ukraine and the democratic forces of Belarus. It will help maintain contacts with Ukrainian institutions, work on issues concerning Belarusians in Ukraine, develop joint initiatives, and strengthen Belarusian–Ukrainian dialogue. The Head of the Mission, Sviatlana Shatilina, will represent the democratic forces of Belarus in Ukraine.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “We must do more to help Ukraine in every way we can: politically, informationally, through support for Belarusian volunteers and fighters, through cooperation with Ukrainian institutions, and through engagement with Belarusians living in Ukraine.

This Mission has been opened so that this work can become more consistent and visible. So that Belarusians in Ukraine know where they can turn for support. So that Ukrainian partners see whom they can work with. So that our cooperation is built not only on individual contacts but also has a permanent platform.

We once again thank everyone who helped make this Mission possible and everyone who continues to support the Belarusian democratic community in Ukraine”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On May 26, a meeting took place in Kyiv between the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha; the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Serhii Kyslytsia; and the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Ihor Zhovkva.

Joining Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the meeting were the Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Pavel Latushka; her Chief Advisor, Franak Viacorka; and Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked President Zelenskyy for the invitation to Kyiv and for the meeting, as well as for supporting Belarusians living in Ukraine, Belarusian refugees, and Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine. She expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their struggle against Russian aggression and called for maintaining a principled stance toward dictatorships and aggressors.

She thanked President Zelenskyy for maintaining dialogue with Belarusian society, which is not identical to the regime. She noted that this is the right approach — one the entire world should follow — and that it demonstrates Ukraine’s leadership in the region and on Belarus-related issues.

The parties discussed the military and political situation in the region and the need to prevent Belarus from being further drawn into the war. They addressed security along the Belarus–Ukraine border and the threats that continue to come from the Lukashenka regime and Russia.

They also discussed a possible working coordination group to address issues facing Belarusians in Ukraine, including documents and legal status.

One of the key topics of the meeting was support for Belarusian volunteer fighters, the situation of Belarusian prisoners of war who fought for Ukraine, and possibilities for securing the release of political prisoners unlawfully convicted by the Lukashenka regime for supporting Ukraine.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya highlighted Ukraine’s important role in assisting political prisoners released through the efforts of the United States. A significant number of them were evacuated through Ukraine.

The parties also discussed joint efforts to counter Russian propaganda and Russification, support Belarusian and Ukrainian cultural, linguistic, and educational initiatives, and develop student and youth exchange programs.

Mr. Zelenskyy and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also focused specifically on holding the Lukashenka regime accountable for international crimes, including complicity in the aggression against Ukraine, as well as the need to maintain and strengthen sanctions pressure on the regime until systemic changes take place in Belarus.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on President Zelenskyy to support the firm position of the European Union — particularly that of Lithuania and Poland — toward the regime, in order to prevent any easing of sanctions, including on fertilizer transit, until systemic changes occur in Belarus and repression ends.

The meeting covered possible scenarios for developments in Belarus and prospects for a peaceful democratic transition to resolve the political crisis, including through a National Dialogue.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the appointment of Yaroslav Chornohor as Ambassador-at-Large for Cooperation with the Democratic Forces of Belarus and called for launching systematic coordination between Ukraine and the Belarusian democratic movement.

This was the second meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Their first meetingtook place in January 2026 in Vilnius.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

A delegation of the democratic forces of Belarus, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, met in Kyiv with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha.

The meeting lasted more than two and a half hours. The sides discussed further cooperation between Ukraine and the democratic forces of Belarus, issues facing Belarusians in Ukraine, and cooperation in culture, information policy, and diplomacy.

Key outcomes are as follows:

• Ambassador-at-Large Yaroslav Chornohor was appointed to coordinate cooperation with the democratic forces of Belarus.

• A coordination group on issues concerning Belarusians in Ukraine is being prepared, including matters related to legal stay, migration, and other challenges faced by Belarusians in Ukraine.

• Several sanctions proposals targeting regime-linked enterprises and individuals were submitted. Ukraine will raise the issue of Belarus at the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Ukraine will also consider sanctions against the “Union State”.

• The democratic forces will join the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children.

• The sides agreed to cooperate in countering Russification and to support Belarusian–Ukrainian cultural and educational initiatives, as well as create conditions for the development of Belarusian student communities in Ukraine.

• Sviatlana Shatilina was officially introduced to Minister Sybiha as the Head of the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Kyiv.

• Proposals were submitted on holding the Lukashenka regime accountable for international crimes, including the crime of aggression against Ukraine, the forcible displacement of children, and crimes against humanity.

• The sides agreed to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda and make efforts to prevent Belarus from being drawn further into the war.

The Belarusian delegation was also shown a number of historical documents containing official correspondence between the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918–1919.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “I am glad that our relations are reaching a new level — this is a clear signal that Ukraine distinguishes between Belarus and Russia, between the Belarusian people and the regime. We will cooperate with Ukraine in a number of areas to renew friendly relations between our nations and to confront the criminal regimes in Minsk and Moscow”.

The Belarusian delegation included Pavel Latushka of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus; Sviatlana Shatsilina of the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Ukraine; and Franak Viacorka, Dzianis Kuchynski, and Anatoli Liabedzka of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On 25 May, a delegation of the Belarusian democratic forces, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, began an official visit to Kyiv.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On May 21, Belarus marks the Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — a tradition initiated by the Human Rights Center Viasna in memory of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak, who died in a Škloŭ penal colony in 2021. Today, at least 841 people remain behind bars in Belarus for political reasons. Over the past five years, thousands of Belarusians have been subjected to political persecution, and at least nine political prisoners have died in detention. Former prisoners continue to report torture, beatings, confinement in punitive isolation cells, constant pressure, and inhumane conditions. On the Day of Political Prisoners, human rights defenders remind us that behind every number is a human life, and that torture and cruel treatment can never be justified. Viasna publishes infographics with the latest figures on political prisoners.

As of May 21, 2026, 841 political prisoners are being held behind bars in Belarus. Of these, 727 are men, 114 are women. 

At the moment, human rights activists are aware of at least 168 political prisoners who are at particular risk behind bars. Among them, there are at least 60 people in a serious health condition, eight people have disabilities, 26 elderly people over the age of 60 (many of them have serious health problems), and nine people with mental disorders. There are 37 political prisoners in difficult family circumstances: these are single parents and parents in large families, as well as families where both parents are behind bars. 

Despite the recent pardoning of several foreign political prisoners, the Belarusian authorities continue to persecute foreigners. According to Viasna, as of May 21, at least 17 foreign citizens are behind bars in Belarus.

In addition, 26 parents with many children are currently behind bars. There are six women among them. These are 48-year-old Hanna Ablab, 59-year-old Zhanna Auramchyk, 46-year-old Viktoryia Damastoi, 53-year-old Nadzeya Laptsionak, 47-year-old Aksana Malochka, and 60-year-old Lukerya Mirontsava.

A total of nine political prisoners have died behind bars since 2020. The first victim was Vitold Ashurak, an activist from Biarozaŭka. The official cause of death is cardiac arrest. However, his relatives claimed that Vitold had no health problems before his imprisonment. After his death, the Investigative Committee released a video showing the political prisoner barely standing on his feet. His body was transferred to his relatives with a bandaged head. An investigation into his death has not been initiated so far. A 36-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation Andrei Padniabenny, 61-year-old Valiantsin Shtermer, 22-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation Dzmitry Shlethauer, 51-year-old businessman Aliaksandr Kulinich, 63-year-old social activist Ihar Lednik, 50-year-old political prisoner Vadzim Khrasko, 57-year-old artist Ales Pushkin, 61-year-old political prisoner, blogger, and social activist from Pinsk Mikalai Klimovich also died behind bars.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

Irina McLean, representative of the People’s Consulate of Belarus in Scotland, and Yulia Yukhno, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Italy and Head of the Centre of the Belarusian Community in Italy, took part in a panel discussion devoted to support for Belarusian political prisoners and people forced to leave Belarus.

Irina McLean moderated the discussion, while Yulia Yukhno spoke about support projects implemented by Belarusian initiatives in Italy for former political prisoners, including approaches to integration, assistance, and the creation of conditions for a more sustainable and independent life after forced emigration.

The conference was also attended by Alena Voukava, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

The A Country to Live In Foundation has reported new cases of humiliating personal searches at the Belarusian border targeting people previously involved in so-called “protest cases”. The reports describe forced stripping, psychological pressure, and deliberate humiliation of people entering Belarus.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Legal Affairs, Leanid Marozau, comments on the situation:

“The regime in Belarus is once again showing its true face. While propaganda speaks of ‘dialogue’ and ‘reconciliation’, people at the border are in fact being broken through humiliation, fear, and the demonstration of complete impunity.

These are not security measures. This is politically motivated pressure against citizens whom the authorities consider disloyal. Forced degrading searches and the use of fear as a tool of control are signs of a repressive system, not a state governed by the rule of law.

Against this backdrop, the regime’s statements about ‘Belarusians returning home’, the work of the so-called ‘return commissions’, and ‘security guarantees’ appear openly cynical. It is impossible to urge Belarusians to return home while lawlessness and a lack of respect for human dignity await them at the border.

We once again remind everyone: if there is a risk of politically motivated persecution, pressure, or detention, do not travel to Belarus. Do not believe propaganda that seeks to create an illusion of ‘normalization,’ safety, and stability. Under the current regime, there are neither genuine security guarantees nor legal protections for people with a civic stance”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On behalf of the Belarusian democratic community, Yulia Yukhno, representative of the People’s Embassy and Head of the Centre of the Belarusian Democratic Community, honoured the memory of Belarusians who fought as part of General Anders’ 2nd Polish Corps.

Several hundred of them were killed during the Battle of Monte Cassino on 19 May 1944.

Yulia Yukhno commented on the event:

“It has already become a tradition for us, together with representatives of the Belarusian community, to come to Monte Cassino. We lay a wreath, thereby highlighting the contribution of Belarusians to the victory over Nazism. This is both a tribute to those who were killed and an important reminder that Belarusians were part of the broader European struggle for freedom and peace. At a time when the Lukashenka regime is monopolising the memory of the war, it is especially important to preserve and present the Belarusian voice separately. And that is exactly what we are doing.”

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

This was discussed during the 5th Conference of Belarusians of the World by representatives of Belarusian organisations from 11 countries in Europe and the United States.

Among those sharing their successful cases were also the People’s Embassies of Belarus.

🇮🇹 The People’s Embassy of Belarus in Italy performs a representative function, advocates for the rights of Belarusians in Italy, helps with legalisation, and develops informal diplomatic relations with the Italian authorities, since official relations with the Belarusian embassy have long been absent.

“Each year, camps for repressed Belarusians and former political prisoners are held in Italy, and people who still permanently live in Belarus also come to them. Over time, more than 100 people have already taken part in such camps. On 2 May, the first session of this summer begins. Last year, a shelter for repressed Belarusians also opened in Italy, where they can stay during their initial period,” said Yulia Yukhno, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Italy.

🇸🇮 A representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Slovenia spoke about how they succeeded in securing access to bank accounts for Belarusians in the country, in a situation where banks very often refuse, citing sanctions and security concerns.

“Belarusians face such refusals in many countries and hear that Belarus is under sanctions. But a bank account is a social service without which it is impossible to live normally, pay taxes, or receive various kinds of state support. That is why we launched an advocacy campaign in Slovenia,” said Aliaksandra Mamaeva.

🇱🇹 Alena Voukava, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania, spoke about the creation in Klaipėda of the organisation ‘Sea of Belarusian Ideas’, whose volunteers focus on cultural events. To support this work, a partnership was established with the Lithuanian Centre for National Cultures. A festival of Belarusian culture is planned for this year.

“Since September 2025, we have had a ‘Space for Good Belarusian Ideas’. We have a club for researching and sewing the Belarusian national costume, creative workshops, a woodworking studio, and for children — a Belarusian Sunday school, which has been supported by the Klaipėda municipality,” Alena shared.

🇫🇷 Katsiaryna Baure, representative of the People’s Consulate of Belarus in Nice, spoke about how they succeeded in helping a Belarusian citizen with a passport expired to obtain French citizenship, as well as about launching a course on sewing the Belarusian national costume at a local educational institution. In addition, Belarusians in France organised a camp for repressed people with 42 places.

More details about these and other successful cases in different countries 👉 via the link.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

BELPOL’s new report explains why the usual statistics show only part of the picture. As with Stalinist repressions, beyond the main figures are people who were deprived of property, freedom of movement, employment, security, and a normal life.

From May 2020 to March 2026, at least 9,594 Belarusians faced politically motivated criminal prosecution. As of the end of March 2026, 911 political prisoners remained in prison.

But repression continues even after release: through surveillance, deportations, inclusion on “extremist” and “terrorist” lists, pressure on relatives, and problems with documents, employment, and property.

More details are available in BELPOL’s new report.

Source: BELPOL

As part of the Night of Museums in Warsaw, the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Poland, together with the Belarusian Youth Hub, hosted a festive “Pleasant Reception” in the style of a Dranik Party.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also joined the event, spoke with guests, and tried draniki:

“It was a very warm gathering. Thank you to everyone who came and helped create such a cosy and heartfelt evening.
Events like this are about the simple things that bring us together: conversations, favourite dishes, and familiar words. They are about support and a quiet confidence that we are together. And that, despite distance and hardships, Belarusian life goes on — in people, in meetings, and in the desire to stand by one another.”

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Parliamentary Cooperation, Anatoli Liabedzka, has summarized the results of the meetings held at the Swedish Riksdag.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s team held meetings with the Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag, Kerstin Lundgren,and members of the Parliamentary Group “For a Democratic Belarus”.

The parties discussed: 

• continuing the work of the “For a Democratic Belarus” Group in the Riksdag following the upcoming election;

• establishing a “For a Democratic Belarus” Group within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ahead of the session in The Hague;

• issues concerning the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden and the integration of Belarusians into Swedish society.

Anatoli Liabedzka: “We see both solidarity and willingness among our Swedish partners to expand support for Belarus, both at the parliamentary level and in work with the Belarusian community”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On 9 May, Anastasiya Svirkova, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Austria, together with other Belarusians in Austria, took part in the annual Europatag Wien (Europe Day) festival. The Belarusian stand featured books, works of art, and examples of folk art. Festival visitors and passers-by were interested not only in Belarusian culture, but also in the current political situation in Belarus.

On 10 May, a solemn ceremony dedicated to the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp took place. Every year, the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Austria forms a delegation to participate in this ceremony as an important part of its work to preserve historical memory and strengthen international and diplomatic ties with the Democratic Forces of Belarus.

This year, the ceremony was dedicated to the true perpetrators of Nazi crimes and to the victims of the camp. The Belarusian delegation took part in the commemorative march and also laid flowers at the monument to the Daughters and Sons of Belarus. The memory of those who perished was also honoured at the Ukrainian monument. During a personal conversation with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Austria, the delegation expressed gratitude for resisting the common enemy.

On 11 May, Anastasiya visited the Dialogue Bureau and, together with Valer Matskevich and Alisa Ryzhychenka, took part in an event dedicated to the Coordination Council and its current elections. During the event, participants learned about the nature and significance of the Coordination Council, the voting procedure, and the importance of taking part in the elections. A substantial part of the meaningful exchange took place in the format of informal conversations, during which the representative of the People’s Embassy also held personal meetings.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

On May 12, an Information Point for the Belarusian People — a joint initiative of Lithuania and the Council of Europe — opened in Vilnius. It is the first permanent Council of Europe platform for Belarusians in exile and is expected to operate for at least five years.

The Information Point will serve as a space where Belarusians can access information on human rights, support programs, educational and cultural opportunities, and build cooperation with European institutions. Its opening is also an important political signal: Belarus is regarded as part of the European democratic space, despite not being a member of the Council of Europe.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the opening ceremony and highlighted the importance of this step for the future of Belarus:

“I hope this place will become another hub for Belarusian initiatives, a platform for learning, and a source of knowledge. It should be open to every Belarusian and every organization seeking partnerships, expertise, and opportunities that only the Council of Europe can provide.

I want this place to become a platform for cooperation, dialogue, education, and solidarity. I hope it will help draw greater attention to Belarus, mobilize new resources, and create opportunities for our talented journalists, activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, young people, and women’s initiatives”.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the Belarusian community.

The Information Point is located at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania — one of the country’s key public and intellectual spaces.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

During the 5th Conference of Belarusians of the World, Aliaksandra Mamaeva, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Slovenia, presented a project on mapping the problems faced by Belarusians in exile — issues that remain a daily reality for thousands of Belarusians abroad: lack of access to documents, difficulties with legalisation, problems with banks, visas, security, and even basic administrative procedures. That is why the People’s Embassies of Belarus launched this systematic effort: not simply to collect individual stories, but to create a map of problems, risks, good practices, and possible solutions.

As part of the project, work is planned with experts in 20 countries — including representatives of the People’s Embassies, missions of democratic Belarus, diaspora organisations, lawyers, and attorneys. Based on their experience, 20 country policy papers will be prepared, along with a general analytical document containing recommendations.

The focus is on the most acute problems faced by Belarusians in exile:
— lack of a valid passport;
— difficulties with residence permits and travel documents;
— problems with apostilles, diplomas, and documents for children;
— bank accounts and visas;
— security risks, including persecution through Interpol and threats against activists.

But this project is not only about problems. It is also about what is already working. The presentation highlighted a number of specific successful practices: recognition of expired passports, issuance of foreigner’s passports, opening bank accounts on the basis of a travel document, declarations in place of certain certificates, and interagency working groups. This means that solutions do exist — and they need to be made visible, systematised, and promoted further.

The results of the project will be used for further advocacy in the European Union, the Council of Europe, PACE, national governments and parliaments, as well as in the work of Belarusian democratic structures.

The project is being implemented with the support of the GMF Foundation.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

The first findings were presented by Anastasia Svirkova, representative of the People’s Embassy of Belarus in Austria, and Vadim Mozheika, Head of the Kościuszko Institute for Security Studies.

“The first challenge is the different approaches to defining who should be counted as Belarusian. Is it Belarusians who hold citizenship, Belarusians who were born in Belarus, Belarusians who identify as Belarusian, or Belarusians who are refugees? For example, a study by the Association of Belarusians Worldwide Baćkaŭščyna at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries stated that around 3.5 million Belarusians lived outside Belarus. But this is a completely different type of calculation: not only based on current migration documents, but on a broader understanding of the Belarusian presence in the world — origin, identity, and historical communities.

We then encountered difficulties in deciding which parameter should be used to measure migration: first permits, valid residence permits, or border crossings. We also analysed various sources. For example, the UN website gives a figure of around 790,000, but they use an unreliable source — Belstat,” Anastasia Svirkova said.

During the presentation, the figure 981,679 was cited — this is the number of first residence permits Belarusians received in European Union countries between 2020 and 2024. However, this does not mean that nearly one million Belarusians moved to the EU permanently. Some may have received documents without remaining in the country. Others may have moved several times, changed status, or waited for legalisation.

That is why the researchers stress that there is no single “correct” number. The figure of 981,679 first permits in the EUshows the scale of movement after 2020. Meanwhile, 386,834 valid permits in the EU provide a picture that is closer to the current legal presence of Belarusian citizens in the European Union.

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

Summary:

• The human rights situation in Belarus remains in a state of deep crisis: state terror and repression against dissidents, political opponents, participants in protest initiatives, journalists, and human rights defenders show no sign of abating.

• There are no grounds to speak of a systemic improvement in the human rights situation in recent months; repression indicators remain at a high level comparable to previous years: the number of political prisoners stands at the level of late 2021, repression of all kinds continues unabated, and lists and registries that serve as the starting point for the persecution of regime opponents and dissidents are being expanded at a rapid pace; civil society organizations have sustained irreparable damage: all opposition parties and political organizations have been dissolved and have no prospect of resuming activities in Belarus in the near future; human rights organizations and other civic initiatives deemed unacceptable by the regime have been dissolved or forced abroad; the regime openly carries out deportations and transnational repression on political grounds; constitutional guarantees of Belarus’s non-nuclear and neutral status have been dismantled, and the state remains complicit in an unjust war; torture and acts of prohibited treatment remain uninvestigated and are ongoing;

• As of the end of April 2026, 835 political prisoners were held in detention facilities in Belarus, including 115 women. The number of former political prisoners stands at 3,813. Human rights defenders have registered at least 122 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerable due to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

• In April, human rights defenders recognized 36 individuals as political prisoners.

• Cross-border repression continues — in the form of arbitrary criminal prosecution, inclusion in extremist registries, and coercion into clandestine cooperation with security services;

• Human rights defenders continue to regularly identify, document, and systematize instances of torture and other prohibited forms of treatment during the investigation of politically motivated criminal cases, as well as prohibited forms of treatment of inmates serving criminal and administrative sentences in politically motivated cases.

• The authorities regularly attack freedom of association and freedom of expression: dissidents and participants in civic initiatives are regularly subjected to arbitrary arrests and persecution; the authorities continue to expand restrictions on the receipt and dissemination of information.

• Lists of “extremists” and “terrorists,” “extremist” entities, and “extremist” publications and content are regularly expanded, laying the groundwork for the continuation of state terror and repression;

International accountability mechanisms

The UN Human Rights Committee issued Views No. CCPR/C/145/D/J/1, finding that the prosecution of journalists without accreditation in Belarus constitutes a violation of freedom of expression.

UN Special Rapporteurs and experts addressed a communication to Belarus concerning cases of prolonged incommunicado detention and inhumane conditions of detention at Correctional Facility No. 1 in Navapolack.

UN Special Rapporteurs and experts also responded to information provided by Viasna Human Rights Center regarding a draft law introducing administrative liability for the propaganda of LGBTQ+ relationships and child-free lifestyles, as well as for the representation of Belarus by pro-democracy actors.

Over the past six years, UN Special Rapporteurs have addressed more than 60 communications to the Belarusian authorities in accordance with their mandates. Nearly half of these communications have received no response; the situation has improved somewhat over the past two years, though the state’s responses are often formal.

Politically motivated persecution and political prisoners

Statistics

Since 2020, at least 9,691 individuals have faced politically motivated criminal prosecution, and at least 8,394 have been convicted, including in absentia. These figures continue to grow each month, although human rights defenders are significantly limited in their ability to obtain information on prosecutions.

As of the end of April, 835 political prisoners remain in detention, including 115 women. The number of former political prisoners stands at 3,813. Human rights defenders have registered at least 122 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerable due to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

In April, human rights defenders recognized 36 individuals as political prisoners. 

Repression

Act No. 138-Z of April 15, 2026 has been signed into law, introducing article 19.16 (”Propaganda of homosexual relationships, gender transition, childlessness, and pedophilia”) and article 24.62 (”Unlawful representation of the Republic of Belarus at international events”) into the Administrative Violations Code. According to Viasna human rights defenders, these provisions intensify the stigmatization of vulnerable groups. In contrast, the provisions on “unlawful representation” may be used to exert pressure on pro-democracy politicians and human rights defenders. UN experts stated the law on the “propaganda” of same-sex relationships and reproductive autonomy.

Throughout the month, reports were received from various regions of Belarus of politically motivated detentions for alleged “connections with extremists,” in the context of the “Belaruski Hajun case,” and of the continued detention of citizens returning to Belarus from abroad. 

Reports emerged of the first interrogations and searches targeting students of the European Humanities University and their parents, following the university’s designation in April as an “extremist organization” by decision of the Supreme Court upon a submission by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Viktar Yaumenenka, an activist of the political organization For Freedom Movement, was detained.

Searches and detentions took place at the Minsk architecture studio ZROBIM architects following public criticism by the studio’s management of the authorities’ requirement to introduce an ideological officer position on staff. This was arguably the largest single-day mass arrest of such a number of individuals (50 on the first day) in the past year. The charges were ultimately reduced to economic violations; however, there is virtually no doubt that the detentions and searches were punitive in nature — a response to the display of disloyalty and a measure to preempt further dissent.

It was reported that more than 150 individuals sought by the Belarusian authorities had been detained in Russia; whether this included politically motivated prosecution at the request of the Belarusian side remains unknown at this time.

Throughout the month, new cases of pressure on Belarusians residing abroad and attempts to coerce them into cooperation with security services were recorded.

Several public group chats used by relatives of detainees to exchange information about visits, care packages, and money transfers were designated as extremist entities.

In April, Viasna documented approximately 120 cases of politically motivated repression (including detentions, searches, and similar acts) arising from criminal and administrative prosecution. This figure is higher than in February (78) and March (90) of this year.

Conditions of political prisoners

More than 80 political prisoners have been sentenced to additional terms of imprisonment for “persistent disobedience to prison administration,” many of them on multiple occasions.

Disturbing reports continue to emerge regarding the physical and psychological condition of political prisoners remaining in detention. Uladzimir Hundar, who has a disability due to the loss of a leg, continues to be held under high-security prison conditions. Vatslau Areshka, who lost his sight while in detention, remains in a correctional facility. Reports have emerged of a serious deterioration in Volha Mayorava’s eyesight. Anatol Parahnevich, whose current whereabouts are unknown, is reported to be in a serious condition following a heart attack.

The sentence handed down to political prisoner Mikhail Lapunou — father of former political prisoner Mikita Zalatarou — has become known: he was convicted of administering a solidarity chat in support of his son, which the authorities had designated as an extremist entity, and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

On April 28, journalist and activist of the Polish national minority in Belarus Andrzej Poczobutwas released and transferred to Poland as part of an exchange of Belarusian and Polish detainees.

Persecution of former political prisoners and their relatives  

Human rights defenders continue to document various forms of persecution and pressure directed at former political prisoners and their relatives, both those remaining in Belarus and those who have been forced to leave the country.

A criminal case for assistance in extremist activity (article 361-4 of the Criminal Code) has been opened against Hanna Kurys — most likely in connection with an interview she gave to the Viasna Human Rights Center about her persecution and conditions of detention.

Mikalai Statkevich, who has remained in Belarus following his release from a correctional facility, has been subjected to a restriction on his right to leave the country. He has been unableto resume receiving pension payments to his bank account because he is officially recorded as serving a sentence in a correctional facility.

The authorities are revoking the passports of political prisoners who were deported from Belarus in September and December of last year. 

Political prisoners released on March 19 reported that they face mandatory regular reporting to MIA agencies, strict monitoring of compliance with established restrictions, and administrative liability for violations thereof.

The authorities continue to designate the social media accounts of former political prisoners as “extremist materials.” The Facebook page of Mikalai Statkevich and the Instagram pages of Andrei Chapiuk, Antanina Kanavаlava, and Uladzimir Bulauski have been designated as extremist materials.

Suppression of freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association

The authorities continue to prosecute individuals for involvement in various forms of protest activity both during the post-2020 election period and for current manifestations of disloyalty.

The Homieĺ restaurant, where participants in the Hukannie Viasny celebration were previously subjected to administrative detention, has reportedly been closed for “technical reasons.” 

The authorities continue their offensive against freedom of association, including as exercised by Belarusians abroad. The candidates on electoral lists of the Coordination Council — the representative body of Belarusian pro-democracy forces — were designated by the KGB as “extremist entities.”

Violation of freedom of expression

Public expressions of criticism of or disloyalty to the current Belarusian authorities are subject to criminal prosecution.

On defamation and assistance in extremist activity charges, the following individuals were convicted: in Babrujsk, Kiryl Sarokin — to a freedom restriction; in Žodzina, Ihar Neiman — reportedly to a freedom restriction; in Minsk, Natallia Dziadzulia — to a freedom restriction; and Sviatlana Anhelеika — to four years of imprisonment.  

Natallia Kachanava, Chair of the Council of the Republic, commented on a draft law on citizens’ appeals currently under development, stating that liability should be introduced for complaints about state bodies expressed on social media.

Persecution in the cultural sphere continued. Several pro-democracy organizations operating in the cultural sector were designated as “extremist entities”; searches and detentions of individuals associated with socio-cultural organizations took place in various cities across Belarus.

The book portal knihi.by and several Belarusian-language books were designated as “extremist materials.” 

The license of the Tekhnalohija publishing house has been suspended. The publishing house’s director, Vatslau Bahdanovich, and his daughter, Viktoryia Bahdanovich, who had been detained, were released. Publisher Zmitser Kolas remains in detention. 

Persecution of journalists  

The media outlet Belarusian Investigative Center and the YouTube project Chasiki Tikayut (The Clock is Ticking) were designated as extremist entities. 

The foreign outlets BBC and Voice of America were designated as extremist materials by the Belarusian authorities. 

Staff of DW Belarus reported pressure on their relatives by the Belarusian authorities.

Agnieszka Romaszewska, former director of the Belarusian media outlet Belsat — registered in Poland — has been placed on a wanted list in Russia, most likely within the joint interstate wanted list maintained by Belarus and Russia. 

Persecution of human rights defenders

Well-known regional human rights defender Uladzimir Tseliapun was detained in Mazyr. According to Viasna Homieĺ chapter, he has been charged under article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (assistance in extremist activity) and article 367 of the Criminal Code (defamation of Lukashenka).

Human rights defender Vital Chopik has remained in detention for more than two years. He was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment for transmitting information about politically motivated court proceedings to Viasna human rights defenders.

The passports of Viasna Human Rights Center defenders Uladzimir Labkovich and Ales Bialiatski — deported former political prisoners — were revoked without legal basis.

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a leading Belarusian human rights organization holding ECOSOC consultative status at the United Nations, was designated as an “extremist entity.” 

The human rights education project Heta Baza was also designated as an “extremist entity.”

Freedom of conscience

The authorities permitted the Festival of Hope — an evangelization festival at the Čyžoŭka-Arena in Minsk — organized by two Protestant denominations: Evangelical Christians and Baptists. Franklin Graham, a prominent Baptist preacher from the United States, will be a guest at the festival. The attendance of U.S. Presidential Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale has not been ruled out.

This development raises hope for the release of imprisoned believers, including two presbyters of evangelical churches and several Protestant believers detained for assisting Ukrainian refugees.

Violations of rights and freedoms under the pretext of combating extremism and terrorism

On April 14, it became known that the Supreme Court of Belarus had designated the European Humanities University, located in Vilnius, as an “extremist organization.” According to the Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office, “the university conducts systematic work aimed at destabilizing the socio-political situation in the country.” This decision places current and former students and faculty, as well as a broader range of individuals with any connection to the university’s activities, at risk of criminal and administrative prosecution. This is undoubtedly an arbitrary decision; regrettably, however, it is entirely consistent with the policy of terror and repression pursued by the Belarusian authorities.

This is the seventh entity designated as an “extremist organization” on the List of Extremist Entities; the authorities apply the designation “extremist entity” to the remaining entries, even when they are registered abroad.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Committee for State Security (KGB) continued to expand — through extrajudicial procedures — lists and registries that designate individuals, organizations, initiatives, and publications as related to extremism and terrorism.

In April, the authorities set a new monthly record for additions to the List of Extremist Entities: 23 entities, of which only one belongs to the category of neo-Nazi formations: NSOOBE Ostenland — Resistance Front in Belarus and the Baltic States.

Among those added to the List are: one of the leading Belarusian human rights organizations, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee; the humanitarian aid organization for political prisoners, Volnyja; independent media outlets, the Belarusian Investigative Center and Novy Chas; electoral lists for the Coordination Council’s 4th convocation; and other civic initiatives.

The List of Extremist Entities contained a total of 364 entities at the end of April, 36 of which were added this year.

The List of Organizations and Individuals Involved in Terrorist Activities contained 1,447 individuals at the end of April, of whom 717 were included on political grounds unrelated to terrorist activity; 697 of them are Belarusian citizens. The List of Terrorist Organizations contains 484 entries, six of which are Belarusian political and protest initiatives included arbitrarily; no additions were made to this list during the current month.

The National List of Extremist Materials contained 2,149 pages — more than 9,300 items — at the end of the month. Additions included Telegram channels, social media pages, YouTube channels, musical works, books, and images. In April, 198 court decisions provided the basis for new additions to the list — approximately 50% more than in the previous month.

The List of Belarusian Citizens, Foreign Nationals, or Stateless Persons Involved in Extremist Activities was expanded by 130 new names in April, approximately 50% more than in the previous month. As of the end of April, it contains 6,578 names of individuals convicted on political grounds.

Torture and ill-treatment

Human rights defenders continue to receive and document information on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. This information is often shared on condition of non-disclosure, and documentation materials are likewise not made public. Nonetheless, many former political prisoners, once in a safe environment, recount to Viasna the details of the torture and prohibited treatment that accompanied their politically motivated persecution, for publication on web resources.

Mahilioŭ Correctional Facility No. 15 is known for its harsh treatment of those branded as “extremists.” A former political prisoner, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Viasna about how the facility’s administration targets prisoners registered as prone to extremism, why inmates sometimes welcome placement in a punishment cell, and what medical care looks like, which he describes as “a method of unintentional torture.”

A recently released political prisoner, speaking on condition of anonymity, described how staff at Correctional Facility No. 3 exceed their authority, the existence of “forbidden words,” the surveillance of telephone conversations, and how a relative’s complaint about a prisoner’s health can result in placement in a punishment cell.

Interference with the legal profession

Over the past two months, the following attorneys have been disbarred and had their licenses revoked by the Ministry of Justice: I. Hulevich, R. Yakauleu, and D. Yazerski — on the grounds of the imposition of disciplinary sanctions in the form of expulsion from the bar for conduct incompatible with the status of an attorney; U. Danilau — on the grounds of conduct incompatible with the status of an attorney, expressed in obstructing the Ministry of Justice in the exercise of the functions vested in it by legislation. V. Savich was stripped of her license “due to the impossibility of the attorney fulfilling her professional duties on account of insufficient qualifications.” Attorney Savich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Procedure and Prosecutorial Supervision at the Law Faculty of Belarusian State University (BSU), a Candidate of Legal Sciences, and a laureate of the national competition of legal information materials for the V. D. Spasovich Prize (2017).

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

During their visit to Yerevan, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski, and Advisor on Parliamentary Cooperation, Anatoli Liabedzka, held a meeting in the Armenian Parliament with the Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, Rustam Bakoyan.

The discussion focused on the human rights situation, prospects for parliamentary cooperation, support for Belarusians, and the exchange of experience.

A key topic was the creation of a “For a Democratic Belarus” Group in the Armenian Parliament. The sides noted that this requires time and political consensus and agreed to return to the issue after the upcoming parliamentary election in the country. They also agreed on the need for expanding parliamentary support for Belarus at the international level.

Anatoli Liabedzka: “Parliamentary engagement is another important track of our work. We are steadily expanding the network of support for Belarus; such groups are already active in Moldova and Ukraine, and Armenia is the next goal”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Journalist and activist of the Belarusian Union of Poles in Belarus, Andrzej Poczobut, was exchanged on April 28. Since 2021, he has gone through the Navapolack penal colony and solitary confinement cells, and even on the border with Poland, he issued ultimatums to the special services, demanding guarantees of return to his native Hrodna. In an interview with deputy editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Bartosz Wieliński, the former political prisoner shared the details of his imprisonment. 

"I'm not going anywhere because I don't believe you"

The release began at one o'clock in the morning in Navapolack. Andrzej Poczobut, like an experienced prisoner, began packing his things without any questions, preparing for the next transfer. Suspicions that something was off appeared when the guards allowed him to take bottled water with him and change his shoes, an unheard-of luxury for a regular transfer. Instead of the Minsk pre-trial detention center, he was brought to Belaviežskaja Pušča.

"There was a car waiting there, and I understood that it was the KGB. The people around it were wearing masks. There was only one person without a balaclava, the deputy head of some department. He told me that I would be released. And that if I wanted to, I could always return from Poland. The Belarusian side was ready and agreed to this. And I told him: I'm not going anywhere because I don't believe you. I explained to him that I had nothing against going to Poland if I could return to Hrodna. But I didn't believe the KGB. They were confused. In the meantime, I was fed and took a shower. They gave me new clothes and took away my rags," says Andrzej.

Poczobut says that his prison uniform was so worn out that he was afraid to wash it too often, as the fabric could tear.

To convince the journalist, the authorities had to pull out all the stops.

"A man who introduced himself as an employee of the Presidential Administration of Belarus arrived at the place. He told me that Aliaksandr Lukashenka himself promised — and they don't joke when saying this name — that I would be able to return to Belarus. There won't be any problems with that. He showed me a photo, which showed that Americans were involved in the exchange.

Andżelika Borys, the head of the Union of Poles in Belarus, also arrived [arrested in 2021, released from prison a year later]. But the most important thing for me was that I was able to talk on the phone with a Polish diplomat. I repeated to him that I was ready to leave if I could come back. I wanted to talk to him more, but I wasn't allowed to."

Andrzej spoke about how he was fed, as others were very shocked by the man's appearance after his imprisonment. 

"I became a victim of therapy, which in prison slang is called a 'kick in the fat.' Prisoners receive food, the weight of which is strictly calculated according to the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And when you're in the punishment cell, there's even less food. Porridge, potatoes, and some meat. Constant hunger. A person just loses weight."

"I looked into their eyes with hatred"

Poczobut described his trial in Hrodna, which began in February 2023. The system tried to create a picture of a humiliated enemy by ordering the man to stand facing the wall in front of the BelTA cameras.

"The guards told me, 'Face the wall.' And I firmly told them, 'No.' The media staff was surprised that I was looking them all in the eye. I was so enraged that if I could set them on fire with a glance, they would burn in this hall for coming to film my humiliation. The next day it happened again. The police said, 'Face the wall,' the camera entered again, and they repeated, 'Face the wall.' And I said, 'Absolutely not.' That while I was being filmed, I would not carry out that order, as I considered it shameful for myself. It was me who decided how people would see me."

The charges looked surreal: the journalist was tried for glorifying the Home Army and attempting to separate part of Belarus in favor of Poland. The evidence was a declassified NKVD report from the 1940s. Poczobut refused to testify on principle, demanded a lawyer, and delivered his last word in Polish, which Judge Bubenchyk did not even allow to be translated.

He says he understood that he might be detained, but did not want to run away:

"Thousands of our people live in Belarus, and I am with them. I am responsible for them. For those Poles whom I have joined to the activities of the Union of Poles."

He says he was convinced that if he ran away, the authorities would arrest another Polish activist. And so he took it upon himself. 

Navapolack penal colony

For Andrzej Poczobut, Navapolack penal colony No. 1 became a place of total control — he had to pay with months in solitary for every step towards dignity. He says that the penal colony in Navapolack is sandwiched between two giants: Naftan oil refinery and Polymir chemical plant. This is an industrial area where the main job for prisoners is the most dangerous: burning insulation off wires.

"We had to burn rubber with a burner. All safety standards were violated there... One day, an Emergency Situations Ministry drone appeared over the penal colony. The firefighters wanted to check where a column of black smoke was coming from. And it was prisoners burning insulation. The guards opened fire on the drone."

According to Poczobut, political prisoners work there without a break, having only one day off on Sunday, while other prisoners work only two days a week, as there is no work for everyone. 

Poczobut was searched twice a day: the guards were looking for minor violations. For example, an electric razor lying with the charger.

"One prisoner said that he had served 12 years and had not seen anyone who was fully searched twice a day. And they did it on purpose... One inaccuracy or mistake is enough, and you're sent to a punitive isolation cell (SHIZO)."

SHIZO is a concrete box where prisoners sleep on boards without a blanket in the bitter cold. When Poczobut was finally released from there, the administration set up a new trap: they tried to force him to clean the toilets. In the prison hierarchy, after performing this action, a prisoner will get the status of a pariah.

"I refused. For this, I was sent to a cell-type space (PKT). I spent six months there. I was driven to complete exhaustion. My blood pressure was constantly spiking. The political people who saw me were shocked."

"Being Polish is a difficult thing"

Andrzej admits that the memory of those who passed through Stalin's camps helped him to hold on. He escaped from the cold by exercising:

"I could do 140 push-ups in one go."

The hardest ordeal was separation from the family. In 2021, the authorities even tried to arrange a meeting with his wife Aksana so that she would convince him to leave. It did not work out.

"I always told my wife that she knows who she's marrying. I haven't changed. I've always been like this. I've always wanted to see the Navapolack GULAG from the inside. My curiosity was satisfied. I learned how the system works," he explains.

For him, Lukashenka and his entourage are just cogs in a mechanism.

And although he understands the risk, the journalist wants to return home.

"It's good if they let me in. And if they lock me up again? Well, then I'll do my time. Nelson Mandela was in prison for so many years, and the soldiers of the Home Army also were..." he says.

He says that being Polish in Belarus is a difficult thing:

"One of our activists from the border region, a poet, asked why it was so difficult to be a Pole. Unfortunately, this is the case at this latitude."

According to Poczobut's forecast, Belarus remains politically in Asia, where power is passed from father to son, and society is degrading to the state of a Turkmen GULAG, where people begin to run away from just the word "politics." Nothing will change in Belarus. After Lukashenka, there will be Lukashenka, he predicts.  

"In the fall of 2022, I talked to a Turkmen about totalitarianism in his country. He said that even as a Belarusian political prisoner, I can't imagine what happens there. That as soon as you start talking about politics, people just start running away. Because the very conversation could lead you to Owadan-depe. It was the most terrible prison in the entire former USSR, built in the middle of the Karakum desert. There, people had no names, only numbers, and they simply disappeared behind the walls, leaving no trace.

I have a sad feeling that such a climate may soon prevail here in Belarus," he says.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

A ceremonial presentation of letters of appreciation to participants of the initiative took place in Warsaw during the 5th Conference of Belarusians of the World.

“For many years of fruitful work aimed at representing the national interests of Belarus abroad, protecting the rights of Belarusian citizens, and implementing humanitarian, informational, and cultural initiatives.”

Thank you for the recognition!
We continue our work!

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

During her visit to Armenia, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the European Political Community Summit in Yerevan. This marks her first official visit to the country.

On the sidelines of the summit, she held meetings with the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ararat Mirzoyan. For democratic Belarus, the visit represents an important step toward further developing relations with Armenia and strengthening the presence of Belarus in the European political space.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Thank you to Armenia for the invitation. This is my first visit to the country, and I was honored to meet Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the summit. This is a strong signal that relations between democratic Belarus and Armenia are reaching a new level”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

The People’s Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania has completed a handover of the representative role. This is part of a broader step to strengthen its public presence and its systematic work with Belarusians in Lithuania and with international partners.

Alena Voukava is becoming the new public representative — a specialist with more than 20 years of experience, including organisational management and work with non-governmental initiatives in Lithuania. Over the past year, she has already been part of the People’s Embassy team, and she is now taking on the task of developing external contacts and representation.

The previous representative of the People’s Embassy in Lithuania will continue working within the team as a coordinator, ensuring the stability of internal processes and continuity.

Until now, the activities of the People’s Embassy in Lithuania have to a large extent remained non-public. This new stage envisions more open communication, the development of partnerships, and greater involvement in the life of the Belarusian community.

We are open to inquiries, cooperation, and new ideas. Please contact us at: lithuania@belarusabroad.org

We want the People’s Embassy in Lithuania to become:

• a clear point of contact for Belarusians,

• a partner for organisations and institutions,

• a platform for initiatives and joint action.

Long Live Belarus!
Už laisvę!

Source: People's Embassies of Belarus

Chairman of the Human Rights Center Viasna, Ales Bialiatski, addressed the public on the 30th anniversary of Viasna.

"I've been part of the Viasna team for 30 years. 30 years of feeling confident that you will be supported, that there will be a shoulder to lean on. 30 years of stubborn resistance to the lawlessness that prevails in Belarus and solidarity with the victims of the regime.

What can we compare this time to? I imagine that we jumped on a board among breakers and skimmed over the waves, sometimes rising to the crest, sometimes descending into the water's depths, while an irresistible force pulls us farther and farther away. Sometimes we are splashed, sometimes submerged completely, and sometimes lifted high. We get wet and cold, the sun is shining in our eyes, but we haven't fallen, haven't rolled off the surfboard, and we continue to ride the wave like experienced surfers.

Viasna was born as a challenge to the massive violations of human rights in the country. We were registered, and our registration was taken away from us. We did various jobs — museum workers, engineers, teachers, and journalists — and we were deprived of our jobs. We wrote appeals and reviews, reports and books, and we were labeled "social parasites." We spoke at seminars and demonstrations, at conferences and meetings, and we were marked as "extremists." We received international awards, and we were beaten up, but we got up and went on. We were punished with detention and prison, and there we "worked remotely," and there we felt the warmth of spring. Some of us left, but others came to their place. And we've lived every day like it is our last. That's what Viasna is.

Happy anniversary to everyone! Together with Viasna, we're moving forward. Spring cannot be stopped!"

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

The catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 40 years ago demonstrated what the atom means in the hands of an authoritarian regime. Chernobyl became a symbol of irresponsibility and betrayal, a symbol of the threat and danger of the uncontrolled use of nuclear power for people.

Today the Lukashenko regime continues the same irresponsible policy. Over the 32 years of his rule, benefits have been abolished, assistance programmes for victims have been terminated, and food is once again being grown on contaminated land. The regime is endangering the lives of millions of Belarusians by deploying Russian nuclear weapons on our territory and constructing the Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant without proper international oversight.

Through a fraudulent referendum in 2022, the provision on Belarus's neutral and nuclear-free status was removed from the Constitution. The subsequent deployment of nuclear weapons on our territory has created a direct threat to the peace and independence of Belarus, making Belarus a target and endangering the lives of millions of people.

Today we call for:

• The restoration of Belarus's nuclear-free status;

• An end to provocations and blackmail involving nuclear weapons;

• The withdrawal of Russian nuclear weapons from the territory of Belarus;

• Transparency in the operation of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant and unconditional compliance with international nuclear safety standards, including the norms of the International Atomic Energy Agency, taking into account substantiated international claims, including recorded procedural violations under the Espoo Convention;

• The initiation of broad public dialogue regarding the use of nuclear technologies in Belarus.

Chernobyl reminds us: nuclear safety is impossible without transparency, accountability, and sovereignty. Belarus must not be a platform for Russian nuclear threats.

Source: United Transitional Cabinet

On April 23–24, Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski held a series of political meetings, also attended by Dzianis Kuchynski and Anatoli Liabedzka of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office.

The meetings took place with Lithuania’s Minister of the Interior, Vladislav Kondratovič; Speaker of the Seimas, Juozas Olekas; and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Audra Plepytė.

The focus was on issues directly affecting tens of thousands of Belarusians in Lithuania. According to statistical data, around 50,000 citizens of Belarus hold residence permits in the country.

The key topic was integration. Belarusians should face as few barriers as possible and have greater opportunities for self-realization. Minister Kondratovič confirmed that Belarusians in Lithuania are not only people in exile but also a potential for the country’s development.

The parties also addressed the challenges related to security and pressure on Belarusians and possible responses to minimize risks for EHU students, their families, and alumni. On this issue, the Lithuanian side expressed readiness to act as a reliable ally.

The Lithuanian side reinforced that sanctions and pressure are directed against the Lukashenka regime, not the Belarusian people. Belarusians are partners and neighbors whom Lithuania is ready to support. That is why, alongside increasing sanctions pressure on the regime, Lithuania continues to support the Belarusian democratic community.

Another important area is the preservation of Belarusian identity. Education, kindergartens, the Belarusian Francysk Skaryna Gymnasium, the Belarusian House, and other civic initiatives all require stable support.

It was also preliminarily agreed to explore the possibility of taking driving license exams in Belarusian at Regitra — an issue raised by the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

The environmental campaign “Mes Darom” took place in Vilnius. The Belarusian community joined it, as well as:

• Dzianis Kuchynski, Director of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office in Lithuania;

• Anatoli Liabedzka, Parliamentary Cooperation Advisor;

• Dzmitry Kuchuk, Non-Staff Environmental Advisor.

“Mes Darom” is the Lithuanian part of the international movement “Let’s Do It World”, which unites millions of people across dozens of countries around the idea of caring for the environment.

The Belarusian community joined a clean-up effort in the Šeškinė slopes geomorphological reserve. Participants cleaned up the natural area and then took part in the broader program of the initiative, which included educational activities and informal networking.

Dzianis Kuchynski: “We are grateful to the Belarusians in Vilnius who joined the initiative and spent this day together doing something meaningful. Initiatives like this bring our community together and show that even the smallest actions matter when we do them together”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On 22 April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the resolution “Towards universal abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.” The document reaffirms the Assembly’s consistent position that the death penalty is incompatible with the principles of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

The rapporteur, Gala Veldhoen, noted that Belarus remains the last country on the continent where this practice is still in force.

The Assembly condemned the continued use of the death penalty in Belarus, expressing particular concern over the secrecy surrounding executions: the lack of prior notification to prisoners and their families, the non-return of bodies, as well as the absence of sufficient fair trial guarantees. The resolution also highlights the expansion of the use of the death penalty as a method of political pressure and repression.

In the adopted resolution, PACE calls on the Belarusian regime to:

• immediately introduce a moratorium on the application and carrying out of the death penalty;

• commute all existing death sentences to terms of imprisonment;

• put an end to the practice of secrecy by ensuring that prisoners, their families, and lawyers are informed, and that bodies are returned.

The document also specifically highlights the role of the Belarusian democratic forces. PACE welcomes the adoption by the Coordination Council of Belarus in June 2025 of the Memorandum on the Abolition of the Death Penalty, which was also supported by the United Transitional Cabinet and the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. This is regarded as a clear political commitment by a future democratic Belarus.

Aliaksandra Mamaeva, Head of the International Commission and of the delegation of the Belarusian democratic forces to PACE, stated:

“The Memorandum on the Abolition of the Death Penalty confirms the political consensus of the Belarusian democratic forces on the need to abolish the death penalty in Belarus, and I call on civil society organisations to join the Memorandum. As a representative of the ‘European Choice’ list, it is important for me already now to lay the foundations for Belarus to become a country without the death penalty, and for a democratic Belarus to become part of the Council of Europe.”

The adoption of this resolution is an important international signal in support of the abolition of the death penalty and a confirmation that the future Belarus must develop within the common European space of values.

Source: Coordination Council

The Human Rights Center Viasna turns 30 on April 26. Behind this figure are people who have devoted many years of their lives to helping victims of the repression. Among them are human rights defenders who have been imprisoned for their activities but have remained in human rights defence. The founder of Viasna, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, who was released and deported from the country four months ago, discusses why the Human Rights Center Viasna has remained steadfast. 

The material was prepared as part of a series of articles dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Human Rights Center Viasna.

"We have managed for so many years not to become hard-hearted"

Despite the repression, Ales Bialiatski emphasizes that over the past three decades, the organization has not only withstood getting dissolved by the state and constant persecution of its members, but has also developed. Today's Viasna is not just a group of enthusiasts, but an institution with rich experience.

"Of course, Viasna has become stronger now. Now it is an organization that has vast experience in human rights protection in various fields: legal, informational, and analytical. Until now, one of the main tasks of the organization, which was set at its foundation, has remained the assistance to victims of repression. This is important to me, because the need which Viasna originally addressed has also remained. The demand for it has not disappeared, but has become even greater.

The problem with political prisoners has increased hundreds of times. Political prisoners were few and far between, now people who are held behind bars for political reasons are thick on the ground. We continue to work in this direction. This is a very important and responsible activity that touches personal feelings, as it concerns solidarity and empathy with people.

In 2020, we began actively documenting the facts of torture and human rights violations in Belarus. While it used to be sporadic, now we are doing it systematically.

Over the years, we have strengthened our information department, as well as our work with volunteers. Now we have a lot of information products that had not been available before. We publish films and books about human rights in Belarus, about the lives of specific people. We continue to monitor the human rights situation and disseminate our findings."

For the founder of Viasna, the ethical component of this work is fundamental:

"The fact that we have managed for so many years not to become hard-hearted, or stop individual work with political prisoners, is extremely important both for the Belarusian society and for us, human rights defenders. We did not give up on this and did not say that it is impossible to scoop out this sea of human sorrow with a spoon.”

"Viasna continues to work thanks to the inner convictions of our human rights defenders"

Ales Bialiatski recalls that when the organization was founded, it did not even imagine that it would have to exist and be active in Belarus for three decades.

"In '96, I would never have believed that Viasna would work for 30 years, or that Lukashenka would stay in power for 30 years. If someone had said that back then, no one would have believed it. Nevertheless, we have a harsh and difficult life.

Paradoxically, despite the fact that human rights defenders are now forced to work outside Belarus, Viasna has become stronger. A new generation has joined the organization, which works with experienced human rights defenders. It is very important. There is a need to protect human rights, and there are organizations that continue this work despite a long period of struggle. During this time, many organizations appeared and disappeared. We are constantly at the forefront of the fight for human rights in Belarus. All this time we have been fighting for a democratic and European Belarus. I think Viasna continues to work dynamically, thanks to the inner convictions of our human rights defenders. After all, nothing else can explain why we have been doing this work for so long."

"After incarceration, you have new incentives to continue your work"

The human rights defender has spent more than seven years behind bars. He notes that the experience of imprisonment has greatly influenced the understanding of human rights defence, but has not changed it.

"It is a long break in activity. You used to help others, but now you find yourself in the role of a person who needs help. At such moments, you begin to understand even more the importance and value of human rights work. Moreover, this work has various manifestations: from care packagess to letters of solidarity, which almost do not reach you, but you feel them on a metaphysical level. This is help from various governments and non-governmental organizations and many thousands of caring people who in one way or another contributed to your release and helped you overcome this difficult time. It's very touching.

After incarceration, when you recover, you realize that you have new incentives to continue your work. I am very glad that all my colleagues who have served long terms in prison and lost a lot are returning to human rights work. I will continue to do what I have been doing for the last thirty years: to protect human rights in Belarus and not only in Belarus. The imprisonment has only strengthened us."

"Viasna is the most famous human rights organization in Belarus"

According to the human rights activist, even in the Horki penal colony, Viasna was a well-known brand among prisoners. 

"Some of the political prisoners I met behind bars received our help, and they thanked me for it. In my penal colony, many people knew what Viasna was. Viasna is now the most famous human rights organization in Belarus. When I said that I was the chairman of Viasna, or they found out about it themselves, they felt respect for me. 

When the prisoners found out that I received the Nobel Peace Prize, they treated me differently, since people had different educational levels. Some people didn't even know what kind of award it was. And those who knew treated me with respect. We have a very 'Belarusian' prison. Prisoners are usually closed and don't really like to share their feelings. I was a notable person there, so the prisoners did not want to get noticed for communicating with me too much, so as not to get punished. And there were such cases. Nevertheless, the general attitude towards me was deferential. Sometimes the prisoners didn't directly tell me about it, but it was obvious from their actions. I remember they even betted the most valuable thing in the penal colony, coffee. A prisoner came to me and asked if I was really a Nobel laureate. When I said that I was, he just said, 'Damn, I lost a pack of coffee.' Many of the prisoners helped me overcome the difficulties of my prison existence. I am very grateful to all of them for this.” 

"It is very important that people know about those behind bars"

The human rights defender is convinced that publicity is an important way to protect people in prison.

"It is very important that people know about those behind bars. When I was imprisoned, I have repeatedly come across people who were imprisoned for political reasons and no one knew about it. Unfortunately, the information about them didn't reach the outside world. When in December 2025 we were thrown out of Belarus with another political prisoner from our penal colony, the first thing we did with him was to compile a list of those political prisoners from our penal colony who were not on the list of political prisoners. Thanks to our list, a week later, several people received the status of political prisoners. It was very important.

t is necessary that people do not disappear. After all, if no one knows what's going on with you, you can disappear there without a trace. You'll die and no one will know. The greater the public control, the more it deters the authorities from using repressive methods against political prisoners. I firmly believe that relatives and friends of political prisoners should definitely share information with human rights defenders and journalists. We are ready to speak up for these people and that is what we do."

Concluding the conversation, the human rights defender addresses those who are still waiting for release:

"I've always told other political prisoners: 'Let's not be sad. Let's be patient and wait! Sooner or later, the moment of liberation will come, and we will be free.' That's what is happening now."

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

Twenty countries are already prepared to join the steering committee of the special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus and Head of NAU, told Belsat this after meetings at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. According to him, the geography of support for the initiative is expanding, and accountability — including for the Belarusian authorities — is becoming “inevitable.”

In his comment, Pavel Latushka noted that the number of countries supporting the creation of the tribunal is growing.

“During a meeting at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe with colleagues, we were able to establish that 20 countries have already decided to join the steering committee of the special tribunal on accountability for aggression against Ukraine. After Poland and Spain, Austria became the 19th country that is a member of the Council of Europe to confirm its readiness to vote at the upcoming meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Chișinău in favour of launching the work of the special tribunal.”

At the same time, Pavel Latushka stressed that the process is taking on an international dimension:

“The twentieth country was Costa Rica. This means that not only members of the Council of Europe have the right or the opportunity to join the activities of the special tribunal. According to the information we have, a number of other states that are not members of the Council of Europe are also considering and, most likely, will make a positive decision to join the steering committee of the special tribunal on accountability for aggression.”

In addition, Pavel Latushka expressed confidence that, in the future, the Lukashenka regime will also be held accountable for complicity in the aggression:

“The scope of the tribunal’s action will only expand, and accountability with regard to Lukashenka and his accomplices is inevitable,” Pavel Latushka stated.

In January 2026, the European Union and the Council of Europe agreed to establish a preparatory team for the launch of the special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Its task is to develop legal procedures, working mechanisms for the court, and prepare the institutional framework.

The future tribunal is envisaged as a body capable of bringing the highest political and military leadership to justice for aggression. The project is being coordinated by the Council of Europe, and the EU has already allocated around €10 million for its launch.

Earlier, Ukraine repeatedly stated its intention to seek accountability not only for the Russian leadership, but also for Aliaksandr Lukashenka, for complicity in the aggression against Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that all the necessary legal instruments exist for this, since Belarus allowed its territory and infrastructure to be used for the attack. Moreover, Kyiv continues to document new elements of the Belarusian regime’s support for Russian aggression and is passing the relevant materials to international bodies, including the UN.

In 2024, Lithuania submitted materials to The Hague concerning Lukashenka’s crimes against the citizens of Belarus, while the structures of the democratic forces continue to collect evidence for international judicial institutions.

Source: Belsat

UN experts today expressed grave concern over allegations of prolonged incommunicado detention and detention conditions at a Navapolatsk Correctional Colony in Belarus.

“Information we have received indicates deeply alarming detention practices that may amount to grave violations of international law,” the experts said.

“We are gravely concerned that detainees in Navapolatsk Colony may be subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, disciplinary sanctions and physical punishments after suicide attempts, denial of essential medical care and reprisals for attempting to raise complaints, especially after confidential meetings with the Colony’s psychologist,” they said.

“If confirmed, such practices may amount to torture and ill-treatment, and, under certain circumstances, may entail the commission of enforced disappearance,” the experts warned.“Both torture and enforced disappearance are prohibited under international law, including customary international law.”

Journalist and blogger Ihar Losik was arbitrarily detained from June 2022 to September 2025 on politically motivated charges and held in facilities in Belarus, including a KGB detention centre in Minsk and Correctional Colony No. 1 in Navapolatsk. In September 2023, Losik was the subject of the Working Group’s on Arbitrary Detention Opinion N° 45/2023.

He reportedly endured prolonged isolation in harsh conditions and was denied family contact, correspondence and effective legal counsel. Letters to international human rights bodies were allegedly withheld, and his lawyers faced disbarment or detention.

Losik reportedly attempted suicide twice in custody. In March 2023, after being told he would again be placed in isolation, he seriously injured himself but was denied hospitalisation and placed in disciplinary isolation.

“Punishing detainees for suicide attempts rather than ensuring urgent psychological and medical care is profoundly disturbing and incompatible with basic human rights standards, including the rights to life, health and freedom from torture and ill-treatment,” the experts said.

They were alarmed that Ihar Losik was designated as involved in terrorism and extremism despite no related conviction, citing the lack of transparency and legal remedies.

“Such listings appear to result in discriminatory treatment and denial of basic rights,” they said, urging Belarus to cease abusive terror listings in line with international law.

They also raised concern over the reported 2023 death in custody of an older detainee with health conditions, who was held in punitive isolation without adequate care. It remains unclear whether his death was investigated.

“Deaths in custody amid allegations of isolation, denial of care and concealment of information from families, raise the most serious concerns under international law, including the rights to life, liberty and security, and health, as well as the prohibition of torture and enforced disappearance,” the experts said.

“We urge Belarusian authorities to ensure humane detention conditions, guarantee access to independent medical and psychological care and conduct credible investigations into all reported deaths and serious injuries in custody,” they said.

“Measures must also be taken to prevent similar violations from occurring in Belarusian penitentiary facilities and protect inmates against reprisals for their complaints.” 

The experts have contacted the Government of Belarus on 16March 2026 about these cases.

The experts:

• Nils Muižnieks, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus

• Matthew Gillett (Chair-Rapporteur), Ms. Ganna Yudkivska (Vice-Chair on Communications), Mr. Ethan Hee-Seok Shin (Vice-Chair on Follow-Up), Ms. Miriam Estrada Castillo and Mr. Mumba Malila, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

• Gabriella Citroni (Chair-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair), Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez and Mohamed Al Obaidi, Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

• Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

• Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

• Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by the older persons

• Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism

• Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

• Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

Source: Human Rights Center "Viasna" 

The Supreme Court of Belarus has declared the European Humanities University (EHU) an "extremist organization" and prohibited its activities in the country. The decision was made based on an application from the Prosecutor General's Office, which accused the university of "destabilizing" the situation and cooperating with "radical structures."

According to the Prosecutor General's Office statement, the Supreme Court recognized EHU as an extremist organization under the law "On Counteracting Extremism," banning its activities in Belarus along with the use of its symbols and attributes.

The office claims that the university "carries out targeted work to destabilize the socio-political situation in the country" and "provides methodological, organizational, and financial assistance to representatives of radically politicized groups."

The Prosecutor General's Office also states that EHU "is used by the special services of some neighboring states to harm Belarus's interests in the political, humanitarian, and information spheres."

Other accusations include the claim that the university prepares youth for "the implementation of Western scenarios for transforming the political system" and promotes "alternative interpretations of historical and cultural events."

The Prosecutor General's Office also stated that to expand its activities, EHU uses internet resources "whose information products have been recognized as extremist," and the actions of several of its teachers and graduates are allegedly linked to criminal cases, including for "inciting hatred" and "conspiracy to seize power."

"Since the university's activities are aimed at encroaching on the independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, foundations of the constitutional order, and public security of the Republic of Belarus, and the criminal actions of a number of its teachers and graduates have been confirmed by materials from criminal cases on incitement of social hatred and discord, conspiracy to seize state power, calls for restrictive measures, as well as the commission of other serious and especially serious crimes, the court has allowed the immediate execution of the decision," the Prosecutor General's Office notes.

When contacted by Belsat, EHU responded that they are not yet commenting on the university being declared "extremist" and are preparing an official statement.

After the decision was announced, one pro-government Telegram channel issued threats against the university's students. In particular, it stated that EHU students "automatically become either members of an extremist organization or individuals financing extremism," and they could face criminal liability.

It is worth recalling that EHU has been operating in Vilnius since 2005 as a university in exile. The recognition of it as an "extremist organization" was announced by state media as early as early 2024, and in September, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a corresponding lawsuit with the court.

Source: Belsat

On April 10, the Director of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office in Lithuania, Dzianis Kuchynski, held a meeting with the Director of the Migration Department of Lithuania, Indrė Gasperė.

On behalf of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Dzianis Kuchynski expressed gratitude to the Migration Department for its work and, in particular, for its assistance in the residency legalization of former political prisoners who were evacuated from Belarus to Lithuania.

The parties discussed current issues related to migration procedures, legal stay, and the challenges faced by applicants. As of today, nearly 50,000 Belarusians hold residence permits in Lithuania.

The discussion focused on processing times for applications, interagency checks, and a transparent system for tracking application status. Mr. Kuchynski raised concerns about waiting times for decisions, which in some cases affect employment opportunities and access to social guarantees.

Following the meeting, the following points were noted:

• A general meeting with interested organizations is planned for June, possibly at the Migration Department. Representatives of Belarusian and Lithuanian NGOs, including professional communities, will also be invited.

• A more transparent system for tracking application status and processing timelines is being considered. The updated system is expected to better reflect applicants’ legal status and reduce the risk of misunderstandings regarding their right to stay in Lithuania.

• While an application is under review, forced departure measures will not be applied: the review period serves as a legal basis for staying in Lithuania.

• Specific issues related to obtaining a foreigner’s travel document for Belarusians who cannot return to Belarus to obtain a passport were also raised.

Dzianis Kuchynski also handed over a document prepared by the Legal Department of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office, outlining current residency issues faced by Belarusians in Lithuania. The Department of Migration will carefully review the issues.

❗️ Recommendation: submit documents in advance — approximately 6 months before your current status expires.

If you have an urgent case requiring immediate attention, you can contact the Legal Department of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office: legal@tsikhanouskaya.org. Based on objective criteria, information about your case may be forwarded to the Migration Department through appropriate procedural channels.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On 9 April 2026, a working meeting took place between Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and delegate of the Coordination Council, and Mikhail Kirilyuk, Head of the Legal Commission of the Coordination Council, and the leadership of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). A representative of the General Inspector of Financial Information of the Polish Ministry of Finance also took part in the meeting.

The discussion focused on banking service issues affecting Belarusian citizens residing in Poland, including:

• former political prisoners and other individuals awaiting international protection;

• persons undergoing the process of legalising their stay (including those awaiting a residence permit or its extension);

• citizens with expired passports, the renewal of which is objectively impossible, as well as those without passports altogether;

• other categories of Belarusian citizens.

Pavel Latushka informed the representatives of the Polish financial oversight authorities that Belarusians frequently face a number of problems, including:

• refusals to open accounts in Polish banks;

• restrictions on the use of mobile banking applications;

• freezing of funds in bank accounts;

• and others.

The Polish side was presented with specific cases of Belarusians who had encountered difficulties in accessing banking services. These examples were collected, among other sources, through the NAM chatbot and were also submitted by the Belarusian Association of Former Political Prisoners “Da Voli” (more than 40 cases in total).

Representatives of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the General Inspector of Financial Information of the Polish Ministry of Finance stated that they would initiate internal interagency procedures to coordinate possible solutions with the Office for Foreigners, the Ministry of the Interior, and the National Revenue Administration of Poland. These solutions may help remove some of the obstacles related to opening and maintaining bank accounts.

The Polish Financial Supervision Authority also reported that, following earlier communication between NAM and KNF, Polish banks had already been informed of the need to recognise the Temporary Foreigner’s Identity Certificate (TZTC) as a document confirming identity. At present, banks are finalising the adaptation of their internal procedures, including software systems, for the practical implementation of these measures in serving Belarusian citizens. According to available information, some banks have already begun opening accounts on the basis of the TZTC.

“In connection with the issue of how EU restrictions are being interpreted in a way that affects the use of mobile banking by Belarusian citizens within the European Union, we will send the relevant appeals to the National Revenue Administration, which, like the KNF, is authorised to interpret legal provisions in the financial sphere, as well as submit another appeal to the European Commission.

The work to protect the rights of Belarusians abroad will continue. We remain open to your appeals and problems and are ready to work towards resolving them. We will keep you informed of the decisions taken by the Polish side,” Pavel Latushka noted.

Source: NAM

On April 7, during her visit to Madrid, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.

As the Head of the United Transitional Cabinet, she thanked PM Sánchez for supporting a free Belarus, for consistent assistance to Ukraine, and for a principled stance toward the Aliaksandr Lukashenka regime. She also expressed gratitude for resolving residency issues faced by Belarusians: thanks to the work of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office and the Belarusian diaspora in Spain, the government has begun recognizing expired Belarusian passports. She also noted the support from all Spanish institutions.

Ms. Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the releases of political prisoners, as well as the challenges they face after release or deportation from the country. She emphasized that US diplomacy has a humanitarian focus and noted that, in addition to securing the release of prisoners, new arrests must be stopped and conditions created for democratization.

The parties separately discussed the situation in Ukraine and the new dynamics in relations with the Ukrainian authorities. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya spoke about her meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and noted that the evolving cooperation could influence the situation in Belarus and help address a number of practical issues.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also spoke about the work of Belarus’ democratic forces and civil society, as well as the activities of the International Humanitarian Fund. The sides discussed the problems faced by Belarusians in Spain and possible ways to address them.

The meeting was also attended by Diplomatic Advisor Dzianis Kuchynski and Imaguru Founder Tania Marinich, who represents the Belarusian community in Madrid and has been nominated as the Head of the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Madrid.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Prime Minister Sánchez is well aware of our challenges and assured me that Spain’s position remains unchanged. Spain clearly distinguishes between Belarusians and the regime, Belarus and Russia, and will continue to support those who have found safe refuge here in Spain. We spoke extensively about political prisoners, Ukraine, relations with the United States, and of course, what more we can do together with Spain.

It is crucial for us that the European position remains consistent in order to achieve systemic change in Belarus. Spain itself went through a dictatorship — its support is important to us today, and its experience will be valuable for Belarus in the future”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On March 31—April 1, Diplomatic Advisor Dzianis Kuchynski paid a working visit to Washington, D.C., on behalf of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The talks focused on securing the release of political prisoners, as well as strengthening support for the Belarusian community and democratic initiatives.

Mr. Kuchynski held meetings with:

• Andy Baker, Deputy National Security Advisor to US President Donald Trump;

• Charles McLaughlin, Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for European Affairs;

• John Coale, Special Envoy to Belarus;

• Christopher Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern Europe;

• Jamie Fly, CEO of Freedom House;

• Alina Polyakova, President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA);

• Tamara Cofman Wittes, President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI);

• Damon Wilson, President and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED);

• Damian Murphy, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress;

• Eric Green, Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In addition, meetings took place in the United States Congress.

Dzianis Kuchynski: “We are sincerely grateful to the United States for the efforts that have contributed to the release of political prisoners. Over the past year, more than 500 people have been freed from prison — that means more than 500 lives saved. We must still maintain a principled European approach toward the regime. A balance of roles is needed here — such coordinated actions bring results”.

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Summary:

• The human rights situation in Belarus remains critical: state terror and repression against dissidents, political opponents, participants in protest initiatives, journalists, and human rights defenders show no sign of abating.

• There are no grounds to suggest any improvement in the situation. Repression indicators remain high, comparable to previous years. The number of political prisoners is similar to that in early 2022. Repression of all kinds continues unabated. Lists and registries that serve as the basis for persecuting regime opponents and dissidents are expanding rapidly. Civil society organizations have sustained irreparable damage. All opposition parties and political organizations have been dissolved and have no prospect of resuming activities in Belarus in the near future. Human rights organizations and other entities deemed unacceptable by the regime have been dissolved or forced to leave the country. The regime openly carries out deportations and cross-border repression on political grounds. Constitutional guarantees of Belarus's non-nuclear and neutral status have been dismantled. The state remains complicit in an unjust war, and torture and prohibited forms of treatment remain uninvestigated and ongoing.

• As of the end of March 2026, 911 political prisoners were held in detention facilities in Belarus, including 118 women. For the first time in more than four years, the number of political prisoners has fallen below one thousand — a result of the release of 250 political prisoners following negotiations between the Belarusian leadership and the United States.

• However, the number of former political prisoners stands at 3,660, while the total number of individuals known to human rights defenders to have been deprived of liberty on political grounds since May 2020 stands at 4,570;

• During the month, the human rights community recognized 46 individuals as political prisoners and called for the rehabilitation of an additional 78 former political prisoners whose persecution was only revealed after their release.

• Viasna Human Rights Center members Valiantsin Stefanovic and Maryia Rabkova, as well as human rights defender Nasta Loika, have been released and forcibly removed from Belarus; human rights defender Vital Chopik, sentenced to imprisonment for conducting civil observation of court proceedings, remains in detention.

• Cross-border repression continues.

• Human rights defenders continue to regularly identify, document, and systematize instances of torture and other prohibited forms of treatment during the investigation of politically motivated criminal cases, as well as prohibited forms of treatment of inmates serving criminal and administrative sentences in politically motivated cases.

• The authorities regularly attack freedom of association and freedom of expression: dissidents and participants in civic initiatives are regularly subjected to arbitrary arrests and persecution; the authorities continue to expand restrictions on the receipt and dissemination of information.

• Lists of "extremists" and "terrorists," "extremist" entities, and "extremist" publications and content are regularly expanded, laying the groundwork for the continuation of state terror and repression;

• On 12 March, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed by the Belarusian authorities.

• At the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, a vote was held on a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Belarus. As a result, the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus and the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus (GIE Belarus) were each renewed for a further year.

International accountability mechanisms 

On 12 March, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into the conduct of the Belarusian authorities. The investigation concerns possible crimes against humanity, including the forced deportation of opposition members, committed since May 2020. Although Belarus is not a party to the ICC, the investigation was initiated by Lithuania, on whose territory persecuted Belarusian citizens have taken refuge.

On March 12, an interactive dialogue was held with the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus (GIEH Belarus) during the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council. At this meeting, the group presented its report.

On 18 March, the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Belarus under the fourth cycle was adopted during the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council. The Belarusian authorities accepted only 166 of 332 recommendations, dismissing many as politically motivated.

On 12 March, Ales Bialiatski, Chair of Viasna Human Rights Center, met with Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Politically motivated persecution and political prisoners

Statistics

Since May 2020 — when the large-scale repressive campaign aimed at keeping Aliaksandr Lukashenka in power during and after the falsified 2020 presidential election began, and which subsequently expanded to encompass all those whom the current authorities consider disloyal — at least 9,594 individuals have faced politically motivated criminal prosecution. At least 8,304 have been convicted, including in absentia. 

These figures continue to grow each month, although human rights defenders are significantly limited in their ability to obtain information on prosecutions.

As of 31 March, 911 political prisoners remain in detention, including 118 women. For the first time since early 2022, the number of political prisoners has fallen below one thousand — a result of the large-scale release following negotiations between the Belarusian leadership and the United States. The number of former political prisoners stands at 3,660. 

During March, human rights defenders recognized 46 individuals as political prisoners and called for the rehabilitation of a further 78 former political prisoners whose persecution was revealed only after their release.

Human rights defenders have registered 168 political prisoners who are particularly vulnerable due to health issues, age, or the conditions of their detention.

Since mid-2024, approximately 840 political prisoners have been released by pardon. Before 2024, the regime had only once — in 2021 — released or commuted the sentences of 13 political prisoners from correctional facilities by pardon; isolated early releases of political prisoners had previously occurred as a result of diplomatic agreements. Among all those released by pardon during this period, more than 10 were individuals sentenced to home confinement, whom human rights defenders do not classify as political prisoners.

Conditions of political prisoners

Disturbing reports continue to emerge regarding the physical and psychological condition of political prisoners remaining in detention. Vatslau Areshka and Volha Chukarava, who lost their sight while in detention, continue to be held in correctional facilities. According to DissidentBY, Zhanna Auramchyk is in a serious condition. Information has also emerged of at least a third suicide attempt by Stsіapan Latypau, who is repeatedly placed in punishment cells and a Secure Housing Unit.

A new criminal case has been opened against Alena Malinоuskaya; upon completion of her sentence, she was not released but placed in custody. On 6 March, the Minsk City Court sentenced her to 4 years and 9 months' imprisonment. Since Alena had already served more than four years behind bars, that time was credited toward her new sentence. She was released in the courtroom. A new criminal case has also been opened against Valiantsina Navumava,who is currently in custody.

The practice of lengthening sentences and worsening detention conditions persists: for "persistent disobedience to correctional facility administration" under Article 411 of the Criminal Code, Tsikhan Osipau was sentenced to an additional one year and six months of imprisonment, and Mikita Dranets to an additional one year of imprisonment. Mikalai Autukhovich has again been transferred to a high-security prison.

On 3 March, it became known that Natallia Bachurynskaya's sentence of three years' imprisonment had been commuted and that she had been released.

On 5 March, the pardon of 15 political prisoners — primarily women — was announced.

On 19 March, following a visit to Minsk by U.S. Special Envoy John Coale, the Belarusian authorities announced the pardon of 250 individuals convicted on political grounds, 15 of whom were deported to Lithuania. At least eight of those pardoned were individuals sentenced to home confinement, whom human rights defenders do not classify as political prisoners. At least one individual named in the list had not been released by the end of the month: Dzmitry Navazhylau is reported to have remained in a correctional facility, while another political prisoner with a similar surname was released instead.

Persecution of former political prisoners and their relatives

Human rights defenders continue to document various forms of persecution and pressure directed at former political prisoners and their relatives, both those remaining in Belarus and those who have been forced to leave the country.

On 17 March, Maryna Adamovich, wife of former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich, was detained without explanation and released the same day. 

Police officers have been visiting Belarusian relatives of deported political prisoners, allegedly in an effort to locate them. This is likely connected to the fact that former political prisoners are recorded as having been released in the usual procedure and are therefore subject to preventive supervision measures. Some of those deported have received draft notices by post.

The passports of deported political prisoners are being declared invalid.

According to the Pink Scarves initiative, political prisoners pardoned on 19 March who remained in Belarus are prohibited from using bank cards, obtaining SIM cards, or committing any violations, under threat of reimprisonment. This is linked to the inclusion of these political prisoners in the List of Organizations and Individuals Involved in Terrorist Activities.

Bailiffs are demanding payment of a debt — apparently for an unissued prison uniform — from deported political prisoner Ihar Karnei.

Persecution of human rights defenders  

Human rights defender Vital Chopik has remained in detention for more than two years. He was sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment for transmitting information about politically motivated court proceedings to Viasna human rights defenders.

On 19 March, the Belarusian authorities announced the release of 250 political prisoners and deported 15 of them to Lithuania, including Viasna human rights defenders Valiantsin Stefanovic (1,709 days in detention) and Maryia Rabkova (2,009 days in detention), as well as Human Constanta human rights defender Nasta Loika (1,239 days in detention).