Authorities in Belarus have perpetrated widespread and grave human rights violations as part of an orchestrated campaign of violence, mistreatment and discriminatory policies aimed at systematically persecuting and silencing perceived opponents. Some of these violations amount to crimes against humanity.

BACKGROUND:

In response to President Alexander Lukashenko’s declaration of victory in the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, widespread protests over alleged electoral fraud erupted across six oblasts. The government responded with a massive and violent crackdown to suppress dissent, including excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions, sexual and gender-based violence, torture and summary trials. This suppression continues to this day, with demonstrators, political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, trade unionists, lawyers and ordinary citizens expressing dissent subjected to pervasive violations.

The UN Human Rights Council-mandated Group of Independent Experts (GIE) on Belarus determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that President Lukashenko has established and implemented a policy aimed at suppressing any form of dissent by targeting real or perceived opponents to maintain power and participated in the crimes against humanity of political persecution and imprisonment since May 2020. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has also found reasonable grounds to believe that torture and other ill-treatment are widespread and systematic and that some violations may amount to crimes against humanity.

Following the 2020 crackdown, Belarusian authorities adopted a set of legislative reforms, introducing new criminal and administrative offences, extending the death penalty, restricting freedom of assembly and association and widely impacting freedom of expression through expanded surveillance. The government has intensified its widespread policy of arbitrary arrest and detention, with torture and inhuman or degrading treatment systematically inflicted, particularly against perceived political opponents. Since 2020 at least 8,905 people have faced politically motivated criminal prosecutions, while 7,565 have received politically motivated sentences, including in absentia. Belarus ranks among the countries with the highest number of political prisoners per capita. Despite repeated waves of presidential pardons, the Viasna Human Rights Centre reported that the number of political prisoners rose by an average of 40 new cases per month in 2025 and at least 1,140 people remain in custody.

UN Special Procedures, OHCHR and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have repeatedly raised alarm over the inhumane conditions endured by female political prisoners, including punitive measures such as solitary confinement, public humiliation, incitement of violence and sexual violence. UN mechanisms continue to report cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in women’s correctional colonies, particularly affecting women convicted in connection to the 2020 protests. Likewise, LGBTQIA+ persons face discriminatory patterns of repression, including harsher detention conditions and derogatory and sexually abusive comments.

President Lukashenko’s government has targeted civil society extensively. In July 2021 he announced a “purge,” during which authorities shut down over 1,000 independent organizations. Independent associations, trade unions and political parties have been systematically dismantled and face persecution.

Authorities have increasingly rejected findings from human rights bodies, obstructed independent monitoring and refused cooperation with international mechanisms. According to the GIE, President Lukashenko exercises complete control over all state powers and has given orders, either directly or through individuals reporting to him, to various institutions that commit human rights violations and ongoing crimes against humanity. The main perpetrators of these abuses – primarily security forces, such as the State Security Committee (KGB), Special Purpose Police Detachment and Interior Ministry troops – operate with impunity. In some cases, pro-government militias have harassed and intimidated opposition members.

In this climate of fear, OHCHR estimates that over 500,000 individuals have been forced to flee. Belarusians in exile face patterns of transnational repression, including judicial harassment, trials in absentia, hate speech, as well as targeted intimidation of themselves and their families. These practices have led to de facto statelessness for many.

The European Union, United States (US) and United Kingdom have imposed targeted sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has invoked its Moscow Mechanism multiple times to appoint rapporteurs to investigate human rights violations, with reports highlighting systemic abuses connected to the 2020 elections and beyond.

In September 2024 Lithuania referred the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 12 March 2026 the ICC opened an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity, including forced deportation and persecution of political opponents, with findings from the preliminary examination suggesting these acts were encouraged or approved at the highest level of the Belarusian government.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

During 2025 and continuing at the time of publication, the government has engaged in a series of prisoner releases, as part of President Lukashenko’s efforts at rapprochement with the US. Some pardons of political prisoners have been accompanied by new abuses, including coerced propaganda videos and forced cooperation agreements with the KGB. Several released individuals have been deported and stripped of their passports, leaving them at risk of statelessness.

Pervasive politically motivated discrimination and harassment continue across public and private sectors. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus has documented the use of forced labor as punishment for unjustly imprisoned persons. These findings come amid a two-year engagement with the International Labour Organization, which has placed Belarus under heightened scrutiny for violations of trade union rights. Belarusian authorities have routinely retaliated against companies and employees that support peaceful anti-government protests or denounce human rights violations.

ANALYSIS:

Since assuming office in 1994, President Lukashenko has systematically dismantled democratic institutions and silenced dissent in Belarus. The situation in Belarus reflects a state-driven, institutionalized campaign of repression. Belarusian authorities have implemented policies to incite fear, intimidate and punish those perceived as “disloyal” through a campaign officials have repeatedly described as a “cleansing of society.” The use of Article 411 of the Criminal Code, which allows indefinite extension of prison sentences for “disobedience,” exemplifies the arbitrary and punitive manipulation of law to suppress dissent. Abuse of counterterrorism and so-called anti-extremism laws further enables judicial persecution.

Pardons for political prisoners do not signal broader human rights improvements, but rather indicate a “revolving door” practice, as more people continue to be arrested and convicted for exercising their fundamental rights. Systemic repression remains entrenched and many political prisoners continue to face ill-treatment, limited access to medical care and punitive detention conditions.

The targeting of women underlines the gendered dimension of repression, while additional patterns of repression against LGBTQIA+ individuals underscores the discriminatory nature of the government’s punitive measures. Violations against detained women may constitute gender-based persecution, as defined under the Rome Statute, and align with patterns of systemic abuse previously outlined by UN bodies.

Courts, law enforcement agencies and security services operate together to suppress opposition, with repression codified into law. This enables violent repression of all forms of dissent through disproportionately heavy sentences and the lack of fair trials. The regime’s criminalization of dissent and dismantling and persecution of civil society actors demonstrate the systematic nature of these violations.

Russia’s strategic alliance with Belarus provides key diplomatic, economic and technical support, emboldening the regime and shielding it from international accountability. This support not only enhances the state’s capacity to commit abuses but also weakens the impact of multilateral pressure and sanctions.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Security forces and judicial institutions weaponized to suppress dissent without accountability amid no domestic, independent oversight or redress mechanism.
    • Legal and institutional infrastructure designed to silence perceived opposition, enabling the state to carry out repression under the guise of legality.
    • Widespread and systematic persecution through actions that are organized, intentional and directed against identifiable groups.
    • Dismantling of civic space and a surveillance state – characterized by censorship, internet shutdowns, disinformation and propaganda – to hide abuses.
    • Presence of exclusionary ideology, entrenched authoritarianism, international isolation, collapse of independent institutions and capacity for mass repression.

NECESSARY ACTION:

The Belarusian government must immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and guarantee that civil society actors can carry out their work without fear of reprisal. Belarusian authorities must halt politically motivated prosecutions, reform repressive laws and re-engage with international human rights mechanisms.

EU and OSCE member states should strengthen diplomatic pressure, expand support for exiled civil society and coordinate with international accountability efforts.

The ICC should open a formal investigation into crimes against humanity in Belarus. UN member states should open universal jurisdiction cases to address crimes beyond Lithuania’s referral, including torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearance. OHCHR and UN Special Procedures must continue documenting violations to support future justice initiatives.