Rights groups: reprisals persist and evolve

October 13, Pozirk. Reprisals in Belarus have not receded despite the liberation of dissidents negotiated by the United States and other countries since mid-2024, Belarusian rights groups said in a joint statement released yesterday.

Belarusian law enforcers have built and maintained a coordinated system to suppress dissent over the six years since the 2020 postelection protests, it stressed. The system has become more covert, with deliberate concealment of information about reprisals and reliance on less visible forms of pressure, which complicates monitoring, rights defenders noted.

Authorities keep filing criminal charges against their political opponents, handing down politically-motivated sentences and arresting dissenters, with at least 3,200 people charged in criminal cases since mid-2024, the statement said. Rights groups also reported at least 28,500 arrests, searches and other forms of reprisals in this period.

The number of people recognized as political prisoners, including former political prisoners, increased from 3,391 to 4,879, with 885 still held behind bars, rights defenders stressed. However, these numbers represent a conservative estimate, not the full picture, they noted.

“Quantitative indicators of repression, and the number of political prisoners in particular, are no longer sufficient on their own to assess the state of the system. Qualitative indicators are essential for assessing genuine change,” the statement reads. These include ending politically motivated persecution and ill-treatment, reintegrating released dissidents, repealing the “passport edict” and allowing civil society groups and independent media to operate freely.

The statement called for the release of all jailed regime critics, safe return for forcibly expelled people and an end to all repressive practices. It also urged the authorities to ensure access to prosecution data and stop targeting civil society, independent trade unions, political parties and the media.

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Belarusian PEN, Barys Zvozskaŭ Human Rights House, Pravavaja Inicyjatyva, The Belarusian Association of Journalists, Human Constanta, the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, Respect-Protect-Fulfill, Lawtrend and the Viasna Human Rights Center signed the declaration.

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