{"id":183576,"date":"2026-04-14T13:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183576\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T14:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:22:09","slug":"rights-defenders-decry-extremist-designations-to-rights-groups-as-crime-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183576\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists decry extremist designations to rights groups as crime against humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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April 14, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarusian authorities may be committing crimes against humanity by designating human rights organizations as “extremist” groups, says a joint statement by a coalition of Belarusian and international human rights defenders posted by the Viasna Human Rights Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since late February, the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) has branded Belarusian PEN, Human Constanta and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee as “extremist” groups, criminalizing their activities as well as any form of interaction with these NGOs, it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designations constitute politically-motivated persecution, designed to suppress civic activism and to stigmatize civil society organizations and the Belarusian human rights movement, the statement stressed. Authorities interfere with the exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of association, rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Belarus is a party, the activists noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document also described this form of persecution against NGOs operating in exile as part of a transnational repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights defenders urged the Belarusian authorities to revoke the decisions and to bring anti-extremism legislation into line with international human rights standards, calling on the international bodies to properly assess human rights violations in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viasna, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Lawtrend, Belarusian PEN, Barys Zvozska\u016d Human Rights House, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Pravavaja Inicyjatyva, Lawyers\u2019 Rights Watch Canada, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), the Human Rights House Foundation, ARTICLE 19 and the International Federation for Human Rights signed the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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