Belarus: Accountability for gross human rights violations four years on

‘For the past four years, the Belarusian authorities have brutally and relentlessly cracked down on writers, cultural figures, activists – anyone who dares express dissenting views. Even the relatives of those imprisoned on political grounds are targeted, while Belarusians abroad find themselves in an increasingly precarious situation. PEN International continues to stand with the brave people of Belarus in their fight to uphold fundamental freedoms.’ Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

9 August 2024 – The international community must redouble efforts to address gross human rights violations in Belarus and hold those responsible to account, PEN International and PEN Belarus said today, marking four years since the widely disputed presidential elections of August 2020 and the unprecedented crisis that ensued.

The situation in Belarus remains of grave concern. As documented in a harrowing report by PEN Belarus published in July 2024, the past four years have been marked by repression on a global scale. At least 5133 persons have been criminally convicted on political grounds. At least 36,418 persons have been subjected to administrative prosecution. Over 400 Belarusians have been added to so-called ‘terrorism’ lists, and over 4,100 have been labelled ‘extremists’. Torture and other-ill-treatment in places of detention is both systematic and widespread. Several prisoners are currently being held in prolonged incommunicado detention, including writer and lawyer Maksim Znak. The health of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiastki is reportedly rapidly deteriorating due to lack of access to adequate healthcare. Over 1400 people were being held on politically motivated grounds at the time of writing, including 38 ‘people of the word’ – writers, translators, academics, and intellectuals. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that some of the violations it documented may amount to crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the stigmatisation and repression of Belarusian language and literature shows no sign of abating.

In a bid to crush all independent views, the authorities of Belarus are increasingly targeting relatives of dissidents, including through unfair detention, prosecution and imprisonment. Acts of transnational repression are mounting. The cancellation by presidential decree in September 2023 of consular services to renew or extend passports of Belarusians abroad – thereby compelling them to travel to Belarus and putting them at high risk of politically motivated persecution – gravely impacts their freedom of movement and access to essential services. The Belarusian authorities opened at least 104 criminal cases against Belarusians abroad who took part in Freedom Day celebrations in March 2024. Belarusian filmmaker and journalist Andrej Hniot remains at risk of forcible repatriation from Serbia to Belarus on trumped up charges of tax evasion.

‘The Lukašenka government, with the full force of its punitive machinery, is brutally waging war against the Belarusian people whose only crime is to disagree with violence and falsifications. These horrific abuses transcend Belarus, reaching those abroad and trapping them in fear and uncertainty. No one should be targeted for their dissenting views, let alone suffer because of the peaceful actions of their relatives. The Belarusian authorities torture, break people mentally and physically, and destroy their human dignity. The world must stop turning away from Belarus. Evil spreads quickly and does not recognise state borders. Only together can we overcome these challenges’. Taciana Niadbaj, PEN Belarus President.

PEN International and PEN Belarus welcome the establishment of a new Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus in April 2024, tasked with investigating human rights abuses committed in Belarus since 1 May 2020, collecting and preserving evidence of such abuses, and identifying those responsible. The new investigative body will further provide support for national, regional and international efforts to promote accountability for human rights violations in Belarus.

PEN International and PEN Belarus once again urge the authorities of Belarus to end their crackdown on dissent and to release all those held for peacefully expressing their views. PEN International and PEN Belarus further call on the international community to continue to exert pressure on the Belarusian authorities to release those imprisoned on political grounds – including cultural figures – to advance accountability for crimes committed by the Belarusian authorities, and to support independent cultural projects and initiatives both inside and outside Belarus.

Additional information

For more information about the work of PEN Belarus, including their monitoring of cultural and human rights violations against cultural workers, please click here. Detailed recommendations from PEN Belarus to the Belarusian authorities and the international community are available here.

Join PEN International’s call to halt the extradition of Belarusian filmmaker and journalist Andrej Hniot from Serbia to Belarus. More information here.

Take action to demand the release of PEN Belarus member, writer, lawyer and academic Maksim Znak, held in incommunicado detention since February 2023. Click here.

Note to Editors:

For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: Aurelia.dondo@pen-international.org