Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus April 2025
Massive repressions against Belarusian civil society organizations and citizens, both within the country and those who have been forced to leave abroad, continue unabated.
Over a hundred representatives of civil society organizations, including representatives of trade unions and religious organizations, remain detained. Assistance, financing of extremist activities, creation, leadership, and participation in extremist formations are among the most common grounds on which activists are subjected to lengthy prison sentences. In 2024 alone, 44 criminal cases were initiated for financing extremist and terrorist activities. The number of criminal cases for participation in recognized extremist formations has significantly increased.
The practice of intimidation and pressure on activists abroad, as well as their close relatives remaining in Belarus, continues. Criminal cases against activists who have been forced to leave abroad are initiated in absentia. As of the end of April 2025, 147 individuals have been included in the list of persons against whom special proceedings (in absentia) have been initiated and who are being summoned by law enforcement agencies.
The active inclusion of non-profit organizations with registered status into the sphere of state interests continues, including issues related to attracting foreign non-repayable aid to the country.
The registration of new non-profit organizations within Belarus is extremely rare. Since the post-election period of 2020, the losses in the public sector of Belarus amount to at least 1,926 institutionalized forms of non-profit organizations (public associations, trade unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, associations). During the monitoring period, the number of liquidated organizations increased by 9 due to the forced liquidation of one foundation and the voluntary dissolution of 8 non-commercial organizations.
Creation and Operation of Non-Profit Organizations
Despite the fact that civil society organizations in Belarus continue to exist and carry out their activities, the registration of new non-profit organizations on the territory of Belarus is extremely rare. An analysis of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs showed that from the beginning of January to the end of April 2025, 7 new non-profit organizations were registered in Belarus. At the same time not a single new public association has been registered. Among the registered non-profit organizations there are 1 support and development fund for creative initiatives, 6 non-governmental institutions, including 2 institutions focused on animal protection, 2 institutions for adult education, 1 social and charitable institution, and 1 sports institution.
The active inclusion of non-profit organizations into the «state field,» joint activities with state bodies, continues. On April 9, under the chairmanship of Minister of Justice Yevgeny Kovalenko, a roundtable was held on promoting the activities of public associations and foundations.
The event was attended by officials from the Ministries of Information and Health, departments of humanitarian activities, and financial monitoring, as well as representatives of public associations and foundations. According to the Ministry of Justice, the key topics discussed at the roundtable included issues of informational support for public associations and foundations, their interaction with healthcare institutions, media coverage, and legal regulation of foreign non-repayable aid.
The Department of Humanitarian Activities has intensified its work on attracting foreign non-repayable aid, including joint activities with state and non-profit organizations. During the monitoring period, the department conducted at least 5 events on attracting foreign non-repayable aid to the country. The implementation of these activities is carried out primarily based on the Activity plan for Organizing Work with Foreign Non-Repayable Aid by state bodies for 2024-2025.
On April 8, 2025, a representative of the department participated online in a workshop at the Mogilev State Regional Institute of Education Development aimed at «improving their professional competencies in attracting foreign non-repayable aid to the region, discussing and disseminating effective practices of regional educational institutions in this area.» On April 15, a working meeting was held at the department with the Head of the UNICEF Representation in the Republic of Belarus, discussing a wide range of cooperation issues, including prospects for regional-level collaboration. On April 22, a meeting of the administration of the Moscow district of Minsk was held with the participation of a department representative, focusing on the results of the district’s organizations in attracting foreign non-repayable aid in 2024 and setting tasks for 2025. On the same day, the director of the department participated in a regional seminar at the Vitebsk Regional Institute of Education Development, where the main topic was the development of humanitarian cooperation within the implementation of social projects.
On April 23, 2025, a meeting of the Public Council on Foreign Non-Repayable Aid at the department was held with the participation of department representatives, main departments of the Minsk City Executive Committee, non-profit and religious organizations. According to the Department, the meeting discussed the implementation of best practices for attracting and using foreign non-repayable aid by public and religious organizations in cooperation with state bodies and organizations, as well as planning joint activities of non-profit, religious, and state organizations in attracting foreign non-repayable aid, including within the framework of humanitarian projects.
Liquidation of Non-Profit Organizations
As anticipated at the beginning of 2025, the campaign for the forced liquidation of non-profit organizations (excluding religious organizations) has shifted from a mass scale to a targeted one. During the monitoring period, only one case of forced liquidation of a charitable foundation was recorded.
Since July 6, 2024, Belarus has been actively conducting a campaign to re-register all religious organizations, which will continue until July 5, 2025. According to the head of the main department of ideological work and youth affairs of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee, as of the end of April, 60% of religious organizations in the region have been re-registered. Organizations that do not complete re-registration by July 5, 2025, will be subject to liquidation through the courts, and their activities will be considered illegal. The re-registration process is accompanied by a lack of information and transparency from the authorities; in particular, information about organizations that have completed re-registration, as well as refusals of re-registration, is not published. This raises significant concerns regarding the implementation of the right to freedom of association and freedom of religion.
Currently, there is official information only about the re-registration of the Belarusian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Upon completion of the re-registration campaign, a significant reduction in the number of registered religious organizations in the country is expected.
Non-profit organizations continue to actively make decisions about voluntary liquidation. During the monitoring period, at least eight non-profit organizations (seven public associations and one foundation) decided to liquidate voluntarily.
The decision to voluntarily liquidate non-profit organizations in Belarus is primarily due to unprecedented repression in the country, an unfavorable legal environment, pressure on the entire independent civil sector, as well as on specific organizations and their leadership, members, and employees. As of April 30, 2025, since 2021, according to monitoring[1] conducted by Lawtrend, 1,189 non-profit organizations have been in the process of forced liquidation, including lawsuits filed by registering authorities in court for liquidation or forced exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. In relation to at least 737 non-profit organizations (public associations, foundations, associations, institutions, political parties), according to monitoring conducted by Lawtrend, participants/founders have voluntarily decided to liquidate.
Administrative and Criminal Prosecution of Civil Society Leaders and Members, and Other Pressure on Civil Society Organizations
At least five representatives of human rights organizations, dozens of representatives of civil society organizations and religious organizations, as well as 29 representatives of trade unions and the labor movement continue to serve prison sentences[2] connected with their professional activities, participation in civil society organizations, and civic activism.
Pressure on representatives of religious organizations continues. For instance, within the framework of a criminal case, Pastor Oleg Loyko of the Church of Evangelical Faith was detained; he was involved in social and public activities, including the rehabilitation of people with drug addiction within the mission «Return.» On April 30, the pastor of the local sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, Andrzej Juchniewicz, was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony.
Human Rights Center «Viasna» volunteer Andrei Chepyuk has fully served his sentence (5 years and 9 months) and was released on April 18, 2025. After serving a full three-year sentence, activist of the United Civic Party Andrus Asmolovsky was also released.
Regarding representatives of civil society organizations, legislation on countering extremism continues to be actively used: prosecution for money transfers to solidarity funds, as well as assistance to political prisoners and their families, including criminal cases; recognition of public initiatives as extremist formations, and their information resources as extremist materials.
According to the Chairman of the State Control Committee, in 2024, the financial investigation bodies of the committee identified 2,700 cryptocurrency transactions related to financing extremist and terrorist activities. Forty-four criminal cases were initiated for financing extremist and terrorist activities. In cooperation with state security agencies, 1,445 individuals were identified who used the payment service of the social network Facebook to transfer funds to extremist formations.
On April 2, the state television channel ONT aired another propaganda piece «Shadows. The Price of Terror,» which discussed the persecution of individuals for donations, including those detained for financing organizations recognized by the authorities as «extremist» or «terrorist.»
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials included, among others, information products posted on the Facebook page of «Belaruski Moladzevy Khab», posted in the Telegram chat «Rabochy Rukh chat», posted in the Telegram channel «InshyJA,» Telegram groups named «Soyuz Materej chat» and «Soyuz Materej Belarusi,» as well as information products posted on the website and social networks of the initiative «Volnyja.» A number of information products posted in social networks and Telegram chats of diaspora organizations, such as «Supolka belarusau Narvegii», «Belarusy Gruzii/By in Georgia (by_in_georgia),» «Belarusy Ispanii,» «Belarusy Niderlandau Chat,» «Supolka Belarusau u Finliandyi,» and others, were recognized as extremist materials.
During the monitoring period, the following were recognized as extremist formations: «Khrystsyjanskaja vizija» – a public association uniting clergy, theologians, and activists from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Evangelical churches in Belarus and abroad; the educational platform «Vasminoh: adukacyja dlia bielaruskih dziacej sionnia i zautra»; the initiative «Heta Moladź»/»This is Youth». The initiative «Palitvyazynka,» which provided assistance to female political prisoners, after its recognition during the monitoring period by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an extremist formation, announced the cessation of its activities. The association of Internet resources called «Ksiondz Barok», consisting of one person – the priest of the Roman Catholic parish in honor of St. Josaphat Kuncevič in the town of Rossony, Vitebsk region, Vyacheslav Zygmundovich Borok, was recognized as an extremist formation; its logo is a photograph of the priest against the backdrop of a protest action in 2020. Notably, after the inclusion of the association «Christian Vision» in the list of extremist formations, law enforcement officers visited the close relatives of Dmitry Korneenko – one of those identified as having a relation to the organization.
The number of criminal cases for participation in recognized extremist formations has significantly increased. For instance, for an interview on the program «Palitbomond» on the YouTube channel «6tv Bielarus,» which was designated as an «extremist formation» by a decision of the KGB Chairman on November 29, 2023 – a criminal case has been initiated against the acting chairman of the United Civic Party, Vladimir Shantsau. A similar criminal case has been opened against human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka for the same action.
Prosecutor General Andrei Shved has submitted a request to the Supreme Court to recognize the «United Transitional Cabinet» and its structural subdivisions as a terrorist organization and to ban its activities in Belarus.
The authorities continue to target and pressure Belarusians who were forced to flee the country. This pressure also extends to their close relatives who remain in Belarus. There has been an increase in cases involving searches of relatives’ homes, summons for «conversations,» or visits to their residences for questioning – all aimed at gathering information about the activists who have fled the country.
To suppress civic activity among Belarusians forced into exile, the authorities are using criminal legislation on special proceedings (in absentia). As of the end of April 2025, a total of 147 individuals have been added to the List of Persons Subject to Special Proceedings and Summoned to Criminal Prosecution Authorities.
[1] The monitoring only records cases of forced liquidation and self-liquidation of non-governmental NPOs. State institutions and republican state-public organizations are not included in the quantitative indicators. Consumer cooperatives and other organizational forms of NPOs, aside from public associations – such as trade unions, political parties, foundations, private institutions, and associations – are also excluded.
[2] Examples of civil society organization representatives being held in places of detention, along with their prison terms and information on their inclusion in extremist and/or terrorist lists, can be found in Lawtrend’s monthly overviews on the situation regarding freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations – for example, in the May 2024 issue. Information about detained trade union members and labor movement activists is published based on data from Solidarity.