Repression in Belarus has not decreased in intensity. On December 13, 123 political prisoners were released early, including representatives of civil society organisations (the CSOs), in particular two human rights defenders from the Human Rights Centre “Viasna”.
Despite the undoubtedly positive nature of this release, it must be noted that the released individuals were forcibly transferred to the borders of neighbouring states, namely the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian-Ukrainian borders, and effectively found themselves in a situation of forced exile (as was the case with previously released groups of political prisoners). The Belarusian coalition of human rights organisations issued a statement on this matter[1].
More than 100 CSO representatives remain in places of detention. Organisations and initiatives continue to be designated as “extremist formations”. A widespread practice involves detaining individuals who are later declared participants in an extremist formation, even before such recognition and/or official publication of the relevant decision. CSO information resources are recognised as extremist materials monthly. Criminal prosecution continues against individuals providing material support to CSOs and their target groups, under allegations of financing extremist activity.
As of the end of December 2025, according to monitoring conducted by Lawtrend, the overall losses in the civil society sector since the post-election period of 2020 amount to at least 1,990 institutionalized non-profit organizations (public associations, trade unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, associations).
According to Lawtrend’s database as of December 15, 2025, approximately 1,943 NGOs of three organisational-legal forms are registered in Belarus: 1,357 public associations, 113 foundations, and 473 non-governmental institutions. Compared to 2021, the number of public associations has decreased by approximately 1,663 organisations, representing about 45%.
Liquidation of non-profit organizations
During the monitoring period, decisions on forced liquidation were adopted regarding four international foundations. All four failed to submit activity reports to the registering authority, and some did not undergo the mandatory re-registration of foundations in 2005.
At least two public associations adopted decisions to liquidate voluntarily. These organisations had submitted activity reports in both 2023 and 2024 and were therefore active. As before, the primary reasons for voluntary dissolution remain large-scale repression, an unfavourable legal environment, and pressure on civil society, including pressure on specific organisations, their leaders, members, and staff.
According to Lawtrend monitoring, from early 2021 through the end of December 2025, at least 1,220 non-profit organisations (the NPOs) of various legal forms were forcibly liquidated. The majority were public associations (913 organisations), which mirrors the overall landscape of the non-profit sector in the country. Additionally, 205 non-governmental institutions, 78 foundations, 11 political parties, eight associations, and four trade unions were forcibly liquidated. The database also records one religious organisation liquidated before the announcement of the re-registration process.
In July 2025, the mandatory re-registration of religious organisations was completed. As a result of the re-registration process, the number of religious organisations decreased significantly. However, at the time of preparation of this review, statistical data on the number of religious organisations that have retained registered status, as well as those liquidated as a result of the re-registration process, have not been published[2].
Information on registered religious organisations, unlike other NPOs, has not yet been entered into the Unified State Register (the USR). In accordance with the new version of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations”, state authorities are required to ensure that information on religious organisations is entered into the USR by January 1, 2026. This situation also makes it impossible to conduct an independent analysis of the re-registration process of religious organisations.
As of December 31, 2025, according to Lawtrend’s monitoring since 2021, at least 770 NPOs (public associations, associations, foundations, institutions, and a political party) have had their participants/founders independently decide to undergo liquidation.
Administrative and criminal prosecution of the leadership and members of civil society organizations, as well as other forms of pressure on civil society organizations
In connection with the performance of their professional activities, participation in CSOs, and civic activism, at least three representatives of human rights organizations, dozens of representatives of CSOs and religious organizations, and 19 representatives of trade unions and the labor movement continue to serve prison sentences[3].
Legislation on countering extremism continues to be actively applied against representatives of CSOs. The practice of imposing criminal penalties for alleged facilitation of extremist activity, participation in extremist formations, and financing of extremist activity is widespread.
For example, during the monitoring period, Maksim Fedarovich, coordinator of the search-and-rescue unit “Angel”, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 500 base units for violations of Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitation of extremist activity).
As of the end of December, the List of Organizations, Formations, and Individual Entrepreneurs Involved in Extremist Activities included 324 entities, which is seven more than in the previous monitoring period.
An unregistered initiative, the art space “Sklad Butylok” in the city of Barysaw (Minsk Region), where various cultural events had been held, was designated as an extremist formation. Several individuals identified by the KGB as being affiliated with this initiative became defendants in a criminal case on charges of “participation in an extremist formation” (Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code) and were detained, including well-known civic activists Siarhei Salash and Dzmitryi Babitski.
On December 17, by decision of the KGB, the cultural initiative “Da Zorau”, aimed at promoting Belarusian culture and music, was also designated as an extremist formation. Aliaksandr Chumakou, a gusli player and singer, a member of the folk band “Stary Olsa”, identified as being affiliated with this initiative, was detained.
On December 17, the chivalric club “Borisfen”, which operates within the Mahilow City Centre for Culture and Leisure, was also designated as an extremist formation. Before this, the club’s social media accounts and the personal pages of the club’s head, Pavel Pastuknou (Stankevich), had been recognised as “extremist materials”. He was detained and served two administrative arrests of 15 days each. Following his release, Pavel was detained again.
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials was expanded to include, among others:
- the TikTok page “Disident”,
- the Telegram channel «Беларускі ПЭН» (“Belarusian PEN”),
- the website prisoners.spring96.org, which publishes an up-to-date list of political prisoners as well as a list of former political prisoners,
- the Instagram page “belhelcom”, and
- the website of the Swedish International Liberal Centre.
On December 5, the Court of Minsk’s Partyzansky district recognised the website of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (the CINGO) as “extremist materials”; the court decision referred to the official website of the Council of Europe. On December 10, the same court revoked its decision. However, on December 19, the Court of Minsk’s Partyzansky district again added several pages from the Council of Europe’s website to the Republican List of Extremist Materials, including the English and French versions of information on the CINGO, as well as other specific publications.
The List of Citizens of Belarus, Foreign Nationals, or Stateless Persons Involved in Extremist Activity was expanded, inter alia, to include:
- defendants in the “Pismo.bel” case: Aliaksandr Mazur, Pavel Karaniukhin, and Aliaksandr Lykshyn;
- defendants in the cases related to the BYSOL and BY_Help foundations: Andrei Stryzhak, Aliaksei Liavonchyk, Yaraslau Likhacheuski, Aliaksei Kuzmiankou, Aliaksandr Lapko, Aliaksandra Zhukk, and Aliaksandr Padhorny.
Inspections of Non-Profit Organisations
On December 15, the State Control Committee published on its official website the plans for selective inspections for the first half of 2026[4]. The system of selective inspections, based on an assessment of the risk of legal violations by economic entities and the potential severity of their negative consequences, has been applied in supervisory (oversight) practice since January 1, 2019.
Entities are selected for inclusion in the selective inspection plans based on risk assessment criteria used to identify subjects for inspection. These risk assessment criteria are established by supervisory (oversight) bodies in accordance with the Methodology for Forming a Risk Assessment System, approved by Resolution No. 43 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of January 22, 2018. These are agreed with the Interdepartmental Council on Supervisory (Oversight) Activities. The addition of new economic entities to the approved selective inspection plans, as well as the inclusion of additional supervisory (oversight) bodies as co-executors of an inspection already included in the plan, is not permitted.
As in previous periods, according to these plans, NPO inspections by supervisory authorities are conducted infrequently, with certain exceptions. For the first half of 2026, excluding organisational structures of the BRSM, only one NPO was included in the inspection plan, the Republican Jewish Cultural and Educational Institution “Beis-Aharon”. The inspection is to be carried out by the Brest Regional Directorate of the Department of State Labour Inspection of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus.
For the second half of 2025, only four NPOs were included in the inspection plans: the Belarusian Society of Persons with Disabilities (public association), the International Public Association “Vzaimoponimanie”, Charitable Fund for Assistance to Internationalist Warriors “Memory of Afghanistan” (https://fondafgana.by/), and the Jewish Charitable Association of the Mahilow Region “Rahamim” (public association, Payer’s Identification Number 700338804).
However, the infrequent inclusion of non-profit organisations in selective inspection plans does not imply that NPOs in Belarus are not subject to inspections. Since 2021, NPO inspections have been conducted continuously.
The reason for this is that inspections conducted by registering authorities for foundations and public associations are not included in the selective inspection plans. An additional difficulty for NPOs is that the procedure for such inspections is not regulated by law, nor does the legislation limit the scope of issues or the powers of registering authorities when conducting them.
Selective inspection plans also do not include unscheduled inspections (for example, those initiated at the instruction of the President, the State Control Committee, the Ministry for Taxes and Duties, or law enforcement bodies in connection with a criminal case); technical inspections (technological or verification-related); or preventive and precautionary measures (such as monitoring activities). Inspections conducted in the context of the liquidation of an NPO (for example, by social protection fund bodies or tax authorities) are likewise not included in selective inspection plans.
[1] The statement is available in Russian via the hyperlink
[2] Statistical data on the number of religious organisations in the country are published on the website of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Nationality Affairs (https://belarus21.by/). At the time of preparation of this review, the website provides information on the number of registered religious organisations and religious communities in the country as of January 1, 2024.
[3] Examples of the presence of representatives of civil society organizations in places of deprivation of liberty, information about inclusion in extremist and/or terrorist lists can be found in Lawtrend’s monthly reviews on the situation with freedom of association and the situation of civil society organizations, for example, for May 2024. Information about detained members of trade unions and activists of the trade union movement is published according to Salidarnast.
[4] The information is available in Russian