Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus February 2025
In February 2025, large-scale repressions in Belarus and against Belarusian citizens continued. More than a hundred representatives of civil society organizations remain in detention.
Charges such as facilitating extremist activities, creating, leading, and participating in extremist formations, as well as financing extremist activities, are among the most common grounds on which activists are sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The practice of intimidation and pressure on activists abroad continues, including through the initiation and consideration of criminal cases in the format of special (in absentia) proceedings.
As anticipated in the previous monitoring period, the campaign to liquidate non-profit organizations (NPOs) has become more targeted. This is primarily due to the large number of NPOs that have been dissolved since 2021 and the final number of entities subject to liquidation. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Justice, Belarus had 576 fewer public associations in 2024 compared to 2023.
In February 2025, three lawsuits were filed for the forced liquidation of public associations. At least eight NPOs decided to self-liquidate. The campaign for the re-registration of religious organizations is ongoing.
Overall, by the end of February 2025, the number of forcibly liquidated NPOs reached at least 1,188, while the number of organizations that opted for self-liquidation reached at least 717. In total, since the post-election period of 2020, the public sector in Belarus has suffered the loss of at least 1,905 institutionalized forms of NPOs (public associations, professional unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, and associations).
A group of independent UN experts on the human rights situation in Belarus warned in their new report that the Belarusian government has committed large-scale human rights violations against the civilian population as part of a brutal effort to suppress any opposition to President Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s rule. The report states that the violations were widespread, systematic, and targeted at civilians who criticized the government. The experts concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that some of these violations amount to crimes against humanity in the form of imprisonment and persecution on political grounds.
In its concluding observations on Belarus’s ninth periodic report, reviewed during its 2124th and 2125th sessions on February 6, 2025, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also expressed concern over the shrinking space for civil society in Belarus and the government’s active role in suppressing human rights activities. The CEDAW highlighted issues such as the liquidation of NPOs, the introduction of restrictive registration requirements for NPOs, and the criminalization of unregistered or dissolved organizations under vague accusations of extremist activities. It also noted the use of anti-extremism and counterterrorism laws to criminalize legitimate human rights work and civil activism. The CEDAW provided recommendations for improving the situation.
Statistics of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus
The Ministry of Justice has published statistics on registered public associations and their unions (associations). However, the Ministry hasn’t provided data on the number of registered foundations for several years. Official information on the number of registered non-governmental institutions and unions (associations), apart from unions (associations) of public associations, is not publicly available.
As of January 1, 2025, the following organizations were registered in the Republic of Belarus:
- Political parties: there are 4 political parties and 881 organizational structures of political parties.
- Trade unions: there are19 professional unions (15 republican, 1 territorial, and 3 within organizations) and 28,099 organizational structures of professional unions.
- Public associations: there are 1,397 public associations (127 international, 305 republican, and 965 local) and 47,450 organizational structures of public associations.
- Unions (associations) of public associations: there are 43 unions (associations) of public associations.
- State-public associations: there are 7 republican state-public associations.
Compared to the beginning of 2024, when the Ministry of Justice reported 1,973 registered public associations, their number has decreased by 576 associations.
According to Lawtrend, as of November 15, 2024, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs (USR) contained information on approximately 1,533 registered public associations. However, after a review conducted by Lawtrend experts at the end of February 2025, it was found that the Ministry of Justice’s statistics likely excluded not only associations removed from the USR due to previously adopted liquidation decisions but also those that did not undergo mandatory re-registration or failed to update their charters following legislative changes in 1999 and 2005-2006. Interestingly, these public associations are still listed as “active” in the USR.
Using this approach, Lawtrend estimates that by the end of February 2025, approximately 1,379 public associations remained registered in Belarus.
Forced liquidation of non-governmental organizations
The forced liquidation of NPOs, such as public associations, foundations, and non-governmental institutions, which has been actively ongoing since 2021 has significantly decreased in intensity since the end of 2024. In February 2025, three lawsuits for the forced liquidation of a public association were recorded, and all three public associations are sports-related. A decision to suspend the activities of two of them was made in November 2024. The significant decrease in the intensity of the liquidation process is related to a substantial (more than 50%) reduction in the number of entities subject to liquidation – NPOs.
At the same time, since July 6, 2024, a campaign for the re-registration of all religious organizations has been ongoing in Belarus, which will continue until July 5, 2025. Upon completion of this campaign, a significant reduction in the number of registered religious organizations in the country can be expected. According to katolik.life, as of February 25, 2025, the Belarusian Orthodox Church has 1,669 religious communities and 13 brotherhoods, while on January 1, 2024, it had 1,737 religious communities and 15 brotherhoods. Thus, throughout 2024, the Orthodox Church lost 68 communities and two brotherhoods.
As of February 28, 2025, according to the monitoring conducted by Lawtrend[1] since 2021, a total of 1,188 NPOs have been recorded as undergoing forced liquidation. This includes cases where registration authorities have filed lawsuits for liquidation in court or where organizations have been forcibly removed from the USR.
Non-profitable organizations deciding on self-liquidation
As of February 28, 2025, according to the monitoring conducted by Lawtrend, there have been 717 NPOs (associations, public associations, foundations, institutions, and political parties) in which the authorized body or founders have decided to liquidate.
As before, the majority of public associations that decided to self-liquidate were active organizations that submitted reports to the registering authority for 2023 and made amendments to their charters in 2023-2024 due to changes in legislation.
The decision of NPOs to self-liquidate in Belarus is primarily driven by unprecedented repression in the country, an unfavourable legal environment, and pressure on the entire independent civil sector, as well as on specific organizations, their leadership, members, and employees.
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 civil society organizations, and the manifestation of civic activism, at least 6 representatives of human rights organisations, dozens of representatives of civil society organizations and religious organizations, and 29 representatives of trade unions and the labour movement[2] continue to serve prison sentences. Pressure on representatives of religious organizations continues.
Legislation on counteracting extremism continues to be actively applied to representatives of civil society organizations: prosecution for financial transfers to solidarity funds, as well as assistance to political prisoners and their families, including criminal charges, recognition of public initiatives as extremist formations, and their informational resources as extremist materials.
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutors have supported the state prosecution of more than 1,500 individuals who committed extremist crimes. No acquittals have been issued. The largest share of alleged extremist crimes consists of offenses committed over the internet. In 2024, as part of a special (in absentia) procedure, criminal cases were sent to court against 62 “extremists hiding abroad”.
Thus, criminal legislation related to special procedures is widely used to hold accountable Belarusians located outside the country.
The Minsk City Court issued a verdict in absentia against Pavel Daneika, an economist and administrative director of the BEROC research center. Pavel was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony and fined 13,000 basic units (546,000 Belarusian rubles) on three articles under the Criminal Code:
- Article 16(4) and Article 233(4) – organization and leadership of business activities conducted without special permission or a license;
- Article 357(1) – conspiracy or other actions aimed at seizing state power;
- Article 361-1(3) – creation or participation in an extremist formation.
According to the prosecution office, a criminal case has been sent to the Homiel Regional Court regarding the organizers of the solidarity fund «BYSOL», as well as its structural subdivisions «Voices from Belarus» and «Digital Solidarity». The charges against the representatives of the fund include Article 361-1(2) of the Criminal Code (providing and collecting funds and other assets for knowingly providing extremist activities). According to the prosecution office, the accused allegedly united by no later than January 2020 into a criminal community – an extremist formation called «By_help». This group included the subdivisions «Media Solidarity Belarus» and «Беларусам.pl». In August 2020, to expand their illegal activities, the group united with other accused individuals into the extremist formation «Фонд солидарности BYSOL/Belarus Solidarity Foundation». Later, they created the subdivisions «Voices from Belarus» and «Digital Solidarity». The organized group’s common goals were defined as organizing an illegal large-scale protest movement on the territory of Belarus and developing extremist and destructive activities during the preparation and conduct of the 9 August 2020 elections.
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials included, among others, informational materials posted on «Nastaunik.info» social media and YouTube, as well as the Facebook page «Наcтаўнiкi беларускай мовы i лiтаратуры» (eng. «Belarusian language and literature teachers»).
Also, by the decision of the KGB, the crowdfunding platform «Gronka» was recognized as an extremist organization. The platform was launched in July 2024 to raise funds for supporting Belarusian projects.
Financial activities
The efforts to attract funds for the non-commercial activities of non-profitable and state organizations remain active, including the promotion of the issue of the necessity to attract foreign non-repayable assistance to the country by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the Presidential Administration.
On February 10, 2025, a seminar titled «Organizational and Methodological Aspects of Supporting the Implementation of Humanitarian Projects in Various Spheres of Homiel Region» took place at the Homiel Regional Institute of Education Development. The event involved a representative from the department, a UNICEF coordinator for the Homiel, Mahiliou, and Viciebsk regions, and a representative of the non-governmental institution «Workshop of Innovative Technologies.» During the seminar, issues related to the specifics of developing and implementing project initiatives within the framework of working with foreign non-repayable aid were discussed. The experience of implementing humanitarian projects in the region was reviewed, including cooperation between governmental and public organizations.
On February 18, 2025, a working meeting was held between the department, and Andrea Hein, the leader of the Hilfe für Tschernobyl-geschädigte Kinder e.V. (eng. «Help to Children Affected by Chernobyl; Frechen, Germany), and Maryia Kastusiova, the leader of the «Грамадства бацькоў і дзяцей-інвалідаў «Мазаіка Актыў» (eng. «Society of Parents and Disabled Children «Mazaika Aktyu»; Mahiliou, Belarus). During the meeting, the prospects for humanitarian cooperation between the organizations within the framework of implementing project initiatives in the Republic of Belarus were discussed, and specific steps for collaboration in this direction were outlined.
On February 19, 2025, with the participation of a department representative, a training seminar on international (humanitarian) project activities was held at the State Educational Institution «Minsk City Institute of Education Development» for employees of organizations and institutions in the city of Minsk. The seminar addressed topics such as creating, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of international projects in addressing social problems, as well as the legal and regulatory support for organizations working with foreign non-repayable assistance.
The Ministry of Justice has urged public associations and foundations to widely inform the public about the results of fundraising after opening charitable accounts for social and patriotic projects. According to the Ministry of Justice, the dissemination of such information in the mass media will contribute to the popularization of fundraising by public associations and foundations to assist citizens in need, primarily children, as well as to raise citizens’ awareness of their involvement in the common cause.
Efforts to replace the activities of independent civil society organizations with initiatives controlled and approved by the authorities continue. For example, for the fourth time, the republican youth initiative competition is being held in the country, organized by the Ministry of Education with coordination from the Belarusian Republican Union of Youth. 64 projects have made it to the final of the competition. The results of several regional civil initiative competitions have been summarized. For instance, the Mahiliou Regional Association of Deputies selected 9 projects that will receive financial support from the association. The main focus of the projects is the improvement and renovation of military memorial sites, and the construction of playgrounds, sports grounds, and observation decks.
[1] The monitoring only records cases of forced liquidation and self-liquidation of non-governmental NPOs. State institutions, republican state-public organizations, and other organizational-legal forms of NPOs, such as consumer cooperatives, professional unions, political parties, foundations, private institutions, and associations, are not included in the quantitative indicators.
[2] Examples of representatives of civil society organizations being held in places of detention with liberty deprivation sentences, as well as information on individuals listed in extremist and/or terrorist registries can be found in Lawtrend’s monthly reviews of the situation with Freedom of association and the situation of civil society organizations, for example, for May 2024. Information about detained trade union members and trade union activists is published based on Solidarity data.