The beginning of 2026 has brought no changes in Belarus regarding the continuation or scale of repression.
Detentions, searches, border interrogations, pressure on relatives of Belarusians who have been forced to leave the country, and attempts by security services to coerce individuals into cooperation continue. More than a hundred representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) remain deprived of their liberty. Organizations and initiatives are being designated as extremist formations, and their information resources as extremist materials. Thus, during the monitoring period, the organization Free Belarus Center, which provides legal, psychological, and humanitarian assistance to Belarusians in Ukraine and Poland (Warsaw), was recognized as an extremist formation.
As of the end of January 2026, 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 1,995 institutionalized non-profit organizations (public associations, trade unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, associations).
On January 17, amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus «On the Rights of the Child» entered into force, significantly restricting children’s rights to freedom of association. As of January 1, 2026, the list of non-profit organisations (NPOs) whose receipt of gratuitous assistance entitles Belarusian legal entities to minor corporate income tax benefits includes only 18 organizations. A separate decree “On Support for the BRSM Public Association” has been adopted, the provisions of which clearly demonstrate unequal legislative regulation and preferential treatment of one public association compared to other NPOs.
Registration of non-profit organizations
Changes in state policy are directly reflected in the landscape of newly established NPOs. Thus, on January 26, a new public association, Inclusive Studio, was registered. Its establishment resulted from the development of a humanitarian project to create an online marketplace for the sale of souvenir products made by persons with disabilities in workshops of social institutions in Minsk. The project was implemented within the activities of the supported living unit of the state institution Minsk City Social Boarding House «Vyacha» and the «ЗдольныЯ» («ZdolnyYa») workshops of the Social Adaptation and Rehabilitation Department of the Minsk City Family and Children’s Center (opened as part of the second stage of the Belarusian-German projects competition under Phase 9 of the Belarus Support Program of the Federal Government of Germany in 2019–2022).
Liquidation of non-profit organizations
During the monitoring period, decisions on forced liquidation were adopted regarding three public associations. These decisions were adopted during the previous monitoring period; however, information about them was only entered into the Unified State Register (the USR) recently.
According to Lawtrend monitoring, from early 2021 through the end of January 2025, at least 1,223 NPOs of various legal forms were forcibly liquidated.
Most of the NPOs for which liquidation decisions have been adopted have now been removed from the USR, meaning that the liquidation procedure has been fully completed and no financial sanctions, tax collection, or other monetary claims may be applied to them. The practice of removing NPOs from the USR that have not initiated and/or completed the liquidation process became widespread in 2024. It was formally codified in 2025 for public associations (but not for institutions, associations, or foundations). At the same time, this practice is also applied to private institutions and foundations. However, it is highly selective and does not affect all organizations.
Thus, to date, some NPOs whose compulsory liquidation was decided as early as 2021 have not been removed from the USR: 25 non-state institutions out of 174 subject to compulsory liquidation decisions, and 2 out of 8 associations.
It also became known that during the previous monitoring period, decisions on voluntary self-liquidation were adopted for at least two additional public associations. During the mandatory period for bringing public association charters into compliance with the new legal requirements (from March 5, 2023, to March 4, 2024), these organizations introduced amendments and additions to their charters, i.e., they were operating entities. The above reflects a trend that has recently emerged in Belarus, in which public associations that sought to continue their activities and align them with legislative requirements (such as submitting reports to the registering authority and amending their charters to comply with the law) nevertheless decide to dissolve voluntarily.
As before, the main reasons for the voluntary dissolution of NPOs remain the large-scale repression in the country, the unfavorable legal environment, and pressure on civil society, including specific organizations, their leaders, members, and staff.
As of January 31, 2026, according to Lawtrend’s monitoring since 2021, at least 772 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[1].
Detentions of representatives of CSOs continue. In particular, it became known that the organizer of the Urban Myths festival, public figure and street artist Aleh Larychau, has been detained.
On 29 January, human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva, a citizen of the Russian Federation who had been residing in Belarus for more than 35 years, was detained and interrogated by the KGB. Following an unsuccessful attempt to recruit her, on 30 January the human rights defender was forcibly expelled to the Russian Federation without being given the opportunity to collect her personal belongings.
Legislation on countering extremism continues to be actively applied against representatives of CSOs.
On January 22, the Viciebsk Regional Court delivered a verdict in an absentia case against participants of the Honest People initiative, which has been designated as an extremist formation. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, from July 2020 to September 2025, they “carried out criminal activities on the territory of Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.”
The activists were charged under six articles of the Criminal Code: Part 1 of Article 361-1 (establishing an extremist formation); Parts 1 and 2 of Article 368 (insulting the President); Part 3 of Article 130 (incitement of hatred); Parts 1 and 2 of Article 367 (defamation); Part 1 of Article 369 (discrediting Belarus); and Part 3 of Article 361 (calls for sanctions).
Alena Zhylachkina (Zhyvahlod) was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony and fined 67,500 rubles. Zaryna Sarokina, Tsimafei Malakhouski, and Aleh Davydchyk were each sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment and fined 40,500 rubles. The court also ordered the activists to reimburse procedural costs for legal defense, ranging from 735 to 1,017 rubles, as well as procedural expenses incurred for expert examinations, totalling 409 rubles per activist.
As of the end of December, the List of Organizations, Formations, and Individual Entrepreneurs Involved in Extremist Activities included 325 entities. The Free Belarus Center organization, which provides legal, psychological, and humanitarian assistance to Belarusians in Ukraine and Poland (Warsaw), was recognized as an extremist formation.
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials was expanded to include, among others:
- the Telegram channel «Беларускі ПЭН» (“Belarusian PEN”),
- Website of the campaign «Не смяротнаму пакаранню ў Беларусі» (No to the Death Penalty in Belarus),
- Facebook page Embaixada Popular de Belarus no Brasil (People’s Embassy of Belarus in Brazil),
- X (formerly Twitter) page People’s Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania,
- Facebook page «Беларусы Любина, Легницы и ближайших окрестностей» (Belarusians of Lubin, Legnica and Surrounding Areas),
- Facebook page “Belarusian Canada / Беларусы Канады”,
- Facebook page «Белорусы в Польше | Bialorusini w Polsce» (Belarusians in Poland),
- Facebook page «Белорусы в Москве / Беларусы ў Маскве» (Belarusians in Moscow),
- Instagram page «Беларусы у Iзраili» (Belarusians in Israel).
Legislation
On January 17, amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Rights of the Child,” introduced by the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 86-Z of July 12, 2025, “On Amendments to Laws on Ensuring Children’s Rights,” entered into force. The new provisions significantly restrict children’s rights to freedom of association. Under these amendments,
“Children have the right to unite in children’s and youth public associations provided that the activities of such associations do not pursue the goals of engaging in terrorist or other extremist activities, other acts prohibited by law, or acts that allow for the possibility of carrying out such activities and acts in the course of achieving lawful objectives of establishment.”
This wording allows for a very broad interpretation of restrictions on the exercise of freedom of association, including the admissibility of certain acts both at the stage of establishment and during the activities of an association.
As of January 1, 2026, amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus introduced by the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 127-Z of December 30, 2025, “On Amendments to Laws on Tax Relations,” entered into force. Article 62 of the Tax Code was supplemented with a provision stating that decisions on the recovery of taxes, fees (duties), and penalties are not adopted with respect to charitable accounts opened for the collection, storage, and use of funds, including in foreign currency, received as foreign gratuitous assistance, gratuitous (sponsorship) assistance, or donations (before the entry into force of this provision, the exemption applied only to foreign gratuitous assistance).
The list of NPOs to which the provision of gratuitous assistance by Belarusian legal entities is exempt from corporate income tax (in an amount not exceeding 10 percent of gross profit determined for the tax period in which the profit is transferred) was expanded to include the Social and Charitable Institution KinderVita and the International Charitable Public Association UniHelp, bringing the total number of such NPOs to 18 following the amendments.
By Decree No. 22 of January 19, 2026, “On Support for the Belarusian Republican Youth Union Public Association,” Decree No. 559 of December 17, 2012, “On Certain Issues of State Support for the Belarusian Republican Youth Union” was declared invalid. Additional support measures were introduced for one pro-government association compared to other NPOs in the country. The Decree provides that members of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) elected to its governing bodies are included in the collegial bodies of the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Sport, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. The allocation of funding for the expenses of the BRSM, as defined in the Decree, is not made public and is classified as “for official use only.”
[1] 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.