Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus October 2025
Despite the ongoing attempts by the Belarusian authorities to restrict access to information, it can be stated with confidence that repression in the country continues.
More than 100 representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) remain in detention. The practice of labeling organizations and initiatives as extremist formations by security forces, declaring their representatives as leaders and participants of extremist groups, their information resources as extremist materials, and individuals who support CSOs and their target groups as financiers of extremist activity, has become widespread. Representatives of CSOs are being added to lists of individuals involved in extremist and/or terrorist activities. Pressure is increasing within Belarus on the relatives of activists who were forced to leave the country.
As of October 31, 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 1,981 institutionalized non-profit organizations (public associations, trade unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, associations).
At the same time, the process of registering new non-profit organizations has intensified. For instance, in October 2025, at least six public associations were registered: (1) Public Association “Jewish Cultural Society “Shorashim””; (2) Public Association “Sports Club SAMBO — 07”; (3) Public Association for Mutual Assistance and Support of People with Diabetes “Diagard”; (4) Public Association “Sportive Family”; (5) Public Association “Federation of Street Sports. Scooter. Skateboard. BMX”; and (6) Public Association “Military-Patriotic Club “Rusichi”.
Liquidation of non-profit organizations
During the monitoring period, it became known that the registering authorities (the Minsk Regional Executive Committee) filed lawsuits seeking the liquidation of at least three public associations. A decision on the forced liquidation was made with respect to one non-governmental institution.
At least four non-profit organizations decided to liquidate themselves voluntarily: two non-governmental institutions (one of which was registered on October 26, 2022) and two public associations (one of which had published public reports on its activities in 2023 and 2024). As before, the main reasons for the voluntary dissolution of NGOs remain the widespread repression in the country, the unfavorable legal environment, and pressure on civil society, including specific organizations, their leaders, members, and employees.
As of October 31, 2025, since 2021, according to monitoring conducted by Lawtrend, 1,215 non-profit organizations have been recorded as being in the process of forced liquidation, including lawsuits filed by registering authorities in court for liquidation or those forcibly removed from the USR (the Unified State Register). Regarding at least 763 non-profit organizations (public associations, associations, foundations, institutions, and a political party), according to Lawtrend’s monitoring, the participants/founders independently decided to undergo liquidation.
Re-registration of Religious Organizations
On July 6, 2025, the process of re-registering religious organizations in Belarus was completed. However, as of now, no comprehensive statistics have been provided regarding which organizations successfully passed re-registration and which did not.
In the national report submitted by the Belarusian authorities in early August 2025 as part of the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), data were presented on the number of religious organizations in the country. According to the report, the number of religious organizations has slightly decreased since January 2024 and amounts to:
- Number of religious organizations: 3,426 (before re-registration — 3,592[1])
- Number of denominations and branches: 25 (before re-registration — 25)
- Number of religious communities: 3,257 (before re-registration — 3,419)
- Number of interdenominational organizations: 169 (before re-registration — 173)
At the same time, the report does not specify whether these figures reflect the results of re-registration for all religious organizations or only partially include them.
According to Christian Vision, the re-registration process had the most severe impact on the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, which faced unprecedented political pressure and was unable to re-register a sufficient number of parishes to form a religious association.
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 5 representatives of human rights organizations, dozens of representatives of CSOs and religious organizations, and 21 representatives of trade unions and the labor movement continue to serve prison sentences[2].
Legislation on countering extremism continues to be actively used against representatives of CSOs. Criminal prosecution for providing financial assistance to non-profit organizations and their target groups has become widespread.
Mikalai Katselapau, co-owner of the company Wargaming, was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in a high-security penal colony and fined 50,000 base units (approximately 2.1 million Belarusian rubles) under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 361² of the Criminal Code (financing extremist activities) and Part 2 of Article 290¹ of the Criminal Code (financing terrorist activities). Earlier, a segment broadcast by the ONT TV channel claimed that Katselapau had allegedly made donations over several years to various “extremist and terrorist funds,” amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars through cryptocurrency transfers. In January 2023, Mikalai Katselapau was added to the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities.
As of the end of October 2025, 162 individuals were included in the List of Persons Subject to Special Proceedings and Summoned by Criminal Prosecution Authorities. During the monitoring period, seven individuals were added, against majority of whom special proceedings were initiated under Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Article 361¹ of the Criminal Code (creation of an extremist formation and leadership of such a formation, including repeated leadership; membership in an extremist formation for the purpose of committing crimes of an extremist nature; participation in the extremist formation). According to a statement by the Prosecutor General of Belarus, as of August 1, 2025, convictions had been issued under special proceedings against 120 individuals found guilty of committing extremist crimes.
By the end of October, the List of Organizations, Formations, and Individual Entrepreneurs Involved in Extremist Activities included 316 entities (three more than in the previous monitoring period). Among these three entities is “Femgroup Belarus.”
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials was expanded to include, among others:
- The Facebook page, Telegram channels, and YouTube channel «Врачи за правду и справедливость» (Doctors for Truth and Justice);
- The Facebook group «Рух «За Свабоду» (Movement ‘For Freedom’);
- The YouTube channel and TikTok account «Маладая Грамада» (Young Gramada);
- The “Budzma” page on the Ko-fi online fundraising platform;
- The TikTok channel “Budzma_razam” and the YouTube channel “Будзьма дзецям” (Budzma for Children);
- The Facebook group “Fundacja Spadczyna Bialorusi”;
- The website and Facebook group of “The Nordic Council of Ministers and The Nordic Council”;
- The Facebook group “East European Democratic Centre.”
Additionally, information content produced by Belarusian diaspora communities continues to be actively recognized as extremist materials. During the monitoring period, this included materials from:
- The Facebook group “Дыяспара беларусаў у Польшчы па беларуску” (Diaspora of Belarusians in Poland in Belarusian);
- The Facebook group “Seattle Belarusians / Беларусы Сіэтлу / Беларусы Сиэтла”;
- The Facebook group “Беларусы ў Львове” (Belarusians in Lviv);
- The Facebook group “Беларуская дыяспара ў Літве” (Belarusian Diaspora in Lithuania);
- The Facebook group “Belarusians in Europe / Беларусы ў Еўропе”;
- And the Facebook group “Таварыства Беларускай Культуры ў Літве” (Society of Belarusian Culture in Lithuania).
[1] Representative for Religious and Nationalities Affairs of the Republic of Belarus: https://belarus21.by
[2] 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.