Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus September 2025
Despite the early release of several political prisoners (representatives of civil society organizations, including trade unions), repression against Belarusian civil society has not weakened.
The seemingly suspended practice of forced liquidation of non-profit organizations has resumed. Since the end of June 2025, decisions have been made or lawsuits filed to liquidate at least 20 non-profit organizations.
As of September 30, 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 1,970 institutionalized non-profit organizations (public associations, trade unions, political parties, foundations, non-governmental institutions, associations).
More than a hundred representatives of civil society organizations (the Dear colleagues,) remain imprisoned. The information resources of CSOs are being recognized as extremist materials. The number of “extremist formations” is increasing. It has become common practice to designate organizations and initiatives as extremist formations after their information resources have been labeled extremist. CSO representatives are being added to lists of individuals associated with extremist and/or terrorist activities.
The tax authorities have conducted audits of several non-governmental institutions that have been in the process of liquidation for over four years due to government decisions. At the same time, there is no uniform practice of liquidation. Many forcibly liquidated non-profit organizations were removed from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs (USR) without completing the liquidation process, without undergoing tax and other inspections, despite possessing property, registered projects with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, and outstanding debts to creditors, etc. Most of the entities audited during this period do not have access to accounting and other documentation, as it was seized during searches. Due to their inability to provide documentation, the audited NGOs and their former leaders have been charged with taxes and penal sanctions.
Liquidation of non-profit organizations
Despite the apparent suspension of the mass forced liquidation process in the winter and spring of this year, when only about 7 non-profit organizations were subjected to forced liquidation during the entire period, since the summer of 2025, the practice of forced liquidation has intensified again[1].
As of the end of June 2025, at the time of this monitoring report, at least 20 non-profit organizations have been subjected to forced liquidation, including 2 non-governmental institutions, 2 foundations, and 16 public associations. Among them, 9 public associations located in Minsk, for which liquidation lawsuits were filed by the Ministry of Justice or the Minsk City Executive Committee, and 3 public associations whose liquidation was initiated by the Homiel and Viciebsk Regional Executive Committees, did not submit annual reports on their activities to the registering authorities in 2023-2024 and can therefore be regarded as inactive. However, 3 public associations, against which lawsuits for forced liquidation were filed by the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee, as well as 2 foundations and 1 public association whose liquidation was initiated by the Minsk City Executive Committee, had submitted such reports and were therefore actively functioning.
During the monitoring period, it also became known that 2 public associations decided to undergo voluntary liquidation.
As of September 30, 2025, since 2021, according to monitoring conducted by Lawtrend, 1,211 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. Regarding at least 759 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.
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 movementcontinue to serve prison sentences[2].
Criminal cases against representatives of CSOs continue to be initiated, and CSO representatives continue to be held criminally liable. As before, charges against members and participants of CSOs are based on so-called “extremist” articles, such as assisting extremist activity, leadership and participation in an extremist formation, and financing extremist activity. According to Haradzenskaya Pravaabarona (Hrodna Human Rights group), on 5 September in Hrodna, well-known civil society activist Valiantsina Navumava was detained, and a criminal case was opened against her.
On 26 September, the head of the BY_Help foundation, Aliaksei Liavonchyk, and the founder of the BYSOL foundation, Andrei Stryzhak, were added to the list of individuals associated with terrorist activities. Earlier, in August 2025, they had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment each, along with fines of 252,000 Belarusian rubles each.
As of the end of September 2025, 155 individuals were included in the List of Persons Subject to Special Proceedings and Summoned by Criminal Prosecution Authorities. During the monitoring period, two individuals were added, including one against 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).
By the end of September, the List of Organizations, Formations, and Individual Entrepreneurs Involved in Extremist Activities included 313 entities (six more than in the previous monitoring period). Among those newly designated as extremist formations was the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center (BEROC).
The Office of the Prosecutor General filed a petition with the Supreme Court to recognize the European Humanities University (EHU) as an “extremist organization.” Given the established practice in Belarus of prosecuting retrospectively for participation in extremist formations (i.e., prior to an organization being officially designated as extremist), recognition of EHU as such could negatively affect students, faculty, and other affiliated individuals across different years.
During the monitoring period, the Republican List of Extremist Materials was expanded to include, among others: the website, information products on the Instagram account, and the logo of ethno.art.by; the Instagram account spb_belarus; the social media accounts of Fem Group Belarus; the YouTube channel Fem Group; the Facebook page Fundacja Tutaka; the Facebook community «Цэнтр Беларускай Салідарнасці / Centrum Białoruskiej Solidarności» (Center for Belarusian Solidarity); and the Facebook account of «МХД — Маладыя Хрысцiанскiя Дэмакраты» (MHD — Young Christian Democrats).
Also during the monitoring period, information resources of Belarusian diaspora associations abroad continued to be frequently designated as extremist materials (a practice that has been widespread for some time). For example, the following were added: the Facebook groups «Грамадзянская iнiцыятыва беларусаў у Фiнляндыi» (Belarusian Civic Initiative in Finland), «Sveriges Belarusier / Беларусы Швецыi» (Belarusians in Sweden), “Belarusians in San Francisco Bay Area / Беларусы Сан Францыска Бэй Эрыi”, “Беларусы у Парыжы Belarusians in Paris”, “Belarusian Canada / Беларусы Канады», «Siabry.org – Беларусы свету» (Siabry.org – Belarusians of the World); the website Razam.de; the Instagram account batumiby.ge; and the Facebook page “Цэнтар беларускай супольнасьцi й культуры ў Вiльнi” (Belarusian Community and Cultural Center in Vilnius).
Legislation and legislative initiatives
By Resolution No. 63 of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus of 26 August 2025, amendments were introduced to regulatory acts concerning the public reporting obligations of foundations, public associations, political parties, and their unions (associations). Minor changes were made regarding the public reporting of foundations, while the provisions on public reporting by public associations underwent only technical adjustments. Foundations are now required, along with information about the location of their governing body, to submit to the registering authority documents confirming such location (e.g., lease or gratuitous use agreements). Mandatory reporting has also been expanded to include information about branches and representative offices of foundations.
Resolution No. 476 of the Council of Ministers of 2 September 2025, On the Procedure for Applying Restrictive Measures, regulates the actions of law enforcement bodies, relevant state agencies, internet resource owners, and telecommunications operators in restricting access to online resources.
Presidential Decree No. 337 of 17 September 2025, On Support for Sports Organizations, approved the Regulation on the procedure for obtaining and using state support by sports organizations and introduced new approaches to such support. The Decree reduced the detailed list of eligible organizations to three broad categories:
- the National Olympic Committee of Belarus;
- the public association “Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus”;
- federations and sports clubs.
The Decree specifies the forms of support, the types of activities that sports organizations may engage in without creating or participating in commercial entities, and the purposes for which the allocated funds may be used.
This Decree also introduces a new mechanism of state support for federations and sports clubs, granting them the right to receive subsidies earmarked for specific purposes. Federations may receive subsidies from the republican budget, while clubs in both team and individual sports may receive subsidies from local budgets. At the same time, support through tax benefits for sponsors (such as exemptions from property tax, land tax, and profit tax) is abolished.
The Decree also provides for the creation of a general prize fund for team sports clubs, with the procedure and size of awards determined annually by the Government of Belarus.
The main provisions of the Decree enter into force on 1 January 2026, while the current Decree No. 191 of 15 April 2013, On Support for Sports Organizations, expires on 31 December 2025.
The draft law On Amendments to Laws provides for changes to several laws, including the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 236-Z of 4 November 2003 On State Fingerprint Registration. According to the draft, mandatory fingerprint registration (including at the issuance or replacement of identity documents) will apply to Belarusian citizens who have acquired citizenship of a foreign state, obtained a residence permit or other foreign document, or who permanently reside abroad and are registered with Belarusian diplomatic or consular offices. Exceptions apply to Belarusian citizens under the age of 14 and those over 75.
The draft Environmental Code of the Republic of Belarus, published for public discussion from 11 to 21 September 2025, establishes that subjects of environmental relations include, among others, public associations and other legal entities. Article 27 of the draft defines the rights and responsibilities of public associations engaged in environmental protection activities.
[1] In the winter of 2025, access to court decision databases and court schedules in Belarus was restricted, which significantly impeded the availability of information on the forced liquidation of non-profit organizations. As a result, such information has since been obtained only with considerable delays.
[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.