Evolution of the persecution of political opponents by the Lukashenka regime 

Evolution of the persecution of political opponents by the Lukashenka regime
Photo: Umit Bektas / Reuters

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Introduction

For five years, unprecedented repression has been going on in Belarus. Despite the sanctions imposed by the international community, condemning statements by foreign political leaders, and repeated calls from UN, OSCE and Council of Europe experts to stop the repression and release political prisoners, the level of persecution has not decreased. On the contrary, the Lukashenka regime is expanding pre-existing practices, extending them to new groups in the society, and inventing new ways to eliminate any dissent.

The slightest suspicion of one’s disagreement with the regime’s policies or solidarity with dissenters is a sufficient ground for persecution. Over the past five years, the repression by the Lukashenka regime has affected more than 136 thousand Belarusians. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya noted: “Everyone has been touched by this wave in one way or another – through family, friends, relatives or personally.”

Analysis of the evolution of repression in Belarus is important for several reasons. Firstly, such information serves to warn people who could become victims of the regime and helps efforts to protect those who are targeted. Secondly, it is crucial to inform the international community in order to help develop more effective strategies with regard to the regime and adjust actions taken to pressure it and bring it to account. Finally, studying the methods used by one repressive regime helps predict the tendencies of repression in other similar regimes. Thus, the target audience of the present research, covering the year of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, is quite wide and includes politicians, government officials, diplomats, experts of intergovernmental organisations, human rights defenders working at both the international and national levels, and the general public. In addition to analysing the repressive practices used by the regime, we offer recommendations aimed at combating repression by the Lukashenka regime.

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07.04.2025