UN experts says human rights violations remain ‘widespread, systematic’ in Belarus

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN human rights experts on Friday in a new report monitoring Belarus said that authorities have been committed widespread human rights violations, some amounted to crimes against humanity, as part of a systematic campaign to silence political opposition.

The Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus established in 2024, was tasked with investigating alleged violations since 2020 when a disputed election saw President Alexander Lukashenko returned to power for a sixth term and recommended steps toward accountability.

The group was established last year for a renewable period of a year.

The experts documented arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence and the persecution of political opponents.

The report details targeted abuses against LGBTQIA+ individuals, political activists and journalists, alongside sweeping legal changes aimed at eradicating all dissent.

The experts concluded that the violations are part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians critical of the Government.

The experts’ findings state that Belarusian authorities systematically detain critics on politically motivated charges, often subjecting them to repeated imprisonment under inhumane conditions.

The report noted that arrests are carried out using excessive force, together with threats and intimidation.

Detainees report being beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and even threatened with rape – not only against themselves but also against their family members, the experts stated.

The report said that the regime’s actions go beyond repression, with reasonable grounds to believe that some violations amount to “imprisonment and persecution on political grounds”.

It stressed that widespread torture and ill-treatment are documented, particularly within temporary detention facilities and penal colonies.

Men and women detained on political charges are routinely subjected to extreme conditions: some deprived of sleep, packed into overcrowded cells without basic hygiene and denied medical care, the report added.

Many detainees describe being forced to make “repentance videos” after suffering physical and psychological abuse, the experts noted in the report.

The report reiterated that the targeting of LGBTQIA+ individuals is particularly brutal, with security forces using homophobic slurs, beatings and sexual humiliation.

The experts reported that a transgender woman was severely beaten, threatened with rape and forced to confess to crimes she did not commit.

The report said that hundreds of opposition figures, activists and journalists have been charged in absentia for alleged crimes such as “discrediting” the State.

Their properties have been seized and their families in Belarus have faced harassment and intimidation, it said.

“The orchestrated campaign of violence and mistreatment was directed against Belarusians perceived as being critical of, or opposed to, the Government,” the experts noted.

The expert conclusions showed that such persecution extends beyond Belarus’s borders, leaving those in exile vulnerable and their families at home under pressure.

They determined that Belarus’s actions amount to crimes against humanity, citing imprisonment, torture and persecution on political grounds as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.

The experts stressed that accountability is critical, and emphasized that “identifying and prosecuting perpetrators of human rights violations and crimes against humanity is key to ending Belarus’s culture of impunity and integral for the victims to receive justice.”