Belarus Turns Justice System Into Tool of Repression, UN Experts Say

People labelled as government critics are frequently detained by plainclothes officers without warrants, subjected to violence and denied access to lawyers, the report says.

Belarusian authorities have turned the criminal justice system into a means of punishing dissent, using arrests, prosecutions and imprisonment to silence people perceived as opponents of the Government, according to a new report by UN independent experts. The findings describe persecution that reaches beyond prison walls, affecting families, driving people into exile and sending a warning across society about the personal cost of speaking out.

Submitted ahead of the Human Rights Council's 63rd session, the report examines the conduct of law enforcement agencies, security services, prosecutors and courts since 1 May 2020, concluding that Belarus has committed widespread and systematic human rights violations. Karinna Moskalenko, chair of the expert group, said the findings reveal a system in which state institutions work together to suppress fundamental freedoms, with criminal proceedings forming part of a broader machinery of repression.

Arrests That Leave People Defenceless

People labelled as government critics are frequently detained by plainclothes officers without warrants, subjected to violence and denied access to lawyers, the report says. Accounts describe beatings, forced stress positions and threats against relatives, with detainees pressured into recording humiliating "repentance" videos, turning their distress into a public display of submission.

Inside temporary detention centres, including Minsk's Okrestina facility, detainees described overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, severe sleep deprivation, psychological abuse and medical neglect. Women faced additional forms of humiliation, including invasive strip searches within sight of male guards and the deliberate withholding of menstrual hygiene products, leaving them unable to meet basic personal needs in an environment where they had little control over their own bodies.

Courtrooms Offer Little Protection

The report describes prosecutions in which detention before trial can stretch to two years, and defendants struggle to challenge the case against them. Lawyers defending political opponents, journalists and human rights activists face disbarment or detention themselves, stripping their clients of essential support; defence motions are routinely rejected, proceedings frequently take place behind closed doors, and defendants are held in metal courtroom cages.

Appeal courts almost always uphold convictions, according to the experts, and authorities have increasingly prosecuted government critics living abroad without their presence, adequate notification or proper defence. Prison brings further punishment for those convicted on politically motivated grounds: yellow tags distinguish them from other detainees, access to educational and religious activities is restricted, and fabricated disciplinary offences can lead to extended isolation involving extreme cold and deliberate deprivation of sleep and food.

Freedom Does Not Always End the Persecution

Some prisoners have been denied contact with the outside world for more than two years, cutting them off from the people who might otherwise help protect them. The experts also documented the targeting of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, including prolonged detention of its leaders and their eventual forced expulsion without valid identification documents, creating fresh difficulties for people already subjected to years of persecution.

Release can bring another two years of intrusive supervision, with former prisoners facing night-time raids, checks of electronic devices, restrictions on movement and the threat of immediate arrest for minor departures from imposed schedules. These pressures have pushed victims and their families into exile, the report says. Expert Monika Płatek warned that releases, though important to those regaining freedom, do not mean repression has ended because the system responsible remains in place.

The group called on Belarus to release everyone held on politically motivated charges, investigate abuses, prosecute those responsible and provide full reparations to victims. Its members also requested access to the country and urged the international community to sustain attention, protect survivors and pursue accountability, with expert Susan Bazilli stressing that those responsible must not be allowed to regard impunity as permanent protection.