Belarus: Renewal of Special Rapporteur and Group of Experts Vital to Address Unrelenting Human Rights Crisis

To: Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council 

Excellencies,

We, the undersigned organisations, write ahead of the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council (“HRC” or “Council”) to urge your government to support the renewal and strengthening of the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus and the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus (Group of Experts). The continuation of both of these distinct but complementary mandates is vital to address an unrelenting human rights crisis that persists inside the country.

In its report to the 60th session of the Council, the Group of Experts reiterated its conclusions on the grave, systematic and widespread nature of human rights violations committed by the Belarusian government against its critics since 1 May 2020, including that some amount to the crimes against humanity of political persecution and imprisonment. These findings build on the conclusions of the OHCHR examination of the human rights situation in Belarus, which had previously found reasonable grounds to believe that torture and other ill-treatment have been used in a widespread and systematic manner in Belarus and that some violations may amount to crimes against humanity. The Group of Experts highlighted the imperative importance of accountability for such violations at the national and international levels to counter the “pervasive culture of impunity in Belarus.”

In addition, Belarusian civil society organisations report that:

• There has been no decline in the relentless prosecution of individuals on politically motivated grounds since the last Council session, signalling no real change in human rights situation inside Belarus.
• More than 1,149 individuals continue to be detained or imprisoned on politically motivated charges, according to Viasna reports. Such detainees still face severe violations such as ill-treatment and torture, and a number of individuals remain in prolonged incommunicado detention that may amount to enforced disappearance.
• In 2025, Belarus released up to 342 political prisoners on presidential pardon. More than a half of those released were summarily expelled to Lithuania and Ukraine, some without documents, in exchange for political favours and sanctions relief from the United States. Former political prisoners continue to face state harassment in Belarus, forcing them to leave the country, and in exile, including via pressure on family members remaining in Belarus.
• Last spring, Belarusian authorities removed information on court trials from the public domain, expanding the information vacuum around ongoing repression.
• Independent Belarusian NGOs, grassroots groups, and media outlets face ongoing harassment, liquidations or forced closures. The suffocation of independent civil society serves to effectively prevent public scrutiny of government actions.
• More than twenty years of non-compliance by the Government of Belarus with the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, the forced liquidation of all independent trade unions in 2022, and the resolution of the International Labour Conference in 2023 on the application of Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to the Government of Belarus and follow-ups to it, all confirm the absence of the freedom of association in the country.
• Despite the large number of credible allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, there remains no realistic avenue for accountability at domestic level. Belarusian authorities consistently fail to investigate credible reports of human rights violations and abuses, perpetuating a climate of fear, impunity and lawlessness. In addition, lawyers defending individuals in politically motivated cases are systematically harassed, disbarred, arrested and targeted, leaving those tried and imprisoned without means to challenge their arbitrary detention.
• As noted with respect to the prisoners released in 2025, authorities also continue to persecute Belarusians forced into exile, including through politically motivated criminal charges, trials and sentences in absentia, as well as threats and intimidation to them and their families.