Freedom of assembly and association in Belarus are nearly non-existent.151 Legislation such as the Law on Mass Events imposes strict requirements on public gatherings, including their prior authorisation and eligibility criteria for organisers, which significantly suppress public assemblies.152
The legal environment for civil society organisations is characterised by highly restrictive regulations that grant authorities broad discretion to deny their registration, restrict foreign funding, and dissolve or suspend entities for minor infractions.153 After the 2020 protests, the authorities initiated a systematic purge on organisations,154 such as trade unions, associations, and NGOs.155
In June 2021,156 the authorities started a large-scale campaign to revoke official registrations of civil society organisations,157 a process that accelerated in the following years158 and resulted in widespread liquidation of various organisations and associations,159 including human rights groups,160 NGOs, trade unions and religious communities.161 This state-led crackdown led to a sharp decrease in the number of registered public organisations, declining – according to the data of the Ministry of Justice – from 3 025 in 2020 to 1 973 in January 2024 (comprising 177 international, 572 national, and 1 224 local entities).162 As of December 2025, according to the monitoring group Lawtrend, 1 220 non-profit organisations had been forcibly liquidated163 and another 769 had self-dissolved,164 while the number of registered NGOs stood at 1 943.165
Repression against civil society actors also involves arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment of activists, peaceful protesters, journalists, human rights defenders, and lawyers.166 Civil society organisations and cultural associations, as well as their members, have been added to the list of extremist organisations, which enables their prosecution.167 For example, in 2024, after an organisation providing online training on women rights was designated as extremist formation, the KGB and the district police departments’ members arrested and interrogated some of its participants, many of whom were subsequently charged with petty hooliganism and detained for up to 30 days.168
- 151
UN Human Rights Council, Report of Human Rights in Belarus, 22 April 2025, url, para. 67
- 152
ICNL, Belarus, 4 October 2025, url
- 153
ICNL, Belarus, 4 October 2025, url
- 154
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, para. 26
- 155
Belsat, Belarus moves to confiscate property of liquidated parties and NGOs, 14 November 2025, url
- 156
CSO meter, Belarus: New wave of liquidation of CSOs that fail to amend their charters, 5 July 2024, url
- 157
Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2026 Country Report – Belarus, 2026, url, p. 11
- 158
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, para. 26
- 159
AI, Belarus 2024, 28 April 2025, url; CIVICUS, Belarus: Ongoing Crackdown on civil society demands stronger international response, 19 March 2025, url; Belsat, Belarus moves to confiscate property of liquidated parties and NGOs, 14 November 2025, url; UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 43
- 160
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, paras. 26, 59
- 161
AI, Belarus 2024, 28 April 2025, url; Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2026 Country Report – Belarus, 2026, url, p. 11
- 162
CSO meter, Belarus: New wave of liquidation of CSOs that fail to amend their charters, 5 July 2024, url
- 163
Lawtrend, Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus December 2025, 12 January 2026, url
- 164
Lawtrend, Январь-декабрь 2025 [January-December 2025], December 2025, url
- 165
Lawtrend, Monitoring of the situation with freedom of association and the status of civil society organizations in the Republic of Belarus December 2025, 12 January 2026, url
- 166
CIVICUS, Belarus: Ongoing Crackdown on civil society demands stronger international response, 19 March 2025, url
- 167
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 79
- 168
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 41