BKDP joins human rights coalition statement on continuing repression in Belarus
The Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) has joined a joint statement by a coalition of human rights organisations assessing the continuing political repression in Belarus.
In the statement dated 12 October, the human rights organisations welcome the release of people persecuted on political grounds. Since July 2024, around 900 people have been released. However, the authors stress that releases alone do not mean that the repressive system created since 2020 is being dismantled.
Over the past six years, Belarus has developed a system for suppressing dissent involving the security services, courts, penitentiary institutions and other state bodies. Repression has long extended beyond criminal prosecution and now affects people’s ability to study, work, engage in civic activity and participate fully in economic and social life.
The statement gives particular attention to repression in the sphere of employment. Since 2020, perceived political disloyalty has become grounds for dismissals, professional restrictions and other forms of pressure. At the same time, the authorities have liquidated independent trade unions and criminalised parts of their activities through “extremism” legislation.
For the BKDP, this issue is of fundamental importance. In 2022, the Supreme Court liquidated the Congress itself and its affiliated independent trade unions. Trade union leaders and activists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, dozens of people faced criminal prosecution, and independent worker representation inside the country was effectively destroyed.
The authors of the statement stress that the forms of repression are changing and becoming less visible, but the available data do not indicate any decline in their intensity. Since the beginning of the mass releases in July 2024, at least 3,200 people have become defendants in criminal cases, while human rights defenders have documented at least 28,500 detentions, searches and other forms of criminal and administrative repression.
At the same time, the release of political prisoners does not always mean the restoration of their rights. At least 220 of the approximately 900 people released have been forcibly removed from Belarus. Pressure on former political prisoners continues both inside the country and abroad.
The human rights coalition calls on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, end politically motivated persecution in all its forms, and stop repressive practices against civil society organisations, including independent trade unions.
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