NGO says crackdown injures state’s culture and education system

August 23, BPN. Reprisals targeting Belarus’ culture and education sector have resulted in a shortage of professionals and restrictions on access to resources, the Belarusian PEN Center says in a report.

It says that apart from arrests, searches or dismissals, Belarus’ culture sector has been targeted by a covert crackdown. It includes tighter administrative controls, the reorganization of academia and museums, the introduction of ethics codes, censorship, etc.

“The problem with covert repression is that the system is oppressive in itself, that anyone can become a victim, and any administrative mechanism can be used to oppress,” the report reads.

According to the NGO, covert repression have a larger scale than overt intimidation and is more difficult to prove.