{"id":146419,"date":"2025-07-11T20:03:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/146419\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"from-nobel-laureates-to-extremists-erosion-of-human-rights-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/146419\/","title":{"rendered":"From Nobel laureates to \u2018extremists\u2019: erosion of human rights in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Viktar Ivicki<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common trait of non-democratic regimes is that they hate looking in the mirror.<\/strong> That is why they are extremely irritated by independent election observers, independent opinion polls and, above all, human rights defenders\u2014those who stand up for individuals wronged by the state, track human rights violations and report them to international organizations and governments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n Valancin Stefanovi\u010d, Ale\u015b Bialacki and Valancin Labkovi\u010d (left to right)\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Viasna)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian government seeks to silence human rights defenders who criticize domestic policies, while labeling as such only those who see human rights violations in \u201cunfriendly\u201d countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dark Wednesday<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, July 14, 2021, was a dark day for the Belarusian human rights movement, as police arrested the leaders of the Viasna Human Rights Center\u2014Ale\u015b Bialacki, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d, and Valancin Labkovi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By that time, other members of the organization were already in pretrial detention, including Leanid Sudalenka, Marfa Rabkova, Ta\u0107ciana Lasica, and Andrej \u010capiuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2023, a district judge in Minsk sentenced Bialacki to 10 years, Stefanovi\u010d to 9, and Labkovi\u010d to 7 years in prison. One year earlier, Bialacki had been awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights Defender No. 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka declared himself the chief inspector for human rights in February 2017, speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for a Constitutional Court judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou must stand by me, and we, by the power of the state, must ensure the protection of our citizens\u2019 basic rights. That is what matters most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But human rights, as codified in international documents, have no place in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t teach us about human rights and democracy. We’ve had enough of that,\u201d he said in March 2023 during his annual address to the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went on to attack the West:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at your own situation. We know how the right to life is implemented there, how civil society protests are crushed. It\u2019s us\u2014from Belarus to Russia and China\u2014who should be drafting a concept for protecting the rights of ordinary Americans and Europeans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, speaking on July 1 at an Independence Day event, \u0141uka\u0161enka expressed outrage that human rights organizations had not defended him during and after the mass protests against the rigged 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere were the voices of the so-called international human rights defenders who supposedly care about democratic rights and freedoms? They were silent. What about 2020 and after?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, since he claims to safeguard human rights well, there must be no other human rights defenders in the country. To this end, he has labeled his critics extremists, terrorists, traitors and fraudsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these so-called environmentalists, human rights activists, pseudo-journalists tried to destroy the state,\u201d he charged in his 2022 annual address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GONGOs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While crushing the real human rights movement, the regime fills the void with convenient, loyal substitutes. It calls \u201chuman rights defenders\u201d those who criticize Western democracies, oppose sanctions and support cooperation with Minsk and Moscow. These include both local figures and foreign sympathizers of authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Belarus, D\u017amitryj Bielako\u016d, a staunch \u0141uka\u0161enka supporter, established a government-organized NGO called Systemic Human Rights Protection. In October 2022, he joined the chorus of propagandists who dismissed Bialacki\u2019s Nobel Peace Prize as \u201can example of the West\u2019s double standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For external propaganda, a so-called International Human Rights Award for Peace and Human Rights was instituted by a charity foundation named after Emile Czeczko, registered by the Belarusian Ministry of Justice in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2024, the award was presented for the second time in Minsk. The following day, the city hosted an international forum: \u201cThe Problem of Cultural Degradation in Europe: Challenges for the Union State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monika Karbowska, a French militant feminist and Marxist, was among the attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest problem in Europe today is the war\u2014the war of the Kyiv regime against Russia and the people of Donbas. That\u2019s the most serious problem. Another issue is sanctions. All sanctions against Belarus and Russia are completely illegal,\u201d BelTA<\/em> quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karbowska, who is of Polish origin, according to her numerous self-presentations online, supports feminism, socialism, internationalism, Marxism, \u201cworld peace\u201d and a \u201cnew people\u2019s Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian state media often quote her remarks. She lauded Belarus\u2019 January 2025 presidential election in an interview published on March 4 by Minskaya Pravda<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with the results of the election in Belarus. I believe the people voted for Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka because he\u2019s a good president who cares about state sovereignty and the well-being of the people. For me, your republic is a kind of miracle\u2014an oasis of stability and equality in a Europe wrecked by war, capitalism and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Minsk, she found \u201cthe atmosphere of Warsaw\u201d from her youth, stores \u201cfull of wonderful local goods,\u201d \u201cmountains of food in grocery shops\u201d and a \u201csense of peace not felt in Europe since 1989.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour state pays attention to villages, forests and farmland. In Europe\u2014in France and Poland\u2014it\u2019s the opposite: vast areas are abandoned, and all products are imported from China, the US, and Latin America,\u201d Karbowska claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more \u201crevelations\u201d from Karbowska:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mafia has infiltrated and taken over the state. That\u2019s why in France we suffer from abuses we\u2019ve never faced before\u2014illegal detentions, arbitrary imprisonment without trial by prosecutors and judges who ignore the law. Children are taken from their parents by unidentified legal agencies. We are subjected to sham hearings in fake courts. France is being destroyed by [President Emmanuel] Macron\u2019s mafia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undermining trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Officials and state media have conducted a large-scale campaign to discredit human rights defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe repressive system benefits from portraying human rights work not as professional and independent activity, but as a get-rich scheme, a political provocation or a threat to stability,\u201d said Pavie\u0142 Sapio\u0142ka, a lawyer at Viasna, in a comment to The Viewer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe easiest method is to build a simple, convenient stereotype for the general public, stripping human rights work of its moral dimension,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could argue with human rights defenders about whether regime crimes are crimes against humanity\u2014that takes expertise and raises the issue of torture and persecution. Or you could just reframe the debate, focusing on accusations about money\u2014it helps to divert attention from regime crimes and appeals to base instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sapio\u0142ka also pointed out attempts to insert false figures into the human rights sphere:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen propaganda labels only those who criticize foreign countries as \u2018human rights defenders,\u2019 that\u2019s not just a distortion\u2014it\u2019s an attempt to create a tame, loyal institution to mimic civil society. Any forums and government-approved initiatives under these conditions are just stage sets, lacking authority, experience, values, or real work with repression victims. They serve to legitimize internal policy by replacing real human rights content with propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this imitation cannot replace genuine human rights defenders, he went on to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it can confuse part of the audience and create an illusion of an \u2018alternative opinion.\u2019 That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for us to continue our independent work, rely on international standards, and make every effort to educate the public on human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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