Country Report: Belarus August 2026
- Genocide Watch
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By Sophia Khan
Belarus opposition supporters lay flowers near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester, died on Aug. 10, 2020, during a protest in Minsk. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)
Although Belarus was a founding republic of the Soviet Union, the 1988 discovery of mass grave sites from Stalin-era targeting prompted calls for independence. Belarus declared independence on August 25, 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Belarus adopted a new constitution in March 1994 and elected Alexander Lukashenko as president, a position he continues to hold today.
Lukashenko has subsequently consolidated power and governed Belarus as an authoritarian state for more than three decades. Constitutional amendments, restrictions on political parties, state control of electoral institutions, and the persecution or exile of opposition leaders have eliminated meaningful political competition. These issues have only worsened in the aftermath of the 2020 demonstrations against Lukashenko’s fraudulent re-election where peaceful demonstrators were met with mass arrests and police violence.In 2023, Lukashenko required all political parties to re-register, consequently dismantling all but four parties that remain loyal to the state. Also in 2023, an update to the citizenship law allowed for the revocation of Belarusian citizenship for those who have fled the country due to “extremist” charges. In January 2025, Lukashenko secured a seventh term with an officially reported 87% of the vote in an atmosphere of extreme repression and no credible opponents, signaling another fraudulent election.
Contemporary politics in Belarus are marked by corruption, repression, and state violence. This includes the eradication of the remaining free media and the suppression of civil society organizations. As of August 2026, 879 people in Belarus are considered political prisoners, in addition to 4,732 people have been recognized as political prisoners since 2020. Additionally, between 500 to 600 journalists have been forced into exile.
Belarus’s domestic repression is closely connected to its relationship with Russia. Lukashenko’s government allowed Russian forces to use Belarusian territory during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has prosecuted Belarusians who criticize the war or support Ukraine. State institutions also promote pro-Russian narratives and increasingly restrict Belarusian language, culture, and independent historical interpretation.
Overall, Belarus remains a highly centralized authoritarian state. This systematic repression creates a climate of fear that prevents Belarusians from participating freely and violates their rights to expression, peaceful assembly, and security.
Genocide Watch considers Belarus to be at Stage 6: Polarization for the portrayal of political opponents, human rights activists, journalists, and civil society actors as threats who must be eliminated. Additionally, because Belarusian authorities have continued to surveil, detain, and torture perceived government opponents, it is also considered to be at Stage 8: Persecution.
Genocide Watch Recommends:
The Government of Belarus must unconditionally release all imprisoned people and support them in peacefully exercising their rights, stop politically motivated trials, in addition to, incommunicado detention, torture, and intimidation.
The international community must support Belarusian human rights defenders, journalists, exiles, and victims of the state and demand appropriate criminal accountability through universal-jurisdiction and/or other lawful mechanisms.
