‘Belarusian culture, language and identity have come under sustained onslaught over the past five years. It is high time the international c
This August marks 5 years of the fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus and the mass protests that followed, which sparked the dictatorship's "ever-growing clampdown on freedom of expression, cultural rights and linguistic rights".
[...T]he Belarusian authorities have brutally silenced all dissent, and specifically targeted Belarusian culture and language. The scale of the repression is staggering. PEN Belarus recorded over 5,800 cases of violations of cultural rights and the human rights of cultural figures since August 2020. At least 159 cultural figures, including 40 ‘People of the Word’, are currently imprisoned or under house arrest on spurious grounds, including PEN members Ales Bialiatski and Maksim Znak, and Honorary PEN member Kaciaryna Andrejeva (real name Bachvałava). Five cultural figures have died in custody. Over 1,192 NGOs, including at least 250 cultural ones, have been forcibly liquidated. At least five independent publishing houses have been shuttered. 141 books have been banned for being ‘potentially harmful to national interests’; 81 books have been labelled as ‘extremist materials’ alongside hundreds of artistic resources and social media content. Meanwhile, cultural institutions have been turned into state propaganda tools. Significant art spaces have been shut down. The scope of what is permissible in the cultural sphere has been drastically narrowed, pushing independent artistic expression underground. The criminal justice system has been weaponized to target dissent, including through overbroad counterterrorism and anti-extremism legislation. Amendments to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Belarus enables stripping Belarusians of their citizenship for ‘extremist’ activity while the so-called ‘Passport Decree’ severely restricts the ability of Belarusians abroad to obtain identity documents or conduct legal and administrative procedures, resulting in significant obstacles to personal, professional, and family life. Although the Belarusian language is classified as potentially vulnerable by UNESCO, the Belarusian authorities have failed to provide equal rights for the use of the Belarusian language. Discrimination is widespread, resulting in a steep decline in the number of native speakers. Belarusian-language books are under particular scrutiny of state control bodies. Materials supporting national minorities have been labelled as ‘extremist’. Mother-tongue education in some Polish and Lithuanian schools is banned. PEN Belarus, PEN International and PEN America call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately stop incommunicado detentions and release all writers and cultural figures held solely for peacefully expressing their views. The authorities must stop the harassment and persecution of cultural figures inside and outside Belarus, including by repealing the ‘Passport Decree’ and repressive amendments to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Belarus. The organisations further call on the authorities to take the necessary legislative, administrative and judicial measures to ensure safe conditions for implementing creative activities and cultural projects, and to preserve and develop Belarusian culture.
