{"id":12734,"date":"2023-08-04T15:08:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=12734"},"modified":"2024-06-12T13:29:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:29:47","slug":"manitoryng-parushennya-kulturnyh-pravou-i-pravou-chalaveka-u-dachynenni-da-dzeyachau-kultury-belarus-studzen-cherven-2023-goda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2023\/08\/04\/manitoryng-parushennya-kulturnyh-pravou-i-pravou-chalaveka-u-dachynenni-da-dzeyachau-kultury-belarus-studzen-cherven-2023-goda.html","title":{"rendered":"Monitoring Violations of Cultural Rights and Human Rights of Cultural Figures. Belarus, January \u2013 June 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since October 2019, PEN Belarus has systematically documented the violations of cultural rights and human rights of cultural workers. This monitoring report contains statistics and analyses of violations in the field of culture in January\u2013June 2023. It summarises information collected from open sources (77% of cases), through personal contacts (11%) and in direct communication with cultural figures in the framework of the research project [1]<\/a> on hidden repression (11%).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NB: For users\u2019 information security, we do not provide direct links to information sources if they are subject to restrictions under the current regulations in the Republic of Belarus.<\/i> <\/i>More on the monitoring<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Main results of the monitoring<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/span>Human rights violations against cultural figures<\/a>
\n<\/span>Criminal prosecution<\/a>
\n<\/span>Administrative prosecution<\/a>
\n<\/span>Dismissals<\/a>
\n<\/span>Other forms of persecution<\/a>
\n<\/span>Administrative obstacles to cultural activities. Censorship and \u201cblacklists\u201d of cultural figures<\/a>
\n<\/span>Addition to the list of cultural “extremist materials”<\/a>
\n<\/span>Public policy issues in the cultural sphere<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>MAIN RESULTS OF THE MONITORING<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Politically motivated persecution of cultural figures in the first half of 2023 was mainly in connection with the 2020 events in Belarus. Targeted were those who participated in peaceful protests, endorsed collective appeals from professional communities to the state authorities to stop violence against citizens, donated to violence victims\u2019 relief funds, left reactions on social media under high-profile publications and carried out other actions at the time. Subject to prosecution also was subscription or distribution of “extremist materials” and dissent, in general.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interrogations and searches, detentions and administrative arrests of cultural figures, criminal prosecutions, pressure on prisoners in correctional institutions, and inclusion in state-approved lists of “extremists” and “terrorists” continued unabated. There were both targeted and mass dismissals of undesirable employees. Professionals from various cultural sectors found themselves on “blacklists.” There is a de facto ban on the profession for representatives of the independent cultural sector and those who worked in state-run cultural and educational institutions but were deemed disloyal to the regime. Cultural figures are forced to leave the country, some facing the \u2018leave or go to prison\u2019 choice. Those who remain in Belarus continue their work (“…people are just afraid if I am honest. But we are doing something, you know?<\/i>” (\u00a9 )) [2]<\/a> and, realising a new reality, resort to self-censorship and anonymity. The independent culture lives in a “silence mode” (“…now the silence is our main asset” <\/i>(\u00a9)) and is in search of other ways of creative expression and self-realisation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n