{"id":14692,"date":"2024-03-03T13:18:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T13:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/?p=14692"},"modified":"2025-09-27T09:09:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T09:09:57","slug":"manitoryng-parushennyau-kulturnyh-pravou-i-pravou-chalaveka-u-dachynenni-da-dzeyachau-kultury-belarus-2023-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2024\/03\/03\/manitoryng-parushennyau-kulturnyh-pravou-i-pravou-chalaveka-u-dachynenni-da-dzeyachau-kultury-belarus-2023-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Monitoring of violations of cultural rights and human rights of cultural figures. Belarus, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

“<\/i>And this abrupt downfall:
\n<\/span><\/i><\/span>today you are normal, respected, a role model,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span>you are praised and given a diploma. And tomorrow, for something
\n<\/span><\/i><\/span>you have done \u2013 you haven’t done anything wrong or violated anything,
\n<\/i><\/span>but suddenly\u2026 \u2013 that\u2019s it, you’re out of favor..<\/i>.”<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

From an interview with a Belarusian writer<\/span><\/p>\n

About Monitoring<\/a>
\nMain results<\/a>
\n<\/span>Deaths in prisons and confinement conditions for cultural figures<\/a>
\nCriminal prosecution and trials of cultural figures<\/a>
\nAdministrative prosecution and detentions<\/a>
\nProsecution for donations<\/a>
\nViolation of the right to freedom of movement<\/a>
\nPersecution of cultural figures who fled the country<\/a>
\nDismissals and a ban on profession<\/a>
\nAdministrative obstacles, censorship and a ban on the dissemination of Belarusian culture<\/a>
\nPressure on civil society organisations in the cultural sector<\/a>
\n“Extremist materials”<\/a>
\nAttacks on historical and cultural heritage \u2013 national history objects and the Polish memorials<\/a>
\nState policy in the sphere of culture<\/a>
\nConclusion and recommendations<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

About Monitoring<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Since October 2019, PEN Belarus has systematically documented the violations of cultural and human rights of cultural figures. This monitoring report contains statistics and analyses of violations that occurred in 2023. It summarises information collected from open sources, through personal contacts and in direct communication with cultural figures, including during the study on hidden repression[1]<\/a>. We do not show the dynamics in the number of violations for 2020\u20132023 as data are not fully comparable due to the changes that violations and research methodology<\/a> undergo to a greater or lesser extent. It is important to note that repressions in Belarus increasingly take non-public forms, and information about them goes into closed professional communities. PEN Belarus’ monitoring group is looking for alternative ways to collect information, and we thank every person who continues to share it. If you want to report wrongdoing (confidentially) or correct inaccuracies, please contact us at info@penbelarus.org, telegram: @viadoma. The more accurately we can record and analyse the human rights situation in the cultural sphere, the more effectively we can plan our work to support artists and cultural projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NB: For users’ 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><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

MAIN RESULTS<\/a><\/b><\/h6>\n

The socio-political crisis in which Belarus found itself as a result of the regime’s falsification of the presidential election and subsequent violent crackdown on peaceful protests in 2020 continues to harm the cultural sphere. Politically motivated persecution of cultural figures, including those who have fled the country (searches, interrogations, detentions, administrative arrests, criminal sentences, property seizures) continues unabated. State media routinely publish defamatory materials. The cultural sphere is permeated with censorship and total control. Disloyal specialists are dismissed, and there is a ban on professional activities. The regime considers Nobel laureates, Belarusian culture popularisers, musical groups and works of literary classics as a threat to “national security”. Under the guise of the fight against extremism and terrorism, it deprives creative people of the opportunity to express themselves and earn a living; sometimes, they may even lose life.<\/p>\n

Based on the situation in the cultural sphere in Belarus and the role of cultural workers in the country, as well as on the report<\/a> of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights on cultural rights defenders (2020), we recognise cultural workers in Belarus as cultural rights defenders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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