{"id":22366,"date":"2026-05-01T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T15:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=22366"},"modified":"2026-05-01T17:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:01:58","slug":"hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-15-30-krasavika-2026-goda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2026\/05\/01\/hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-15-30-krasavika-2026-goda.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronicle of human rights violations in the sphere of culture (15-30 April 2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

To report a violation (including confidentially) or to correct data presented in the report, please contact us at\u00a0dapamoha@penbelarus.org\u00a0or t.me\/viadoma.<\/em><\/p>\n

As of 30 April 2026, at least 122 cultural figures, including at least 25 writers, were either imprisoned or under home confinement. The number of banned books remained at 336.<\/b><\/p>\n

In regions across Belarus, police detained people participating in cultural initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The KGB has designated several cultural initiatives as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The online media outlet <\/span>Reform.news<\/i><\/b> was labelled an \u201cextremist formation\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Instagram page of cultural promoter and former political prisoner <\/span>U\u0142adzimir Bu\u0142a\u016dski<\/b> was declared \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Threads account of journalist and non-fiction writer <\/span>Rus\u0142an Kulevi\u010d<\/b> was designated as \u201cextremist\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Human rights defender and former political prisoner <\/span>Valancin Stefanovi\u010d<\/b> reported that in penal colonies, the use of the Belarusian language could lead to the termination of phone calls with relatives or placement in a punishment cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The international festival of traditional culture <\/span>\u201cBras\u0142a\u016dskija zarnicy\u201d<\/b> was cancelled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
I. Detentions of cultural figures<\/b><\/h5>\n

On 23 April, mass detentions of people participating in cultural initiatives took place across various regions of Belarus. In Navapo\u0142ack, 12 women were detained. Some were transferred to a pre-trial detention centre in Viciebsk, while others were interrogated in Navapo\u0142ack. Police searched their homes. Eight of those detained were later released. One woman was found to be subscribed to independent information resources; she was held in custody for three days and fined. Three women were detained in Barysa\u016d, and several others in S\u0142onim, Brest, and \u017dodzina.<\/span><\/p>\n

These detentions followed the Ministry of Internal Affairs\u2019 decision on 9 April to designate several cultural initiatives as an \u201cextremist formation\u201d. This decision was publicly announced on 24 April, after the detentions had already taken place.<\/span><\/p>\n

II. Violation of the right to use a native language in places of detention<\/b><\/h5>\n

On 30 April, human rights defender and former political prisoner <\/span>Valancin Stefanovi\u010d<\/b> reported that in penal colonies, the use of the Belarusian language could result in the termination of phone calls with relatives or placement in a punishment cell. He said,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did not consistently use the Belarusian language for a number of reasons. In the colony, calls with relatives could be cut off for this, and one could even be sent to a punishment cell. However, in pre-trial detention and in \u2018closed\u2019 prisons, the situation was easier. I wrote letters home in Belarusian, and the censor allowed them through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

III. Designation of human rights, educational and cultural organisations as \u201cextremist\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n

<\/b>1.<\/strong> On 24 April, it became known that the KGB had designated several cultural initiatives as \u201cextremist\u201d, including the <\/span>Belarusian Council for Culture (BCC)<\/b>, as well as projects such as <\/span>Mahistrat<\/i><\/b>, <\/span>Vasminoh<\/i><\/b>, <\/span>ArtPower Belarus<\/i><\/b>, the <\/span>Belarusian Council for Culture Foundation<\/b>, and <\/span>In\u0161yja<\/i><\/b> (The Others)<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i> These initiatives and projects had been classified as \u201cextremist formations\u201d on 9 April, although they were added to the official list only later.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.<\/strong> On 29 April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs designated the online media outlet <\/span>Reform.news<\/i><\/b> as an \u201cextremist formation\u201d. The outlet has extensively covered Belarusian culture and repression in the cultural sphere.<\/span><\/p>\n

IV. Designation of cultural figures\u2019 social media accounts as \u201cextremist\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n

<\/b>1.<\/strong> On 23 April, the Leninski District Court of Hrodna declared the Facebook page of designer <\/span>U\u0142adzimir Mala\u016dka<\/b> \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.<\/strong> On 24 April, it became known that the \u010cyhuna\u010dny District Court of Viciebsk had designated the Instagram page of cultural promoter and former political prisoner <\/span>U\u0142adzimir Bu\u0142a\u016dski<\/b> as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>3.<\/strong> On the same day, the Central District Court of Homiel declared the social media accounts of the <\/span>LVS language school<\/b> \u201cextremist\u201d. The school, based in Poland, provides instruction in six languages, and its social media pages focus on teaching staff, curricula, courses, and their promotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>4.<\/strong> On 27 April 2026, the Baranavi\u010dy District Court designated the Threads account of journalist and non-fiction writer <\/span>Rus\u0142an Kulevi\u010d<\/b> as \u201cextremist\u201d. Previously, <\/span>Kulevi\u010d<\/b>\u2019s personal social media accounts, his project <\/span>Most Media<\/i><\/b>, and his YouTube channel <\/span>\u201cWe Will Return\u201d<\/b> had already been labelled as \u201cextremist materials\u201d and an \u201cextremist formation\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

V.Cancellation of cultural events<\/b><\/h5>\n

On 16 April, it was reported that the <\/span>Bras\u0142a\u016d <\/b>District Executive Committee had cancelled the International Festival of Traditional Culture \u201c<\/span>Bras\u0142a\u016dskija zarnicy<\/b>\u201d. Held since 1967, the festival acquired international status in 2009. It featured performers from various regions of Belarus, as well as from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Estonia.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To report a violation (including confidentially) or to correct data presented in the report, please contact us at\u00a0dapamoha@penbelarus.org\u00a0or t.me\/viadoma. As of 30 April 2026, at least 122 cultural figures, including at least 25 writers, were either imprisoned or under home confinement. The number of banned books remained at 336. In regions across Belarus, police detained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":22370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4255],"tags":[4291,4285],"class_list":["post-22366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-right","tag-chronicle","tag-hronika"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22371,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366\/revisions\/22371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}