The Belarusian Helsinki Committee has prepared a report entitled “You Know How It Is: Systemic Political Discrimination in Belarus — Mechanisms, Scale and Consequences”. In this report, we propose looking at repression in Belarus through the lens of systemic political discrimination to better understand its nature, real scale and consequences for people.
Why the conventional view of repression does not capture the full picture
Repression in Belarus is usually associated with well-known cases of direct criminal or administrative prosecution: detentions, searches, deprivation of liberty. The situation in the country is often judged by the number of persons recognised as political prisoners. Attention tends to concentrate on these issues, as well as on violations of the rights that are “traditionally” at stake in our context — freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair trial. Against this background, other forms of politically motivated restriction of rights may be perceived as not serious enough, and the risks associated with them underestimated.
However, since 2020 the repressive apparatus in Belarus has been transformed and is now capable of carrying out mass and systematic violations of a much broader range of rights against a much broader circle of people — dissenters and those whom the state regards as such.
The formula “you know how it is”, long familiar to Belarusian society, reflects precisely this logic. Today it has acquired new relevance as the discriminatory policy extends to different spheres of life and different groups of people. When what triggers repressive measures is, in essence, normal, lawful behaviour, this formula helps to bridge the gap between the formal legal grounds and the real political motives, and explains the non-obvious link between actual or perceived political “unreliability” and the persecution that follows.
The concept of systemic political discrimination helps to understand the nature and scale of what is happening in the country. In our case, we are dealing not with episodic human rights violations but with a deliberate discriminatory state policy, implemented at various levels and across many spheres. The circle of those affected by this policy is significantly wider than the circle usually associated with victims of political repression.
Who is this report and its accompanying materials addressed to?
Migration authorities in countries where Belarusians seek protection or residence
The report offers information relevant to assessing the situation in the country: on the structure of the repressive system and its characteristic features, on the real scale of repression and, on that basis, on individual risks for particular persons.
The analytical lens of systemic discrimination, combined with the specific features of the system — the importance of “signals” of unreliability for subsequent persecution, the latency of repression and the tendency towards “collateral repression” — helps explain why the risk of individual politically motivated persecution may be high even for persons who have not been politically active. It also helps explain why the absence of documented persecution does not mean that a person will not face arbitrary detention, an unfair trial and deprivation of liberty on crossing the border.
The key findings of the report for migration authorities are set out in a separate note in English: “Systemic Political Discrimination in Belarus: Key Findings for Asylum and Migration Decision-Makers”.
Diplomats, other representatives of foreign states, and actors shaping policy positions
The report proposes approaching repression in Belarus through the lens of systemic discrimination. Its scale and circle of victims are substantially wider than may appear when individual repressive practices are considered in isolation. Taking into account the nature and real scale of the repressive system may be useful for developing policy positions, advocacy and determining the measures needed to restore normality in the country and to protect those affected, including Belarusians in exile.
International mechanisms for human rights protection and international criminal justice
The report makes it possible to approach the international legal assessment and characterisation of the situation in Belarus through the analytical lens of systemic discrimination. From this standpoint, it identifies the mechanisms that shape and reproduce the repressive discriminatory system, and draws attention, among other things, to its tendency to expand continually in the form of “collateral repression” and to the critically important role of the “system of signals” and of discriminatory law enforcement. This lens makes it possible to take into account a wider circle of victims and a broader range of affected human rights, with an emphasis on social and economic rights.
Report and accompanying materials
The full report, “You Know How It Is: Systemic Political Discrimination in Belarus — Mechanisms, Scale and Consequences”, is available in Russian and English.
We have also prepared a summary of the report presenting its key findings, as well as a separate analytical note in English for asylum and migration decision-makers.