Belarus: Amid brutal repression, Aliaksandr Lukashenka claims victory in sham "presidential election"

29/01/2025
Statement

After the orchestrated "re-election" of Aliaksandr Lukashenka in an atmosphere of total repression, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Human Rights Center Viasna call on the international community to closely follow the human rights situation in the country and to actively support the ongoing accountability efforts at the national, regional and international levels.

Paris, 27 January 2025. Four years after the massive protests against the rigged 2020 elections in Belarus, the seventh presidential election took place on 26 January 2025, amid brutal and systematic repression. With the predictable victory of Aliaksandr Lukashenka in this orchestrated election, which was neither free nor fair, the human rights situation in Belarus is set to decline further.

As documented by Human Rights Center Viasna and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee as part of the "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" campaign, the election was held in a total climate of fear. In light of the ongoing crackdown against Belarusian civil society, reinforced through a campaign of preventive arrestsand other measures to deter any protests during the 2025 election, the authorities effectively silenced all those opposing Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s regime. With four token candidates, he did not face any genuine opposition.

Since 2020, the Belarusian authorities have systematically arrested and imprisoned opposition leaders on fabricated charges, with many held incommunicado in dire detention conditions. Only recently, the Belarusian authorities shared a video of Viktar Babaryka and a photograph of Maria Kalesnikava, both held incommunicado for more than 700and 600 days, respectively, in an attempt to appease the public. The authorities also continue persecuting those opposition politicians forced into exile, with in absentia trials resulting in unlawful sentences.

"The monitoring of the election campaign conducted by human rights defenders shows that the presidential election did not comply with international standards of democratic and free elections", said Pavel Sapelka, lawyer of Human Rights Center Viasna and acting Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). "All stages of the election process were not just controlled by the authorities, but were organized to keep Aliaksandr Lukashenka in power while imitating his broad popular support".

The Belarusian authorities also decided not to openpolling stations abroad, depriving those who fled the country as a result of the repression of their right to vote. Belarusians who wanted to participate in the elections would have needed to return to Belarus and vote at one of six polling stations located inside the country – under the immediate risk of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.

Against this backdrop, FIDH and Viasna further urge the international community to closely monitor the human rights situation in the country and to actively support the existing accountability measures for the human rights violations and international crimes committed by the Belarusian authorities, especially byjoining Lithuania’s State referral of the Belarusian situation to the International Criminal Court.

FIDH and Viasna strongly condemn the massive human rights violations, many of which amount to crimes against humanity, and call on the international community to continue supporting those Belarusians forced to leave the country, and to advocate for the immediate release of theover 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus, including Viasna members Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Uladzimir Labkovich, Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk.

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