Almost a thousand people were detained in the first three months of 2024 in Belarus

Since the beginning of the 2020 election campaign, defenders have recorded facts of repression in Belarus every day. The situation with human rights violations in the country still remains catastrophic. Viasna human rights activists have calculated the total number of detentions for the first quarter of 2024.

Unity March, Minsk, September 6, 2020. Photo: spring96.org

According to Viasna, from January 1 to March 31, 987 detentions were documented in Belarus, of which one third were detentions of women. The majority of detentions occurred in January: 406 detentions. It was then that the KGB initiated a massive crackdown on those who received food aid from the INeedHelpBY. In addition, 65 detainees have minor children.

"Who helps with care packages?" Details of the mass crackdown by security forces on relatives of political prisoners

Viasna reports what is now known about the persecution of relatives of political prisoners, and human rights activist Pavel Sapelka has commented on the KGB crackdown and recalled important security measures that will help avoid imprisonment.

Human rights defenders are also aware of at least 1,602 administrative trials during this time. In February alone, the Belarusian courts handled at least 671 cases. That month, the authorities began to try people for "using foreign aid to carry out extremist activities" (Article 24.15 of the Administrative Code). This article has not been used in Belarus before.

But we note that all the figures may be significantly higher due to the fact that human rights defenders do not have all the information about the persecution.