{"id":23637,"date":"2025-10-20T16:23:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/?p=23637"},"modified":"2025-10-20T16:31:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:31:16","slug":"belarus-human-rights-lawyers-association-declared-extremist-amid-intensifying-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/belarus-human-rights-lawyers-association-declared-extremist-amid-intensifying-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus: Human rights lawyers’ association declared \u201cextremist\u201d amid intensifying crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belarusian authorities have designated the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers<\/em> (BAHRL) as an \u201cextremist formation,\u201d imposing severe legal sanctions and intensifying pressure on the legal profession. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On 18 August 2025, the State Security Committee (KGB) issued a decision[1]<\/a> labelling the BAHRL as extremist, effective 21 August 2025. Shortly after, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added the association and six individuals \u2014 including lawyer Dmitri Laevski, who has never been associated with BAHRL<\/strong> and still remains in Belarus<\/strong> \u2014 to the official list of \u201cextremist entities and individuals.\u201d Under Belarusian law, participation in an \u201cextremist formation\u201d carries sentences of up to ten years in prison.<\/p>\n

Since the 2020 presidential elections, lawyers defending politically sensitive cases or denouncing abuses have faced arbitrary disbarment, administrative sanctions, detentions, and imprisonment[2]<\/a>. This was highlighted in the International Day of Endangered Lawyer 2025, focused in the worrying situation of lawyers in Belarus[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BAHRL was founded by exiled Belarusian lawyers who were arbitrarily disbarred for their professional activities. The designation aims to silence independent legal voices and prevent documentation of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

The Observatory condemns the Belarusian authorities\u2019 decision to designate BAHRL as an \u201cextremist formation,\u201d in clear violation of Belarus\u2019s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/a> (Articles 14, 19, and 22) and the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers<\/a>, which guarantee the independence of lawyers and their right to carry out their professional duties free from interference and intimidation.<\/p>\n

The Observatory joins the call by Lawyers for Lawyers, IBAHRI and the Law Society of England and Wales[4]<\/a> and urges Belarusian authorities to<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Immediately revoke the designation of the BAHRL as an \u201cextremist formation\u201d;<\/li>\n
  2. Cease the misuse of anti-extremism legislation against lawyers and as a form of pressure and repression against CSOs and dissenting voices, in general;<\/li>\n
  3. Ensure that no lawyer is prosecuted or otherwise punished for performing their professional duties or for their legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, association, or assembly;<\/li>\n
  4. Disabuse of any notion of Dmitri Laevski\u2019s affiliation with BAHRL and ensure he is not subjected to harassment, arrest, or other reprisals;<\/li>\n
  5. Uphold Belarus\u2019 obligations under international human rights law and create an enabling environment for lawyers to carry out their work without fear of reprisals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Decision No. 3\/3-1962<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Kruope, A.<\/strong> (2025, August 29). Belarus intensifies crackdown on human rights lawyers<\/em>. Human Rights Watch. https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2025\/08\/29\/belarus-intensifies-crackdown-on-human-rights-lawyers<\/a><\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> See OIAD\u2019s campaign for the International Day of Endangered Lawyer 2025 focused on Belarus: https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/2025-belarus\/<\/a><\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Lawyers for Lawyers. (2025, 10 September). Concerns about the designation of lawyers association as an \u201cextremist formation\u201d<\/em>. https:\/\/www.lawyersforlawyers.org\/concerns-about-the-designation-of-lawyers-association-as-an-extremist-formation\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Belarusian authorities have designated the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers (BAHRL) as an \u201cextremist formation,\u201d imposing severe legal sanctions and intensifying pressure on the legal profession. \u00a0 On 18 August 2025, the State Security Committee (KGB) issued a decision[1] labelling the BAHRL as extremist, effective 21 August 2025. Shortly after, the Ministry of Internal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23637"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23652,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23637\/revisions\/23652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/protect-lawyers.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}