The Belarus Meeting: What Really Went Down?

On the heels of the disputed 2020 election, Belarus has been rocked by mass protests, with tens of thousands taking to the streets of Minsk and other cities. The demonstrations are the largest anti-government protests in the country's history, fuelled by complaints of widespread corruption, poverty, and a lack of opportunities. The protests are also a response to the violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators, with thousands detained and hundreds beaten by police.

At the heart of the protests is the opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is currently in exile in Lithuania. Tsikhanouskaya has called on the West to react to the recent wave of arrests and repression, encouraging Belarusians to vote against all candidates.

In response to the demonstrations, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, often described as Europe's last dictator, has doubled down on his authoritarian rule, with a harsh suppression of the demonstrations, and the creation of an extremist network targeting online chat groups. Lukashenko has also held an unexpected meeting with political opponents in jail, discussing constitutional reform.

The ongoing crisis in Belarus has led to international condemnation, with the EU and US refusing to recognise Lukashenko's new term. The situation has also caused diplomatic tensions with neighbouring countries, as Belarus accuses Lithuania and Poland of interfering in its internal affairs.

Alexander Lukashenko's meeting with opponents in jail

In July 2024, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that he was likely to issue an amnesty to some of his jailed political opponents who had taken part in protests against his re-election but were now seriously ill in prison with cancer. Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994 and is an ally of Vladimir Putin, is accused by his opponents and Western rights groups of human rights abuses and jailing opponents on a variety of charges.

The opposition rights group Viasna lists 1,403 political prisoners in Belarus, with 254 detainees at risk of ill health as of May 2024. Those suffering from cancer include regional politician Grigory Kostusyov, journalist Kseniya Lutskina, musician Pavel Kuchinsky, religious activist Pavel Kuchinsky, and Ruslan Slutsky, who was accused of sabotaging rail lines. Lukashenko did not identify those who might qualify for the amnesty, which was timed to coincide with the World War Two liberation of the capital Minsk from Nazi invaders.

Lukashenko's re-election to a sixth term in 2020 sparked unprecedented street protests, with demonstrators accusing him of rigging the vote. Police detained participants en masse, with rights groups claiming that more than 25,000 people were detained in the months after the election. The Belarusian leader's hold on power was strengthened after Putin assured him of support in 2020 amid the protests.

Most of Lukashenko's prominent opponents have fled abroad, many to neighbouring Lithuania and Poland. Those in exile include defeated presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who now heads the opposition. Tsikhanouskaya, who is currently in exile after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, has called on the West to react to the recent arrests.

The ongoing oppression has either imprisoned major opposition leaders or forced them into exile, with human rights observers presently identifying around 1,300 political prisoners in Belarusian detention centres. Many are reportedly deprived of sufficient medical care and the ability to communicate with their families. Belarusian prisons are currently overcrowded, with cells designed for three inmates housing between 15 and 20 people.

Lukashenko's seventh term bid

Alexander Lukashenko, the current head of state of Belarus, is running for a seventh term in the upcoming January elections. He has been in power since 1994 and has been dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the media. In the previous six elections, he did not face any serious challengers and has been accused of rigging the 2020 election, which sparked mass protests.

Lukashenko's rule has been characterised by authoritarianism, with frequent repression of the opposition, censorship, and police crackdowns. He has preserved elements of Soviet communism, with much of the manufacturing sector remaining under state control and the powerful secret police still being called the KGB.

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Lukashenko faced greater public opposition due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he denied as a serious threat. The protests were initiated by businessman and blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who compared Lukashenko to a cockroach in a children's poem, "The Monster Cockroach". Tikhanovsky travelled across Belarus, interviewing random people and streaming them on his YouTube channel, with most respondents expressing disagreement with Lukashenko and the current government.

Tikhanovsky was detained in May 2020, and several opposition candidates for the 2020 election were arrested. Despite this, the largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus took place, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets of Minsk and other cities. The protests intensified after Lukashenko was declared the winner of the election, with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opponent, rejecting the results as falsified.

Lukashenko's crackdown on the protests resulted in violent persecution, with human rights organisations documenting cases of torture, ill-treatment, sexual abuse, and rape of detainees. The European Union rejected the legitimacy of the election, calling for new elections and condemning the violence against protesters.

Now, as Lukashenko seeks a seventh term, he has initiated a rigorous campaign to squash dissent, with more than 100 people arrested across Belarus in the last week, targeting participants in online chats. The crackdown has been aimed at individuals active in apartment building online chat groups, which residents used to arrange practical matters and are now accused by the government of being part of an "extremist" network.

Lukashenko's meeting with imprisoned opponents in September was seen as a sign of weakness by opposition figures. The ongoing oppression has either imprisoned or forced into exile major opposition leaders, and human rights observers presently identify around 1,300 political prisoners in Belarusian detention centres.

Opposition crackdown

The 2020-2021 Belarusian protests were the largest anti-government protests in the country's history. They were triggered by a disputed election widely believed to have been rigged in favour of Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994 and is often described as "Europe's last dictator".

In the lead-up to the election, Lukashenko cracked down on his opponents, jailing two opposition candidates and forcing another into exile. This led to the formation of a powerful coalition of three women closely involved in those campaigns. One of them, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, registered as a candidate in place of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was detained by the authorities in May 2020.

The election on 9 August 2020 was marred by widespread allegations of fraud. An internet blackout began on election day and lasted several days. Official results gave Lukashenko a landslide victory with 80% of the vote, but Tikhanovskaya claimed to have received 60-70% of the votes and alleged the election had been falsified.

The announcement of Lukashenko's victory sparked violent clashes between protesters and police, with thousands of people arrested and beaten by police in the days following the election. The authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse crowds.

The opposition responded by forming a Coordination Council to negotiate a transfer of power. Lukashenko refused to negotiate and launched a criminal case against the council, accusing its members of plotting to seize power.

The crackdown on the opposition intensified, with many activists beaten and arrested. Some were forced into exile after receiving threats from the authorities. Opposition leaders were systematically forced to leave the country through intimidation and threats, such as removing children from their mothers.

The EU and the US refused to recognise Lukashenko's new term and imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials. In response, Belarus recalled its ambassadors to Poland and Lithuania, and told both countries to reduce the number of staff at their embassies in Minsk.

Police brutality

The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass demonstrations and protests against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The protests, which began in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, intensified after the official election results were announced on 9 August, with Lukashenko declared the winner. The main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, rejected the results as falsified.

The protests were met with violent persecution by the authorities, with police brutality and torture of detainees being widely reported. Here are some accounts of police brutality during the Belarusian protests:

Lethal Force Authorised

Police in Belarus were authorised to use lethal force if necessary against anti-government protesters, according to a senior government official. This move was justified as a response to increasingly radicalised and violent anti-Lukashenko groups. However, critics of Lukashenko argued that the police used disproportionate violence and some of the most brutal tactics since the immediate aftermath of the election.

Stun Grenades and Tear Gas

During the protests, police deployed stun grenades and tear gas against demonstrators. In one instance, on a Sunday in Minsk, protesters hurled stones and bottles and wielded knives before moving on to building barricades and burning tyres. In response, police fired stun grenades and used water cannons with brightly coloured dye to spray protesters. More than 700 people were arrested that day.

Beatings and Torture

Numerous accounts of police beatings and torture emerged during the protests. Victims reported being thrown to the ground, hit with batons, kicked, and forced to kneel for extended periods. In one instance, a group of 13 girls was placed in a cell designed for four, and they were denied food for over 24 hours. Another detainee, Sergei, described how he and others were piled on top of each other in a police van, with officers pressing their boots into their necks, causing suffocation. He also recounted how an asthmatic individual in the van was pressed on the neck by an officer, who said, "if you croak we don't care."

Threats of Sexual Abuse

Several protesters also reported threats of sexual abuse by the police. In one case, a detainee was stripped and told that if he didn't reveal his phone password, he would be raped with batons. In another incident, a 21-year-old student from Minsk was detained by masked officers, who pulled down his shorts and threatened to rape him with a truncheon.

Arbitrary Detentions

Police conducted arbitrary detentions during the protests, targeting not only protesters but also passers-by, including teenagers. In one instance, police started going around courtyards outside apartment blocks and grabbing anyone they could find. This indiscriminate nature of the arrests angered Belarusians and contributed to the perception of police brutality.

Crackdown on Journalists

Journalists covering the protests were also subjected to police brutality and censorship. Several independent journalists were arrested, and there were reports of journalists being deliberately shot at with rubber bullets, despite wearing visible press jackets and IDs. Additionally, police officers forcibly took away memory cards from cameras and crushed cameras to prevent footage of their actions from being recorded and disseminated.

Constitutional reform

The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass demonstrations against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The protests were sparked by the 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought his sixth term in office. The demonstrations intensified after the official election results were announced, with Lukashenko declared the winner. The main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, rejected the results as falsified and claimed to have received 60–70% of the votes.

In response to the protests, Lukashenko's government launched a violent crackdown, with thousands of people detained and hundreds beaten by the police. The European Union (EU) and the United States refused to recognise Lukashenko's new term. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus and called for new elections, while the United Nations Human Rights Office documented cases of torture, ill-treatment, and sexual abuse of detainees.

Amid the ongoing protests and international pressure, Lukashenko held an unexpected meeting with his imprisoned political opponents to discuss constitutional reform. The meeting lasted four and a half hours and was kept secret, according to Lukashenko's press office. Opposition figures, including Tsikhanouskaya, criticised the meeting as a sign of weakness on Lukashenko's part.

The constitutional reform discussion focused on the need to look at things more broadly and not rewrite the constitution through street protests. Lukashenko also acknowledged the existence of political prisoners, whom he had previously denied. However, Tsikhanouskaya emphasised that dialogue cannot happen in a prison cell, and true reform requires free and fair elections.

The path towards constitutional reform in Belarus remains uncertain. While Lukashenko has shown some willingness to engage in discussions, his government continues to suppress opposition and dissent. The international community, particularly the EU and the US, have taken a strong stance against Lukashenko's regime, but it is unclear if and when meaningful reforms will be implemented.

Frequently asked questions