At the beginning of its chapter on Belarus, Amnesty International describes the human rights situation in the country as follows:

“The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly remained severely restricted.

Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread and went unpunished.

The justice system has been systematically abused to suppress dissent.

Children's rights were regularly violated in the criminal justice system.

Death sentences and executions continued.

Migrants suffered abuse by the authorities.

Arbitrary dismissals and prosecutions of health workers have negatively affected the quality and availability of health care. "

Speaking specifically

, the report recalls that by the end of 2021, the Belarusian authorities have banned or initiated a process to ban 270 civil society organizations.

Speaking

, Amnesty International cites the example of Witold Ashurk's death in prison.

On the abuse of the judiciary:

“The authorities systematically abused the justice system to crack down on dissidents, imprison political opponents and human rights defenders, and intimidate lawyers.

(…) Closed-door trials in criminal cases have become the norm in politically motivated trials, case materials have been kept secret, and lawyers have usually been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements or face serious fines. ”

About the migrant crisis:

"Belarusian authorities have facilitated the entry into Belarus of thousands of people, migrants and refugees from other countries, seduced by the false promise of easy entry into the EU.

Instead, migrants and refugees faced displacement from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Migrants who were returned or failed to cross into Poland were beaten and suffered from other forms of violence;

were deprived of food, water, shelter and sanitation;

were the objects of phone theft and extortion by the Belarusian military.

Belarusian border guards regularly prevented people from the border zone from leaving the fenced area.

Several people, including at least one child, died of hypothermia.