Lawtrend: At Least 1,696 NPOs Liquidated In Belarus Since 2020
- 9.07.2024, 14:17
The number of organizations that have decided to liquidate themselves has decreased.
From the 2020 presidential elections until the end of June 2024, at least 1,696 non-profit organizations (NPOs) — associations, trade unions, foundations, non-governmental institutions, and associations — have been liquidated in Belarus. As Pozirk writes, this is stated in a new review by the human rights organization Lawtrend.
At least 1,665 NPOs were liquidated by the end of May, 1,622 in April, 1,601 in March, 1,563 in February, 1,533 in January, and 1,509 in December 2023. At the end of December 2022, there were 1,173 closed NPOs.
According to human rights activists, at least 1,061 NPOs were in the process of forced liquidation at the end of June (1,033 at the end of May, 1,003 in April, 997 in March, 981 in February, 969 in January, 960 in December 2023), taking into account lawsuits filed in court, forced exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs.
The number of organizations that have decided to self-liquidate has decreased. There were 635 of them at the end of June, 632 in May, 619 in April, 604 in March, 582 in February, 564 in December 2023, and 416 in December 2022.
It is noted that the decision to self-liquidate is still made mainly due to pressure on NPO members, an unfavorable legal environment, and the socio-political situation.
Lawtrend emphasizes that in Belarus, for several years now, the legislation on combating extremism has been actively used against civil activists and representatives of civil society organizations. The authorities “recognize any actions that contradict the course they have chosen as extremist.”
“The reduction in the number of non-profit organizations making decisions on liquidation is an additional factor indicating some “normalization” of the situation in the country. Most non-profit organizations that do not consider it possible to continue their activities due to the difficult socio-political situation in the country have already decided to liquidate themselves or have suspended their activities (in the latter case, they either exist only “on paper,” or a lawsuit for forced liquidation is filed against them),” human rights activists note.