E-NEWSLETTER: LGBTQ+ IN BELARUS. January-April 2025

The situation for LGBTQ+ people in Belarus remained highly alarming between January and April 2025 due to the ongoing brutal repressions in the country.

The regime in power continued its crackdown on LGBTQ+ activism, with reports of increased violent police raids targeting human rights defenders and ordinary members of LGBTQ+ community.

According to the testimonies of LGBTQ+ individuals from among the former political prisoners and detainees, including a famous Belarusian blogger Vadimati, they were subjected to tortures and other inhumane and harassing practices in detention.

Similar findings were shared by the Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus at the UN Centre for Human Rights in February 2025. According to the group leader Karinna Moskalenko, the government of Belarus ‘has committed widespread human rights violations against the country’s civilian population, some amounting to crimes against humanity’. Among others, the regime in power ‘has been targeting brutality towards LGBTQ+ people, using physical violence and dehumanizing language’ while arbitrarily detaining them and keeping them in custody. It was underscored that the detainees’ partners were subjected to tortures and humiliation as well.

On April 3, 2025, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus. In this document, the UN body deplored the increasing discrimination, violence, and repression against LGBTI persons in the country.

Read full version: E-Newsletter-01-04_2025