Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC62 – Item 4 – Interactive Dialogue – SR Belarus
29 June 2026
Thematic report (cultural rights)
Check against delivery.
Thank you, Vice-President.
The Special Rapporteur’s latest report shows that Belarusian authorities are trying to control the space in which Belarusians remember, speak, study and create.
This is especially clear in attacks on the Belarusian language and independent culture. The designation of PEN Belarus as an “extremist formation” in February, following the targeting of its website and social media, is part of a wider campaign against cultural and human rights work.
PEN Belarus recently reported that at least 125 cultural figures, including at least 24 writers, were imprisoned or under home confinement, and that 357 books had been banned.
Vice-President.
These attacks should be understood alongside the continued imprisonment of those documenting the deterioration of cultural and other rights in Belarus. Journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau, a former deputy chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, remains imprisoned, as does journalist Igaar Ilyash.
We call on Belarus to release them and all political prisoners, end the persecution of PEN Belarus and other civil society organisations, and revoke “extremist” designations used to criminalise culture, language and human rights work.
Special Rapporteur, how can States better support Belarusian cultural actors, writers and human rights defenders who continue their work in exile, while protecting those who remain inside the country?
Thank you.
