Eight Belarusian rights organizations have jointly protested the government's decision to label the human rights group Vyasna as an "extremist organization," saying the move is part of a policy to destroy civil-society organizations in Belarus.
The nongovernmental rights organizations Lawtrend, Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Belarusian PEN, Legal Initiative, Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, Human Constanta, Belarusian House of Human Rights (named after Boris Zvozskov), and the Belarusian Association of Journalists on August 28 endorsed a statement opposing the designation.
The organizations said they "strongly protest against the recognition of the Vyasna Human Rights Center as an extremist formation and express our solidarity with our colleagues."
The Belarusian Interior Ministry on August 23 labeled Vyasna, along with its online resources and numerous associated websites, as extremist. The chairman of Vyasna, Ales Byalyatski, a prominent human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as well as four other activists from the center, are currently serving lengthy prison sentences.
They have been charged with financing or organizing actions that violate public order and smuggling -- charges which they vehemently deny. Rights watchdogs and Western governments have demanded the immediate release of Byalyatski and his associates.
In the joint statement, Vyasna was described as "one of the oldest and most authoritative human rights organizations in Belarus, which has provided assistance to tens of thousands of Belarusian citizens who have suffered from political repressions."
It also noted that Vyasna and its members have won numerous prestigious prizes in the field of human rights, including the UN Human Rights Prize for 2023 and Byalyatski’s Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, which he shared with Russian human rights organization Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties.
The NGOs said the decision to label Vyasna as an extremist organization "is a politically motivated persecution aimed at suppressing the peaceful exercise of rights and freedoms by the people."
The statement describes the decision as "yet another step within the broader scope of the Belarusian authorities' policy to dismantle civil society organizations and undermine the Belarusian human rights movement."
The decision involves the arbitrary use of anti-extremist legislation to curtail civil activism and exert pressure on the legitimate human rights activities of Vyasna, the NGOs said.