Contact Group on Belarus

 News and events

 Who is doing what?

Committee of Ministers 

The Committee of Ministers has been at the forefront of work to support Belarusian democratic forces and human rights defenders. In September 2022, it invited Secretary General to set up a Contact group to work with representatives from the Belarusian democratic opposition and report back. The aim is to provide Council of Europe support and expertise to strengthen Belarusian democratic society in line with the Organisation’s core values and along the activities for human rights, rule of law and democracy. To this end, the Contact Group ensures a pioneering framework for expert co-operation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society in unprecedented conditions whereby they operate in exile against the background of ongoing political repressions in Belarus. A plan of activities for 2024-2025 is currently being implemented.

At its 133^rd Session, held in Strasbourg on 16-17 May 2024, the Committee of Ministers “invited its Deputies to continue supporting the work of the Contact Group on co-operation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society, and reiterated the need to find ways to enhance co-operation with Russian and Belarusian human rights defenders, democratic forces, free media and independent civil society who are fully committed to the Organisation’s values, principles and goals, and welcomed the initiatives undertaken in this respect by the Parliamentary Assembly”. In this context, the Ministers’ Deputies hold regular meetings with Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other representatives of Belarusian democratic forces in exile.

Parliamentary Assembly

The Parliamentary Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 46 member states – has emphasised its strong support for democratic forces in Belarus, condemned repression by the Lukashenka regime, and demanded the release of political prisoners. The leader of Belarus’s democratic forces Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has addressed PACE on several occasions.

In a January 2024 resolution, the Assembly set out wide-ranging proposals to build a democratic future for Belarus, including the creation of a representative delegation of Belarusian democratic forces to the Assembly, which has been invited to participate in its work from the beginning of the 2025 Session. The Assembly has also established a General Rapporteur for a Democratic Belarus.

A June 2023 resolution on Belarusians in exile called for legal and practical steps to ease their stay outside Belarus, and to support Belarusian education and culture outside the country, with concrete actions subsequently developed in 2024 in "The Luxembourg Solutions", with parliamentarians and Belarusian democratic forces, to aid the implementation of this resolution.

The Assembly has also demanded an international tribunal for Belarusian leaders involved in aggression against Ukraine, and urged a total ban on Belarusian athletes taking part in the Paris Olympics. It awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize to Belarusian human rights activist Maria Kalesnikava in 2021, and continues to urge her release.

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

The Congress, as an active member of the Contact Group, implements activities aimed at promoting democratic values in line with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. A specific focus is placed on the key role of local authorities to promote and uphold human rights, and engage with women, youth, and under-represented groups.

In November 2023, the Congress gathered in Strasbourg a group of activists from diverse political affiliations, carefully selected with representatives of the Contact Group, for a first peer exchange on the principles and standards needed to establish an efficient local self-government system.

The Congress has been entrusted to implement activities in 2024–2025 focusing on political support to the Belarusian democratic forces and on the provision of capacity development and expertise to support the preparation of reforms and related legislation on local democracy, good governance and decentralisation of power, based on the principles enshrined in the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

In January 2024, Congress members attended the Helsinki Dialogue, and in March 2024, the leader of the Belarusian democratic forces Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addressed the Congress at its 46^th plenary session.

In late 2024, Congress experts reviewed the “Local Self-Government Concept for a New Belarus” prepared by the Belarusian democratic forces and organised a series of online workshops to discuss about concepts and principles of local self-government, dimensions of decentralisation, and transition stages toward a free and democratic Belarus.

Commissioner for Human Rights

As part of his vital role in protecting human rights defenders, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights consistently called for support for Belarusian civil society following the suspension of relations with the Belarusian authorities. He stressed the importance of offering them stable residency in host countries, providing social benefits to them and their families, facilitating their work and easing the process of legal registration for new legal bodies. He welcomed the fact that some member states have implemented relocation and protection policies and called on others to follow suit.

Safety of Journalists Platform

The Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists is a Council of Europe collaboration with 15 international NGOs and journalists’ associations that issues alerts concerning media freedom violations and safety of journalists in Council of Europe member states. It has monitored media freedom violations in Belarus since March 2023 and as of end December 2023 had reported one case of impunity for murder and 38 journalists held in detention.

  History

Belarus has ratified twelve of the Council of Europe’s conventions, including the  anti-doping convention, the convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications and the convention against trafficking in human beings. Belarus also participated in various formats in the work of the European Commission for Democracy through Law, known as the Venice Commission, in the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) , in the Group of States against Corruption and in the European Pharmacopoeia. This participation has been either stopped or put on hold after 2022.