Belarus - December 2024

A decree published by Belarus’ Council of Ministers on 30 December will allow the authorities to remove children from the custody of parents who have distributed “extremist” content, “involved a child in antisocial behavior” or engaged in “hooliganism”. All three charges have been commonly used in political cases since the mass protests which followed the 2020 presidential election in the country and are likely intended to dissuade Belarusians from similar actions in advance of this year’s presidential election on 26 January. The legal definition of extremist content is vague and thousands of web pages are legally classified as such, including nearly all independent Belarusian media outlets and foreign media outlets like Deutsche Welle and the Russian-language Current Time. Children will not be immediately removed from parental custody, but a court order is not required for authorities to do so.

Sources: Pozirk Online, Council of Ministers, OHCHR