LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Members of the international community are calling for Belarus to end human rights violations and allow free and fair elections after a sham vote in 2020.
Reports from both the OSCE and United Nations found “overwhelming evidence that the presidential elections of 9 August 2020 have been falsified and that massive and systematic human rights violations have been committed by the Belarusian security forces in response to peaceful protests and demonstrations.”
In a Dec. 6 letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Members States of the informal Group of Friends of Democratic Belarus strongly condemned “the severe political repression and human rights violations that Belarusian authorities have perpetrated in its wake.”
Sergiy Melyanets, a Protestant church minister in Belarus, was forced to seek refuge abroad with his seven children after the elections.
He said on August 10, 2020, shortly after the elections, he went to the center of the city in the evening with two others from his church to pray about the situation. He said he was attacked by unknown individuals in black clothing. They assaulted the men and threatened to kill them. They then took the Christians to the police station, where Melyanets says he began to feel unwell and had severe chest pains. After this, the police allowed him to go to the hospital.
Melyanets told Crux the situation in Belarus is not getting much international attention is likely because other other pressing issues, such as the war in Ukraine, dominate the media coverage of Eastern Europe.
“And when someone in Belarus is imprisoned, it doesn’t provoke the same level of reaction as when an entire family is killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine. Even if someone dies in a Belarusian prison, sadly, it is perceived as less tragic than the horrors of war,” he said.
“Another factor could be the relatively passive stance of some Belarusian political figures in exile. We probably don’t have strong enough leaders who can make headline-worthy statements and turn the situation in Belarus into a key issue on the agenda,” Melyanets said.
He also noted many who have left Belarus still have relatives there who are essentially hostages of the regime.
“In such a situation, people are afraid to share their stories,” he said.
Mission Eurasia, a non-denominational religious liberty organization based in Tennessee, issued Faith in Chains on Dec. 5, looking at the persecution faced by different Christian groups in the European country ruled by Aleksandr Lukashenko.
“Sergiy’s family came under special scrutiny from the intelligence services following the 2020 presidential election in Belarus. It was marred by numerous violations and raised many questions globally about the legitimacy of the results and the usurpation of power by Alexander Lukashenko,” the report reads.
“Other Christians also responded to this injustice and violence against peaceful protesters. In various cities across the country, prayers for justice were held. Sergiy was among those who organized such prayer gatherings in his city square. For four years, people came out every Sunday to pray for their country, for the authorities, for society, for justice, and for submission to God. As a result of their activism, these organizers faced government threats, warnings, and blackmail,” continues Faith in Chains.
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Mykhailo Brytsyn, the Director of Mission Eurasia’s Religious Freedom Initiative, says the government in Belarus is tightly controlling the media landscape.
“To uncover the truth about the country’s real situation, about persecution and the suffering of individuals, one must make an effort to seek out reliable sources of information,” he told Crux.
He also said the global community tends to pay attention to a dictator “only when they become a direct threat to its own well-being.”
“Over Alexander Lukashenko’s 30 years in power, his political model has been firmly labeled a dictatorship. However, very few around the world are genuinely concerned about the suffering of the Belarusian people themselves. Many couldn’t even locate Belarus on a map,” explained Brytsyn.
“They know it’s far away, and they know Belarus does not export terrorism across the globe. As a result, the suffering of this relatively small nation under its own dictator is met with indifference by the global majority,” he added.
He also noted Belarus is considered a Christian country.
“Persecution of Christians by other Christians does not provoke as strong a reaction as, for instance, the persecution of a distinct religious group by a religious majority,” he told Crux.
Belarus has a population of nearly 9.5 million people, with just over 83 percent being Eastern Orthodox and nearly 7 percent being Catholic. The Protestant and Evangelical communities are much smaller.
Faith in Chains writes about how starting in August 2020, mass protests swept across Belarus in response to election falsification, and the authorities reacted by brutally suppressing peaceful demonstrations.
“Sergiy [Melyanets] felt called to attend the trials and pray for those who were unjustly accused. These included clergy, Christians of various denominations, secular individuals, as well as representatives of culture, education, and civil society,” the report reads.
“Sergiy, along with his children, visited the families of those who were arrested and convicted. He organized support for them. He wrote letters to the convicted, sent them packages with necessities and financial assistance. The KGB began to take notice of Sergiy, suspecting him of working for foreign intelligence,” it continues.
Faith in Chains reports how In March 2024, Melyanets attended the trial of a Catholic journalist, Igor Karney, to offer support and pray for him.
“After the court session, Sergiy was detained by KGB officers and handcuffed. This marked a turning point in Sergiy’s life. Since the Belarusian authorities couldn’t officially charge him for attending court hearings, they falsely accused him of publishing poetry,” the report reads.
After the abuse and persecution continued, Mission Eurasia assisted the family in fleeing from Belarus and resettling in a new location.
Speaking to Crux, Melyanets asked people to pray for Belarus and for the prisoners of conscience who are currently in prison.
“There are officially about 1,400 such people, although in reality, there are many more because some are unknown, and their families are afraid to speak out about their stories,” he said.
Brytsyn also told Crux “first and foremost,” he suggests “praying fervently.”
“Pray that both Christians and non-religious individuals among the Belarusian people are protected from the oppression of local authorities,” said the official from Mission Eurasia.
“Pray that God reveals the tragedy of the situation regarding religious freedom in Belarus to the world. Pray for strength, courage, and protection for those Belarusians who, risking their freedom, health, and even lives, continue to serve their people and God, and who dare to speak the truth about the situation in their country,” he said.
Melyanets called on people to offer financial support to those who have been released from prison and their families.
“There are trustworthy people who could serve as a link in these matters. It would also be helpful to provide housing for refugees from Belarus and address this issue in a more systematic way,” he said.
“This could all begin if, for example, Catholics around the world start talking about Belarus, learning about it, and finding those who can share stories of persecution, resilience in faith, and the situation as a whole,” he told Crux.
Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome
