The Decline of Academic Freedoms in Belarus
The Belarusian Students’ Association (BSA) prepared inputs for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 6th session of the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (the topic "Education for civic participation: empowering future generations, fostering knowledge and critical thinking"). These two documents detail the systematic campaign by the Belarusian authorities to restrict academic freedom and suppress independent student activity following the events of 2020. In particular, we highlight the lack of student participation in university governance: curricula are still centrally controlled by the Ministry of Education, and students have no opportunity to influence the content of their educational programs.
Students are deprived of real mechanisms for participation in university governance. Curricula are fixed and controlled by the Ministry of Education, and opportunities for feedback or changes to courses are virtually nonexistent.
Independent student organizations, including BSA, have been declared “extremist formations” and are forced to operate in exile. Student activists face criminal prosecution and expulsion from educational institutions, and some of them are recognized as political prisoners.
The country's existing youth organizations are completely controlled by the state and serve as a tool to create the appearance of support for the authorities. Participation in them is often effectively mandatory under the threat of administrative consequences.
The authorities have intensified “patriotic upbringing”, especially after 2020 and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Textbooks include state interpretations of the 2020 protests as “attempts at a coup d'état”.
Universities have introduced the position of a vice-rector for security, who are often former intelligence officers and oversee staff and students. Students' social media is checked for “extremist” content.
To intimidate students, trials in politically motivated cases are held directly in the buildings of higher education institutions. Afterwards, representatives of the security forces give lectures about the consequences of participating in protests.
There are disproportionate quotas in favor of men for admission to higher education institutions associated with military structures, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as well as in the allocation of places in medical residencies.
An expansion of cooperation with Russian educational institutions is noted, as well as the organization of student trips to the occupied territories of Ukraine and participation in events that promote Russian narratives.
To improve the situation, the Belarusian Students’ Association calls for structural reforms: ensuring freedom of association, creating transparent mechanisms for student participation in governance, depoliticizing education, and removing state security personnel from the administrations of higher education institutions.
Read the full reports via the links:
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