A new, stricter law on religion was published in Belarus on 5 January and is due to come into force on 5 July. This means that all religious communities will have to re-register. Religious activity without state registration was already prohibited before. This ban remains in place – but the requirements for registration are being tightened, as the Oslo-based organisation “Forum 18” writes in a report translated by the Working Group on Religious Freedom of the Austrian Evangelical Alliance. Members of some religious groups fear that a number of communities, especially smaller ones, will not be able to fulfil the strict requirements. The law ostensibly protects against “extremism” and “terrorism”. However, the text does not specify which concrete characteristics should constitute these offences.

Religious literature and charitable activities will be subject to stricter controls. A new provision regulating religious education penalises the minority of Polish Catholics, for example: in future, they will only be allowed to teach their faith in the Belarusian or Russian language. Three UN special rapporteurs already warned the regime last August that the law contradicts international human rights standards, which Belarus has pledged to uphold: The UN representatives in question are those responsible for freedom of religion or belief, freedom of assembly and association, and the human rights situation in Belarus.