Belarus targets EHU students and families
Belarus targets students and relatives of a Lithuanian-based university, designated extremist in 2026, with searches and threats. Over 175 people affected.
Belarusian authorities are persecuting students and others linked to the European Humanities University (EHU) in Vilnius, Lithuania, as part of a widening crackdown on dissent. The campaign now extends to targeting relatives and associates within Belarus, according to Amnesty International. The statistics show a pattern of escalating repression.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, stated that the new academic year has seen a disturbing escalation. She said this campaign of intimidation is no longer confined to students and others connected to the independent Belarusian university in Lithuania. She added that it now extends to relatives and associates in Belarus, illustrating how the authorities' brazen repressive tactics reach far beyond the country's borders.
Escalating Repression and 'Extremist' Designation
The Supreme Court of Belarus banned the EHU on 14 April 2026, designating it an extremist organization. The court alleged the university was encroaching on the sovereignty of Belarus, the foundations of the constitutional order and public security. Founded in Minsk in 1992, the independent university was forced to relocate to Vilnius in 2005 after losing its license.
Following the ban, security forces conducted coordinated operations. Between 2 and 4 June 2026, searches and interrogations targeted EHU affiliates and their families across Belarus. The Belarusian Human Rights Centre Viasna documented over 60 such raids.
Investigators threatened individuals with extremism-related charges. These threats were applied retrospectively for financial support, including payments to the university dating back to 2016. Several people, including relatives of students, were briefly detained.
By 17 August 2026, Viasna had identified at least 175 people affected by this campaign. Dozens face intimidation aimed at forcing their loved ones abroad to quit the university and return to Belarus.
Transnational Intimidation Tactics
The repression employs direct pressure on students and their families. Former and current EHU students interviewed by the BBC described being threatened by State Security Committee (KGB) officers while in Belarus. They were pressured to become secret informants, detained incommunicado, and interrogated.
Relatives in Belarus have been threatened with criminal prosecution unless the students abroad withdraw from the EHU or return home. This creates a coercive environment that violates multiple rights.
Struthers warned of potential further action. She said the expanding scope of these measures raises concerns that the authorities may seek to pursue further action, including through a demonstrative anti-extremism trial involving students, graduates, staff and their relatives.
Broader Crackdown on Civil Society
The targeting of the EHU is part of a broader strategy by Belarusian authorities. Since mid-2022, they have expansively designated civil society groups as extremist. The official list now contains 376 extremist formations and organizations.
Nineteen of these are groups operating abroad. The list includes organizations like the Union of Belarusians in Britain, the Association of Belarusian Businesses Abroad, the Belarusian PEN Centre, and the network of People's Embassies run by exiled activists. This legal framework, mirroring a political standing of power, enables the state to criminalize association and support for independent entities, both inside and outside the country.
Calls for Action and Investigation
Amnesty International has called for an immediate end to the persecution campaign. It demands the removal of the extremist label from the EHU and other civil society groups, calling the designation absurd and detrimental.
The organization urges the international community to pressure the Belarusian government to halt its crackdown. It also calls on Lithuanian authorities to investigate all allegations of human rights abuses against EHU students. The crackdown continues to silence dissent across borders.
