Belarus frees prisoners, but many deported without passports, rights groups say

Prisoners released by Belarus in a December exchange with the United States were expelled from the country without passports or other identity documents, rights advocates say.

Belarus released 123 prisoners on Dec. 13 as part of a deal tied to the U.S. lifting some sanctions on President Alexander Lukashenko's government. All but nine were taken to Ukraine; the rest, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, were driven to Lithuania. A number of the released prisoners reported that they had no documents with them when they left, complicating their resettlement abroad and the ability to prove their identities in new countries.

One of those to speak publicly about the ordeal was Uladzimir Labkovich, a 47-year-old human rights advocate who reported being released blindfolded and driven to neighboring Ukraine with nothing but a paper bearing his name and mugshot. “After four and a half years of abuse in prison, I was thrown out of my own country without a passport or valid documents,” Labkovich told The Associated Press by phone from Ukraine. “This is yet another dirty trick by the Belarusian authorities, who continue to make our lives difficult.” Labkovich described the trip as heading south, made possible only by the aid of those who could tell their direction but not the specifics of their destination due to the blindfold.

Rights groups say at least 18 of the freed prisoners were taken to Ukraine without any identification documents, including Labkovich and Belarusian opposition figures Vitkar Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova. Germany has pledged to offer shelter to Babaryka and Kolesnikova, who were among those released, despite not having their Belarusian passports. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled opposition leader who fled Belarus in 2020, said the method of exit amounted to forced deportation in violation of international norms and regulations, and described the treatment as inhumane. “They bar people from staying in the country, they forcibly drive them out of Belarus without documents in order to humiliate them even further,” Tsikhanouskaya said in written comments to AP.

The December release followed a broader pattern in which Lukashenko has alternated between pardons and renewed repression as Minsk seeks to improve ties with the West while maintaining hard-line control at home. In September, Lukashenko pardoned more than 50 political prisoners who were taken to the Lithuanian border, though some refused to leave or faced detentions at the border, and several who crossed into Lithuania still lacked passports. Freed activist Mikalai Dziadok said Belarusian security operatives tore up his passport in front of him, while jailed journalist Ihar Losik said all of his papers — including diaries — were confiscated. “My passport was simply stolen. We came here (to Lithuania) — no one had passports. They took photos, all papers, the verdict, notebooks — they took everything,” Losik said.

Nils Muižnieks, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, described the arrangement as “not pardons, but forced exile.” He said the released prisoners were hoping to return to their families but instead faced expulsion, destitution and, in some cases, the loss of identity documents needed to establish a life abroad. “These people were looking forward to returning to their homes and families. Instead, they were expelled from the country, left without means of subsistence and, in some cases, stripped of identity documents,” Muižnieks said.

Advocacy groups and Kyiv- and Vilnius-based networks have mobilized support for the released detainees, raising funds and pressing Western authorities to provide longer-term asylum, refugee status and legal aid to facilitate relocation and legalization. A Belarusian rights group has raised substantial funds for the released prisoners, and Tsikhanouskaya has said she is coordinating with Western governments to assist with legalization and settlement, engaging contacts with both American and European allies. Amnesty International has cautioned that even if pardons appear to surface periodically, the broader policy of repression remains intact, with activists warned to avoid speaking publically about conditions in detention for fear of retaliation.

While some freed prisoners have been allowed to depart, others remain imprisoned, underscoring the continuing crackdown that has stretched for years. Labkovich is among the Viasna rights group’s members who remain in detention or under restrictions after high-profile prosecutions following the 2020 election. Along with Bialiatski, Labkovich was charged with financing public unrest and aiding those affected by the crackdown; Bialiatski received a 10-year sentence, and Labkovich seven. In addition to Labkovich, two other Viasna activists — Marfa Rabkova and Valiantsin Stefanovic — remain imprisoned, and rights advocates say the use of legal pretexts and new cases is aimed at coercing cooperation from those who were freed.

For Belarusians abroad, the denial of passport renewals or new documents at embassies and consulates continues to complicate the process of rebuilding lives. Activists say attempts to contest property seizures and in absentia trials remain a common theme for those who left the country in exile. The pattern has contributed to what rights advocates describe as a revolving door of prisoner releases and re-arrests, with new cases and charges used to constrict dissent and reinforce the authorities’ grip on power.

As of latest tallies, Viasna, the Belarusian rights group, has declared seven additional people political prisoners since the Dec. 13 release, bringing the total since September to 176. Amnesty International stresses that the overall number of political prisoners in Belarus remains among the highest per capita in Europe. The government, for its part, has framed the releases as acts of mercy amid calls for dialogue with the international community, but observers say the underlying pattern of repression persists regardless of occasional pardons. The ongoing crackdown comes as Minsk seeks to balance geopolitical calculations with Western engagement, a dynamic that rights advocates say has not changed the fundamental reality for many Belarusians living in exile.