On 20 April 2026, the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus issued two parallel statements: one on “deeply alarming” practices inside Belarusian prisons and another statement strongly condemning the invalidation of passports of former political prisoners forcibly expelled from the country in 2025 and 2026. The experts say such measures are contrary to international law, leave people “effectively rightless,” increase the risk of statelessness, and must be reversed immediately.

What exactly the UN said

In the press release by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the accompanying statement of the Group of Independent Experts, it is emphasised that the Belarusian authorities have declared invalid the passports of people released from prison and forcibly removed across the border — primarily to Lithuania — without legal grounds or any proper justification.

“Invalidating a passport constitutes a legal violation when such action is arbitrary, discriminatory, disproportionate, or lacks a clear legal basis or due process,” the Group said in its statement.

The experts recall that such practices breach several norms of international law at once: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and four articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — freedom of movement, the right to enter one’s own country, the right to recognition as a person before the law, and the principle of non-discrimination. The statements also refer to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness — two treaties Belarus agreed to ratify during its 2020 Universal Periodic Review.

What it looks like in people’s lives

UN experts interviewed a large number of former political prisoners. The consequences they describe are far from a mere formality:

• inability to return to Belarus and forced separation from families;
• difficulties in obtaining legal status in host countries;
• restricted access to work, healthcare, housing and education;
• prolonged legal uncertainty and a real risk of ending up stateless.

As REFORM.news reports, among those whose passports were already declared invalid in March 2026 is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the Human Rights Center “Viasna,” Ales Bialiatski.

Context: where “invalid passports” come from

The UN statement continues a longer line of concern. Already in December 2025, independent UN experts had condemned the forced expulsion itself: on 11 September 2025, under an agreement with the United States, Belarus released from prison and brought to the Lithuanian border 52 people — mostly Belarusian citizens: politicians, journalists and trade unionists. According to the UN, 14 of those expelled had their identity documents confiscated, one held an expired passport and another a passport with torn-out pages. Opposition politician Mikalai Statkevich refused to cross the border and subsequently disappeared.

The legal framework for these measures is a system built up over recent years:

• the 2022 and 2023 constitutional and legislative amendments, which allow the revocation of citizenship of those convicted in absentia of “extremism” or “causing serious harm to the interests of Belarus” — without a fair trial;
• the 2023 Presidential Decree on consular services, which effectively ended the issuance and renewal of identity documents for Belarusians abroad through consulates.

“This is yet another measure taken by Belarusian authorities which leads to a risk of statelessness,” the UN experts stressed.

In parallel — a statement on prisons

On the same day, 20 April 2026, the Group of Experts also released a separate statement on “deeply alarming” practices in Belarusian penal colonies: torture, prolonged isolation, deaths and serious injuries of inmates. The experts call on Minsk to guarantee humane conditions of detention, ensure access to independent medical and psychological assistance, and conduct proper investigations of all deaths and serious injuries in places of deprivation of liberty. According to the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, more than 1,100 political prisoners are still being held in Belarusian prisons.

What the UN is demanding

The Group of Independent Experts addresses the Belarusian authorities with a concrete set of demands:

• immediately remedy the situation with invalidated passports and restore the rights of the individuals affected;
• stop adopting and revoke all measures that create a risk of statelessness;
• review anti-extremism and counter-terrorism legislation, which the experts consider incompatible with international human rights law;
• ensure humane conditions of detention and independent medical access for political prisoners.