List of people and organizations sanctioned in relation to human rights violations in Belarus

Since the 1990s, Belarus has been actively criticized by the United States, the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations for human rights violations and electoral fraud. Various Belarusian officials, businesspeople with links to the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko and their companies have been subject to various sanctions involving asset freeze and travel bans.

US sanctions

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EU sanctions in 2004

In September 2004, the Council of the European Union adopted sanctions against four Belarusian officials who were accused of involvement in four cases of unsolved disappearances.

Name	Position	Date of birth	Place of birth
Yury Sivakov	Minister of Tourism and Sports of Belarus	5 August 1946	Sakhalin Region
Viktor Sheiman	Prosecutor General of Belarus	26 May 1958	Grodno Region
Dmitry Pavlichenko	Officer of the special forces of Belarus	1966	Vitebsk
Vladimir Naumov	Minister of the Interior of Belarus	1956

In December the list was expanded to include individuals responsible for conduct of elections and referendum in Belarus on 17 October 2004 and those who are responsible for human rights violations in the handling of demonstrators

Name	Position	Date of birth	Place of birth
Lidia Yermoshina	Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus	29 January 1953	Slutsk, Minsk Region
Yuri Podobed	Lieutenant-Colonel of Militia, Unit for Special Purposes, Ministry of Internal Affairs	5 March 1962	Slutsk, Minsk Region

EU sanctions list following 2006 presidential elections

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Judiciary

On October 23, 2006, the list was expanded with the addition of two more judges and two prosecutors.
On November 10, 2008, the Council of the European Union suspended travel sanctions for all officials except those involved in disappearances and the head of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina.

EU sanctions list following the 2010 Presidential elections

The list of sanctioned individuals was consolidated on 25 October 2010. The presidential election was held on 19 December that year.
Following the election and forceful dispersal of protesters, travel sanctions that had been suspended in 2008 were reintroduced on 31 January 2011, covering 157 people in total. The list was gradually expanded, reaching 243 individuals and 32 companies by 26 April 2012.

EU sanctions list following 23 September 2012 elections

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This list of sanctioned individuals was published on 15 October 2012, following the 2012 Belarusian parliamentary election.

Judges and state prosecution

Name	Position	Reasons for listing	Remarks
Akulich, Sviatlana	Judge of the Pukhavichy District Court	Politically motivated administrative and criminal sanctions against representatives of civil society
Aliaksandrau, Dzmitry	Judge of the Supreme Economic Court	He sustained the ban of the independent radio station Autoradio
Ananich, Alena	Judge at the Pyershamayski District Court of the city of Minsk	Sentencing protests participants in violation of the legislation
Arkhipov, Aleksandr	Prosecutor of the Minsk Region	Repression of civil society
	Deputy Minister of Justice	Responsible for the role and the action of the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary of Belarus, which are major instruments of repression of the population
Bolovnev, Nikolai	Judge at the Zavodski District Court of the city of Minsk	Judicial repression of the peaceful demonstrators on 19 December 2010
Bondarenko, Sergei	Judge of the Pyershamayski District Court of Minsk	Judicial repressions. On 24 November 2011, he sentenced Ales Byalyatski, one of the most prominent human rights defenders
Baranouski, Andrei	Judge at the Partyzanski District Court of the city of Minsk	Judicial repression of the peaceful demonstrators on 19 December 2010

Sanctions after the disputed 2020 presidential election

After the disputed Belarusian presidential elections of 2020, several western countries announced sanctions against Belarusian officials. Latvia has been the first country to do so on 31 August, joined soon by Lithuania and Estonia. The list included President Lukashenko and all Central Election Committee members as well as other senior state official and security forces commanders.
The Baltic states were later followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, Switzerland and New Zealand. These countries have sanctioned various numbers of Belarusian officials "for their roles in the fraudulent August 9, 2020 Belarus presidential election or the subsequent violent crackdown on peaceful protesters" or under similar motivations.
More sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities followed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine; some of them were introduced due to Belarus's role in it. The European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada expanded their existing sanction packages, while Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Ukraine introduced their sanctions. Some of the invasion-related sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities are listed in the 'Russian' sanctions lists of these countries.

Timeline of the post-election sanctions

2020

On 14 August, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced that the EU would bring in sanctions against Belarusian officials responsible for "violence and falsification". Charles Michel, President of the European Council went further on 19 August saying the EU would soon impose sanctions on a "substantial number" of individuals responsible for violence, repression, and election fraud. The European Commission announced it would divert €53 million earmarked for Belarus away from the government and towards civil society, victims of the state crackdown on protesters and the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
On 18 August, the Lithuanian parliament agreed to impose economic sanctions.
On 19 August, the prime minister of Slovakia stated that the Government of Slovakia introduced sanctions against Belarus in the new legislative session.
On 31 August, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed sanctions on 30 Belarusian officials, including Alexander Lukashenko.
On 10 September, the EU sanctions on Belarus were delayed by a separate dispute between Cyprus and Turkey, which has occupied the northern part of Cyprus since July 1974. Greece and Cyprus were pushing for a sanction on Turkey in a dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean.
On 25 September, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed sanctions on around a hundred Belarus officials.
On 29 September, personal sanctions against members of the regime, including Alexander and Viktor Lukashenko, were imposed by the UK and Canada. 8 and 11 individuals were affected, respectively. The sanctions included travel bans and asset freezes.
On 2 October, the EU imposed sanctions on 40 Belarusian officials. Lukashenko was exempted from the sanctions as the EU aims to encourage Lukashenko to engage in talks with the opposition. Hours later, Belarus retaliated with sanctions against EU officials. On the same day, the US imposed sanctions on 8 Belarusian individuals.
On 13 October, Switzerland joined the EU sanctions against 40 Belarusian individuals.
On 15 October, Canada imposed sanctions on 31 additional Belarusian individuals.
On 6 November, the EU imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko and 14 other officials for repression of the pro-democracy movement following August's contested election. Their assets in EU member states were frozen and they are banned from entering EU territory. On the same day, Canada imposed sanctions on 13 Belarusian individuals.
On 19 November, the EU announced an upcoming list of sanctions targeting the country's firms and entrepreneurs that finance Lukashenko. According to Borrell, up to date no positive signs were seen from the regime and the new measures will increase economic pressure on the self-proclaimed president.
On 20 November, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Ukraine aligned themselves with the October EU sanctions against 40 Belarusian individuals. Separately on the same day, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed sanctions on 28 Belarusian individuals.
On 24 November, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the November EU sanctions against 15 Belarusian individuals.
On 11 December, Switzerland joined the November EU sanctions against 15 Belarusian individuals.
On 17 December, the EU imposed a third round of economic sanctions on dozens of Belarusian individuals and entities. They include restrictive measures imposed on the head of Belarusian state television, Ivan Eismont, Deputy Prime Minister Anatol Sivak, Information Minister Ihar Lutsky, and 26 other individuals. The sanctions package also included asset freezes on seven Belarusian companies, including arms exporter CJSC Beltechexport.
On 23 December, the US imposed sanctions on one Belarusian individual and four entities, including Central Election Commission of Belarus.

2021 to early 2022

On 26 January 2021, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the December EU sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities.
On 18 February, the UK imposed sanctions on 27 additional individuals.
On 22 March, Switzerland imposed sanctions on 29 Belarusian individuals and seven entities.
On 24 March, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the February EU decision to prolong the restrictive measures concerning Belarus.
On 25 March, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania put another 118 Belarusian individuals on their sanctions lists.
On 17 June, New Zealand introduced travel bans against more than fifty individuals associated with the Lukashenko regime, including himself and key members of his administration, the electoral commission, the police and other security forces.
On 21 June, following the forced diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978, several countries added some Belarusian individuals and entities to their sanctions lists. Namely, the EU imposed a fourth round of restrictive measures against 78 Belarusian individuals and seven entities, with among others, BelAZ and MAZ automobile plants; the UK imposed sanctions against 11 individuals and 2 entities; the US imposed sanctions on 16 Belarusian individuals and five entities, namely, Okrestina detention centre, Internal Troops of Belarus, GUBOPiK, KGB, Investigative Committee of Belarus; Canada imposed sanctions on 17 Belarusian individuals and five entities.
On June 24, the EU also imposed sanctions on Belarusian economy.
On 6 July, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the 21 June EU sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities.
On 7 July, Switzerland imposed sanctions on 78 individuals and seven organizations from Belarus.
On 12–13 July, Norway, Iceland, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the EU sanctions against Belarusian economy.
On 21 July, the UK imposed sanctions on the Agat Electromechanical Plant.
On 9 August, several countries added some Belarus-related individuals and entities to their sanctions lists. Namely, the UK announced aviation restrictions, trade and financial measures, and designated businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev; the US sanctioned 23 individuals and 21 entities contributing to the situation in Belarus; Canada imposed trade and financial restrictions.
On 11 August, Switzerland joined the June EU economic sanctions.
On 2 December, after the start of the border crisis, several countries expanded their Belarus-related sanctions lists. Namely, the EU imposed a fifth round of restrictive measures against 17 individuals, targeting judges and top Belarusian officials, and 11 companies ; the UK imposed sanctions against 8 Belarusian individuals and Belaruskali; the US designated 20 Belarusian individuals and 12 entities, identified three aircraft as blocked property and imposed sovereign debt restrictions on Belarus; Canada blacklisted 24 individuals and 6 entities of Belarus.
On 10 December, the United States Department of State designated two heads of Akrestsina Detention Center; both had already been designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury.
On 20 December, Switzerland imposed sanctions against 17 individuals and 11 companies related to Belarus. The new Swiss sanctions are identical to the 2 December EU designations.
On 22 December, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania aligned themselves with the 2 December EU sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities.
On 3 February 2022, the United States imposed visa restrictions on Belarusian nationals involved in extraterritorial counter-dissident activity, including the Summer Olympics incident with Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, under the Khashoggi Ban.

Security Forces

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Central apparatus

[GUBOPiK]

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Prison officials

Regional police officials

State Border Committee">State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus">State Border Committee

Name

Remarks

Military">Armed Forces of Belarus">Military

Name

Remarks

State university rectors

Circumvention of sanctions

In 2020 and 2021, Belarusian authorities made various efforts to circumvent the Western sanctions. They also hid the statistics to prevent revealing the ways used to circumvent them and track their effects. In particular, access to data regarding production and exports of the sanctioned goods became restricted to public. In October 2021, Belstat started to hide data regarding exports of tractors and trucks. Overall classified exports in January–August 2021 is estimated at US$8.2 billion. In September 2021, Alexander Lukashenko mentioned minister of industry Petr Parkhomchik and vice prime minister as the people who organized the circumvention of sanctions. He also accused several workers of state factories of gathering information about the ways used to circumvent the sanctions, and he threatened them with imprisonment. 13 workers from Grodno Azot fertilizer factory, Naftan oil refinery, BMZ steel mill and Belarusian Railway were arrested by the Belarusian KGB in a possible connection with this statement. It was reported that some of them were accused of state treason. At least two of them were later released.
Shareholder structure of several companies was changed in order to take the subsidiary companies out from the restrictions. It was suggested that companies related to Lukashenko's deputy businessperson Mikalai Varabei were used to bypass the sanctions in the petroleum sector of industry. Polisch political scientist Piotr Żochowski suggested that the authorities will redirect their exports "through a chain of intermediaries in other countries", thus partially circumventing the sanctions.
Some Western companies helped Belarusian authorities to avoid sanctions or lobbied their lifting. In October 2021, director of the state-owned BMZ steel mill boasted that his factory wasn't sanctioned "due to certain actions taken by BMZ clients". In October 2021, Belgian authorities showed interest in easing of sanctions against Belarusian potash industry. It was later revealed that Belgian chemical company Tessenderlo Group lobbied this initiative.
Journalists uncovered ways of circumventing the sanctions against the Belarusian Steel Works, Belaruskali, BelAZ,, Grodno Azot,, Naftan, Aliaksei Aleksin, Mikhail Gutseriev, Aliaksandr Shakutsin, Mikalai Varabei and, among others.