Belarus quietly builds a database of dissidents' DNA

Officials in Belarus are pushing forward with a law that would require citizens to submit DNA samples to the state, but Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Belarus Service has learned that authorities in the tightly controlled country have already quietly begun building a database of the DNA of people deemed suspicious by the state.

Mikalay, a journalist for an independent Belarusian media outlet operating abroad – his real name is being withheld for security reasons – said DNA samples were taken from his parents in their homeland two years ago.

After a criminal case was opened against him that he described as "politically motivated," in his absence, the police first called his mother to provide a DNA sample and then sent her to her apartment in a rural area.

"Officers from the Investigative Committee came to her village and took a saliva sample on the spot," Mikalay said. "They also said something like: 'If something happens to your son, this will make it easier to identify him.'"

"Outside any legal framework"

Aleh Aheyeu, a lawyer and vice-president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, says similar stories are now widespread.

"DNA samples are being collected from political prisoners and from relatives of people who have fled Belarus," Aheyeu said, adding that the samples are being taken "outside any legal framework."

He said there are numerous cases "where DNA samples are obtained from people through deception, lies or threats, for databases that are essentially illegal."

The proposed law "is an attempt to legalize a practice that already exists," he said.

The Belarusian State Committee for Forensic Medical Examinations has launched a proposal for a law that would make it mandatory for all Belarusians to provide DNA samples, the committee's chairman, Alyaksey Volkau, said in an interview published on August 20.

"We're not saying we should just collect DNA samples from everyone in the country, right away," he said.

"First, we believe that this work should be carried out over a certain period: one, two, three or four years, perhaps, depending on the categories involved. Some categories will have priority, while for others we can set a later deadline," he added.

Volkau suggested that plans for the legislation are still in the early stages, but said that "we are actively working on this and are seeing support from our colleagues in law enforcement and other state institutions" in the authoritarian country.

DNA is a unique biological trace found in almost every cell in the human body. DNA samples are usually taken through saliva.

No universal demand in the West

Several Western countries have laws that give police the authority to take DNA from people convicted of serious crimes. None of them have a universal requirement for citizens to provide samples.

Aheyeu said it remains unclear what authorities will use the DNA samples for in Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko has been in power since 1994.

He has consistently repressed political opponents, while the state's crackdown on opponents was exacerbated by the violent response to the mass protests that erupted after he was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, which many citizens say was rigged.

Many opponents of the Government, journalists, and others have been forced to leave the country or have fled on their own.

"When there is no legal regulation, they decide for themselves how this data will be used," he said. "Other countries have this kind of practice, but they also have legal regulation and institutions that are accountable. In Belarus, the security forces can use the data as they want."

According to Uladzimer Zhyhar, a representative of BelPol, an association of former members of the Belarusian security services, DNA samples were being collected from several people in Belarus even before the protests that erupted after the 2020 elections.

He said this practice had helped solve several real crimes.

"I was personally present when such a crime was solved. It was a murder case 20 years ago. A cigarette butt was kept in the case file. It was sent for further analysis, the person it was connected to was identified and, in the end, the murder was solved," Zhyhar said.

He suspects that a national DNA database, if created in Belarus, would be useful for political persecution.

"Politically motivated cases often require no evidence, as everything is fabricated out of thin air. Therefore, complicated tools like DNA databases are simply unnecessary," Zhyhar said.

If a law is passed to create a comprehensive DNA database of Belarusian citizens, it will be a continuation of a process that began when the Law on Fingerprint Registration came into force in 2004.

That law eventually required almost all adult male Belarusian citizens to submit their fingerprints.

The campaign for mandatory fingerprint collection began in Belarus in 2008, following an explosion on July 4 of that year during an open-air concert marking Belarus' Independence Day./ REL