The organization aims to provide financial and legal assistance to political prisoners and their families, and was founded in 1996 by activist Ales Bialatski in response to large-scale repression of demonstrations by the government of Alexander Lukashenko.

[6][7] In its work, Viasna: The organization then titled “Viasna-96” was founded by Ales Bialatski in 1996 in the aftermath of the Minsk Spring, a series of mass street protests against the increasingly-authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko, brutally suppressed by the authorities.

[9][10][11][12][13] Repressive measures such as fines, administrative arrests, expulsions of students from universities, forcing employers to dismiss their employees were used to punish the protesters.

[15] The controversial 2010 presidential election were followed by a large-scale crackdown on political activists,[18][19] both Viasna's offices[20] and Bialatski's home have been repeatedly searched by state security forces.

[21] On 14 February, 2011, Bialatski was summoned to the Public Prosecutor's office and warned that as Viasna was an unregistered organization, the government would seek criminal proceedings against it if the group continued to operate.

On 17 September, 2020, "Viasna's" coordinator of volunteers' network Maria Rabkova was arrested and charged with “training and other preparation of people for participation in mass riots” as well as “membership of a criminal organization”.

[32] The persecution of ‘Viasna’ members continues, politically motivated charges have been levelled on Valiantsin Stefanovich, Uladzimir Labkovich and Ales Bialiatski.

[5] On August 14, 2023, the social media accounts and website of "Viasna's" Homiel branch were added to the country’s List of Extremist Content.

[42] On October 7, 2022, it was announced that the head of the "Viasna" Ales Bialiatski was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine) and "Memorial" (Russia).

On December 10, 2022, at the ceremony the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her husband was accepted by Natalia Pinchuk, Bialiatski's wife, along with Jan Rachinsky, chairman of the "Memorial", and Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the "Center for Civil Liberties".