"It's easier to be in prison." At least 33 people were subjected to compulsory medical treatment for political reasons
Large-scale persecution has been going on in Belarus for the fifth year. Some people who disagree with the policy of the Lukashenka regime are tried criminally as "persons who committed a socially dangerous act." Thus, at least 33 people have been subjected to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital for political reasons. Among them is the wife of the murdered IT specialist Andrei Zeltser, Maryia Uspenskaya, Natallia Manyla, convicted of helping political prisoners, and 77-year-old Mikhail Liapeika convicted of comments about Lukashenka, whose current condition — whether he is even alive — remains unknown. Persons who have been sent for compulsory treatment are placed in special conditions in psychiatric clinics: they are held there indefinitely, and they are not subject to amnesty or early release. Together with human rights defenders Pavel Sapelka from Viasna, Siarhei Drazdouski from the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, Vasil Zavadski from Doctors for Truth and Justice, Viasna reports what compulsory treatment is and what it looks like in practice in Belarus.
- Illustration by spring96.org
When is a compulsory treatment prescribed?
Coercive measures of security and treatment is a type of penal intervention that is not a criminal punishment but a system of psychotherapeutic, preventive, and rehabilitative medical measures, as well as measures for the care and supervision of persons suffering from a mental disorder making them unable to understand the impact of their actions or control them if these persons by the nature of the act they committed and their mental condition constitute a danger to society. This definition is provided by the Criminal Code.
What does compulsory treatment look like in practice?
- Illustration by spring96.org
"Holding patients incommunicado is a common thing"
Vasil Zavadski, a human rights activist and doctor from the Doctors for Truth and Justice, said that some psychiatric clinics have separate departments designed for compulsory treatment:
"There are different types of regimens depending on the state of health. Doctors prescribe treatment according to the diagnosis. But a person can refuse to take medications, and then coercion is used in these departments. It can look quite brutal: for example, orderlies physically hold a person while the latter receives an injection or is forced to take pills. These measures are not entirely humane."
Siarhei Drazdouski, a human rights defender and director of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, also drew attention to the fact that all psychiatric care in Belarus has elements of coercion, which contradicts human rights and evidence-based medicine. At the same time, sending people for compulsory medical treatment is common for Belarusian courts.
"Once people are in clinics, they immediately appear in special conditions. Holding patients incommunicado is a common thing.
At the same time, there is no surveillance of these people. Therefore, it is impossible to understand which treatment process, which drugs are prescribed. In addition, it is impossible to arrange an alternative examination and see if the right drugs are prescribed. Because all the drugs there are psychoactive, they affect human behavior, sometimes irreversibly."
The human rights defender draws attention to the fact that the court's decision on sending a person for compulsory treatment does not specify a time limit, that is, it lasts until doctors say that it is no longer necessary to treat the patient.
"Essentially, it is a punishment"
Siarhei Drazdouski added that people who were subjected to compulsory medical treatment, from a legal point of view, are in a much more disadvantaged state than prisoners.
"Because it's not just that they can't qualify for amnesty — they can't even take a piece of paper and write something, because they might simply not be given one. We have had such situations in practice when residents of psychiatric clinics were simply deprived of the opportunity to write, because ostensibly anything they wrote could be dangerous for them and for others.
Psychiatric institutions are much worse than prisons and penal colonies in terms of rights. It is impossible to write a complaint. The term is not specified in the court's ruling — it can be a lifetime term, because doctors will say that 'we have not cured you yet.'
People believe that it is much easier to be in prison or a penal colony than to be subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment."
What articles are used to subject people to compulsory medical treatment?
- Illustration by spring96.org
Viasna human rights defenders are aware of 33 individuals subjected to compulsory medical treatment under political articles. At the same time, it is known about the release of eight of them. At the moment, according to human rights activists, at least 23 people recognized as political prisoners are undergoing compulsory medical treatment.
They were tried as "persons who committed a socially dangerous act provided by criminal law, in a state of insanity or who became mentally ill after committing the crime" (paragraph 13 of Article 6 of the Criminal Code).
The most famous of them is Maryia Uspenskaya, the wife of Andrei Zeltser, who was killed by a KGB officer three years ago. In June 2022, for "complicity in the murder of KGB officer Dzmitry Fedasiuk" under Articles 16 and paragraphs 5 and 10, Part 2 of Article 139 of the Criminal Code, she was subjected to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. She was tried as a "person who committed a socially dangerous act," so Maryia's interests at the trial were represented by her mother.
- Maryia Uspenskaya
In most cases, being subjected to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital was associated with the exercise of freedom of expression, in other words, leaving comments. There are 22 such cases. Among them is Latvian citizen Dzmitry Siuko, who was subjected to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a government official). Valer Yarotski, who was an election observer on several occasions and became his city's chess champion in 2019, was also subjected to compulsory medical treatment for comments under Part 2 of Articles 367 and Article 188 of the Criminal Code. In 2024, under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a government official), Neli Alfiorava was sent for compulsory medical treatment for leaving comments. She was repeatedly administratively prosecuted for political reasons, and in 2020 she was an observer at the presidential elections.
The oldest prisoner in a psychiatric hospital known to Viasna is 77-year-old Mikhail Liapeika. He was tried in 2021 for comments about Lukashenka (Article 368 of the Criminal Code). There is currently no information about him, including whether his term has become a life sentence.
Three people were sent for compulsory medical treatment for participating in protests under Article 342 of the Criminal Code: Darya Liauko,Stsiapan Ivanouski, and Fiodar Sarokin.
Two men, Ihar Alkhou from Homieĺ and Daniil Zharyn from Mahilioŭ, were subjected to compulsory medical treatment for "attempted terrorism" (Part 1 of Article 13, Part 1 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code).
Natallia Manula, a 53-year-old Minsk resident, was sent for medical treatment for helping political prisoners. Her case under Part 1 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (assistance to extremist activities) was heard in the Minsk City Court in October 2024.
In October 2024, 25-year-old Asker Allakhviardzieu was tried under Part 1 of Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code (participation in an armed formation or armed conflict on the territory of a foreign state, military operations, recruitment or preparation of persons for such participation). He was sentenced to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital with enhanced supervision.
Some of those sent for compulsory medical treatment are included in the "list of extremists" and the "list of terrorists."
"In the case of the use of forced treatment in a psychiatric hospital against persons who are not dangerous to themselves and others at the time of the application of these measures, it should be regarded as arbitrary imprisonment," notes Viasna human rights activist Pavel Sapelka.
On these grounds, the human rights community recognizes those subjected to forced medical treatment as political prisoners.
