14.07.2014 Shocking photographic evidence of Svetlahorsk police crime
Until now, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" haven't published photos taken by the mother of Aliaksandr Akulich, deceased in the temporary detention center of the Svetlahorsk District Police Department. The Court finally refused to open a criminal case on the fact of his death, claiming that numerous traces of beatings on the body of the deceased "had no causal connection with the death".
26.06.2014 Piotr Kuchura’s wife: Some progress in investigation of torture report
The ongoing efforts of Viasna’s human rights defenders and the wife of Piotr Kuchura, who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in Mahiliou penal colony No. 15, have finally brought certain results. It must be a complaint sent to the UN Human Rights Committee on behalf of the convict, who was reportedly poisoned while in prison, that made the investigating authorities react to torture reports.
16.04.2014 Prisoners tell about radical approaches to correcting in penal colony No. 9 in Horki
Human rights defenders keep receiving information on the situation of prison inmates as part of a campaign of monitoring places of detention in Belarus. The Human Rights Center “Viasna” earlier covered the issue of using prisoners who cooperate with the administrations of prisons to perform sensitive tasks.
11.04.2014 What stands behind pressurization of Ramiz Mamedau in penal colony No. 5?
The Human Rights Center “Viasna” first learned about the case of Ramiz Mamedau from an interview about the citizens who have been trying to get fair judgments for their relatives. After this, the mother of a youngster sentenced to 24 years of imprisonment, applied to the human rights defenders.
04.04.2014 Husband of critical campaigner repeatedly sentenced to three years in prison
On April 4, the Court of Mahiliou’s Kastrychnitski district, according to the decision of the Mahiliou Regional Court, confirmed the sentencing of Piotr Kuchura, whose wife Liudmila Kuchura is famous for her involvement in a campaign against lawlessness of law enforcement officials, to a three-year prison term. The verdict was announced despite the fact that the Regional Court found significant violations of the criminal procedural law during the first trial.
13.03.2014 State intends to tighten control over barristers
March 15, 2014 a pre-election report conference of members of the Minsk City Bar Association will take place in Minsk. Its agenda includes amendments and supplements to the Charter of Bar Association (concerning the disciplinary committee) and the Regulation on Disciplinary Commission. There are reasons to believe that the adoption of these amendments and supplements will make lawyers more dependent on the state. The barristers are offered to limit the frames of their legal activities with their own hands.
20.02.2014 Public control of prisons: Legislative restrictions
What is the meaning of the phrase “on the basis and in the manner prescribed by law” included in the rule of the Code providing public associations with the right to control the activities of prisons? Is control by the PMCs efficient?
10.02.2014 Problem points of correctional facilities for juvenile offenders
In the monitoring of places of confinement of juvenile offenders human rights deffenders pointed at the lack of proper legal regulation of closededucational-correctional and medical-correctional institutions guarantteing the observance of human rights in them.
14.01.2014 Appeal against torture in Mahiliou penal colony filed with Mahiliou Regional Court
Minsker Liudmila Kuchura applied to Mahiliou Regional Court after the refusal of the Investigative Committee to examine the complaint about torture of her husband Piatro Kuchura in colony No. 15 in Mahiliou.
13.01.2014 Expert: System of confinement of juvenile offenders requires close attention
As part of a campaign of monitoring places of detention in Belarus, lawyer Pavel Sapelka highlights conditions in juvenile correctional educational and medical institutions, and the reception centers for minors.
10.01.2014 Liudmila Kuchura: “The administration of the penitentiary hurried to transfer my husband to prison”
December 30, 2013 prisoner Piatro Kuchura, who was serving a sentence in penal colony No. 15 who disturbed the administration defending his rights, was transferred to the maximum security prson No. 4 in Mahiliou for three years.
24.12.2013 How prisoners live “on taxpayers’ money”: utility bills from Mahiliou colony No. 15
Minsk resident Liudmila Kuchura, whose husband is serving his sentence in the Mahiliou-based penal colony No. 15, received a certificate of municipal services covered by prisoners, as a reply to her request sent to the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Corrections.
23.12.2013 Expert: Restrictions on prisoners’ appeals to state bodies, public organizations and media are groundless
The issue of filing complaints or expressing dissatisfaction by prisoners is analyzed by lawyer Pavel Sapelka, expert of a monitoring group that studies the conditions of citizens in detention in Belarus.
20.12.2013 Mother of inmate who died in Svetlahorsk prison goes to court
The decision to file a complaint was taken after Valiantsina Akulich received another runaround reply from district prosecutor Uladzimir Tarasenka, which showed the meaninglessness of further correspondence with prosecutors. Mr. Tarasenka considered the woman’s complaint, without studying the materials of a probe into the death of her son.
27.11.2013 Investigative Committee urged to open criminal case for “chlorine torture” in Mahiliou prison
Liudmila Kuchura, whose husband is serving a sentence in penal colony No. 15 in Mahiliou, told the Human Rights Center "Viasna" that the pressure used against the convict poses a serious threat to his health.
