News on the topic: penitentiary system
19.12.2024 Harmful, dirty, meaningless: what kind of work do political prisoners do in Belarusian penal colonies
Viasna analyzed the work of political prisoners in Belarusian penal colonies and came to disappointing conclusions: meager salaries, danger to health, and the risks of persecution.
17.12.2024 Why Belarusian judges and penal colony chiefs end up on EU sanctions lists
On December 16, the European Union adopted its 15th sanctions package against the regimes of Russia and Belarus, introducing new sanctions against Belarusian officials, judges, as well as officials in pre-trial detention centers and penal colonies.
10.12.2024 Parasites in places of imprisonment is a gross violation of international standards of detention
Viasna has collected dozens of testimonies from former prisoners who have been bitten by parasites and explains why this is a gross violation of international standards for the detention of prisoners.
10.12.2024 29 more political prisoners pardoned in Belarus
Among the pardoned, there are 15 people with chronic diseases, six people under the age of 25, three senior citizens, and two people with disabilities.
06.12.2024 Belarusian political prisoners in high-security prisons: pressure intensifies
Viasna reports how the administration of the colonies punishes political prisoners and which of the political prisoners are recognized as "malicious violators of the order."
12.11.2024 At least 15 people were released having served their sentence in October, one of them a woman
Viasna recounts their cases and terms in the monthly digest.
28.10.2024 Former political prisoner Dzmitry Kaneuski: "I felt pressure against me in the penal colony on a daily basis"
For almost eight months before his trial, Kaneuski was held in the Homieĺ pre-trial detention center in appalling conditions: rundown walls, cold, dirt, and stench.
08.10.2024 "People are forced to leave the country." What did a Viasna human rights defender say at the OSCE conference
OSCE Human Dimension Conference is taking place in Warsaw (September 30 – October 11, 2024). A Viasna human rights defender also spoke there. He spoke about Human Rights Center Viasna documenting politically motivated persecution and its constant escalation.
07.10.2024 Yury Ziankovich sentenced to additional 2 years of imprisonment. He is currently in the KGB pre-trial detention center
Viasna has collected all known information about the persecution of the political prisoner as well as about his health.
04.10.2024 Ruslan Akostka: "What is happening in the Belarusian penal colonies is torture"
Ruslan told Viasna about the conditions of detention in the Horki colony and a meeting with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.
02.10.2024 Political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich sentenced to an additional 1 year and 3 months of imprisonment
This time, the activist was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order), as well as Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the requirements of the penal colony administration).
02.10.2024 "It's hard to talk about, but people forget about it." Political prisoner in the Zeltser case on the anniversary of his detention
We publish a monologue by Artsiom Zadrutski on the anniversary of the Zeltser case.
01.10.2024 Philosopher, priest, cycling activist, editor: more than 40 older people remain behind bars
On the International Day of the Older Persons, we share some of their stories.
18.09.2024 "They changed me into regular clothes, gave me travel money and sent me away": how political prisoners are pardoned
One of the pardoned prisoners told Viasna about the suggestion to write a petition for pardon and about the threats for refusal.
05.09.2024 More than 30 political prisoners fully served their sentences in August, and 22 more were pardoned
What political prisoners served their sentences for and how many of them were imprisoned — Viasna recalls their cases.
