News on the topic: penitentiary system
08.07.2015 Detention facility in Smaliavichy: Disgusting food, bucket instead of toilet, dirty mattress
An activist of European Belarus civil campaign describes confinement conditions in a temporary detention facility in Smaliavichy.
06.07.2015 1,515 prisoners denied amnesty in Belarus
As of July 2, the Department of Corrections of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has considered the question of amnesty of 2,975 persons who are serving prison terms. 758 of them have been released, including 25 minors. Prison terms have been reduced by one year for 702 prisoners.
26.06.2015 Prison officials limit Mikalai Dziadok’s meetings with lawyer
On June 25, Mikalai Dziadok’s meeting with his lawyer lasted only 15 minutes. The rest of the time allocated for the counsel’s visit to prison was taken by the preparation of papers, accommodating the lawyer in the visiting room and waiting for the political prisoner. This is not the first time that the duration of Mikalai Dziadok’s communication with the counsel is severely limited.
23.06.2015 Kuchura case: Mahilioŭ authorities go blind to complaints
In a continuous attempt to hide the fact of torture in the Mahilioŭ-based penal colony No. 15, reported by the wife of prisoner Piotr Kuchura, officials of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office brazenly distort the facts in their formal replies to her complaints, arguing that there was no criminal incident in the colony at all.
15.06.2015 Pavel Sapelka: Practice of hearings in closed penal facilities flawed
On June 2, lawyer Pavel Sapelka wrote to the Supreme Court to clarify the procedure of access to mobile hearings on prison premises, and indicate what measures were planned to implement by the Supreme Court in order to arrange court sessions within colonies and prisons in compliance with guarantees of a fair trial and the principle of transparency.
08.06.2015 Colony authorities to female prisoners: “You are nobody!”
The editorial office of the website “Homieĺ Spring” has met with a former prisoner of Homieĺ women's penal colony №4, who agreed to talk about the conditions there with the condition of anonymity.
05.06.2015 13 arguments showing that conditions in penal colonies are not "almost like in the army"
Lawyer of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Pavel Sapelka compares the challenges faced in prisons in Belarus with the Soviet and European practice and draws 13 arguments showing that present-day Belarusian penal colonies aren't “almost like the army”.
30.04.2015 Human rights defender denied opportunity to visit prisons
Human rights activist and freelance journalist Leanid Svetsik was going to write a series of articles about the conditions of detention of persons held in prisons and detention centers of the Viciebsk region. He sent more than a dozen requests in these facilities asking for permission to visit them. But none of these requests has been granted.
24.04.2015 Interior Ministry uses family visits as means of repression
Comparing prison rules in Belarus and those in other former Soviet countries, Pavel Sapelka, an expert in the Belarusian prison system, came to the conclusion that this comparison is not in favor of Belarusian prisoners.
25.03.2015 Convict Piotr Kuchura urges Mahiliou Prosecutor to “have the courage”
Piotr Kuchura urges Mahiliou Prosecutor to react to a failure to launch a timely probe into his poisoning in penal colony No. 15, which made it impossible to punish the perpetrators.
05.03.2015 Procedural protection of the rights of detainees in custody
The National Report for the Universal Periodic Review (second cycle), prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been published.
04.03.2015 Prisoners' rights and the international commitments of Belarus in the field of human rights
The National Report for the Universal Periodic Review (second cycle), prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been published.
05.02.2015 Conditions in open correctional facility provoke violations
It is very hard for the people serving their terms of personal restraint at the open correctional facility No. 7 in the village of Kuplin in the Pruzhany district, to keep to the daily routine.
11.12.2014 Human rights defenders present “Report on Results of Monitoring of Places of Detention”
December 10, International Human Rights Day, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" presented an analytical report on the results of monitoring places of detention in the Republic of Belarus. The report was prepared by human rights activists in cooperation with an expert, lawyer Pavel Sapelka.
09.12.2014 Overconfident investigator Skavarodkin: “Let him be afraid of me – I am from the Investigative Committee”
In a letter to his relatives a victim of tortures, prisoner Piatro Kuchura has told about his recent conversation with the investigator Skavarodkin. The latter visited the prisoner within the frames of another examination on the fact of his poisoning with bleach in Mahilioupenal colony No. 15.
