News on the topic: torture
24.08.2011 Political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich reports torture
Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich says he had been repeatedly subjected to torture while serving his term in a penal colony in Horki, Mahiliou region, Young Front’s press-service reports.
09.08.2011 Mikalai Statkevich confirmed fact of tortures in KGB prison
A former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich was interrogated in the case of investigation of torture facts in the KGB remand prison. The interrogation was held by the Military Prosecutor’s Office in Shklou penal colony, where Mr. Statkevich serves his term. RFE/RL has been informed about that by the wife of the political prisoner Maryna Adamovich.
03.08.2011 Andrei Bandarenka: there is no public control over penal colonies and pre-trial prisons
“We can draw many examples of torture in the Belarusian prisons,” Andrei Bandarenka, a representative of the civil association Platform, who had spent almost two years behind bars for alleged swindle and was released because of “absence of corpus delicti”, stated in his interview with BelSat.
29.07.2011 Plain-clothes policeman beats Baranavichy activist
On 27 July, Baranavichy civil activist Aliaksandr Vaitseshyk lodged a complaint with the town’s police chief against an incident that reportedly took place in the activist’s flat on the same day.
28.07.2011 Prosecuting authorities ignore police-related violence reports
According to Mr. Uladzimir Marozau, he lost consciousness after a plain-clothes policeman put a knee across his neck, and subsequently appealed the incident at Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office.
27.07.2011 Public prosecutor's office finds no danger in Siarhej Androsenka's beating
He asked to start a criminal case against the police. The public prosecutor's office replied they found no actions dangerous for the society.
22.07.2011 Will torture become criminal in Belarus?
The Belarusian Ministry of the Interior has initiated the introduction of the term “torture” into the Criminal Code, following a request by Ksenia Dubitskaya, graduate of the Human Rights School.
21.07.2011 Detainee beaten and intimidated by unknown person
According to Anton Ruliou, detained on 6 July in Minsk and sentenced to 10 days of arrest, he was beaten and threatened with drug-related prosecution by an unknown person after he was taken to Minsk Savetski District Police Department.
20.07.2011 Minsk residents appeal police violence
Two Minsk residents Mr. Uladzimir Marozau and Mrs. Sviatlana Viarheichyk have lodged complaints with the city’s prosecutor’s office, appealing violence reportedly used by the police during a “silent protest” on 6 July.
20.07.2011 Torture in Salihorsk detention center
On 19 July, Young Front activist Ivan Shyla serving an administrative arrest in Salihorsk detention center was taken to hospital with an acute allergy he had contracted during his service in the army.
19.07.2011 Torture used against Zhodzina prisoners
Several persons convicted of involvement in the 6 July “silent protest” were reportedly subjected to torture at the prison of Zhodzina, Minsk region.
18.07.2011 Biaroza resident appeals police violence
On 13 July, Biaroza policemen reportedly arrested and beaten Mrs. Halina Kavalevich, local activist of the Conservative Christian Part of the Belarusian Popular Front.
14.07.2011 13 July silent protests in Belarusian regions
The format of the silent protest actions was changed (their participants were advised not to clap their hands, just to walk silently and set the alarm clock of their mobile phones to 8 p.m. to mark the end of the action). However, the places of gathering remained the same, which gave the law machinery the opportunity to prepare to them. The central squares of many Belarusian towns were fenced with iron tourniquets or blocked by the police.
11.07.2011 Yury Salodki: beaten, imprisoned, keeping dry hunger-strike
Hanna, the wife of the arrested protester Yury Salodki, says that her husband has been keeping a dry hunger-strike for 7 days already in the prison in Akrestsin Street in Minsk. He has been sentenced to 13 days of arrest for participation in the silent protest action on Pryvakzalnaya Square in Minsk on 3 July.
08.07.2011 Many beaten people were brought to Frunzenski District Police Department of Minsk
Human rights activists from the Human Rights Center Viasna told Euroradio about detentions in the Frunzenski district of Minsk.
