News on the topic: torture
01.04.2022 UN report: Belarus must release political prisoners and investigate human rights violations
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet presented report “Situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath”
16.03.2022 Belarus: What Accountability for Torture
Invitation to a virtual side-event at the margins of the 49th session of HRC dedicated to Belarus
15.03.2022 Heads beaten and ribs broken: how police treats anti-war protesters in Minsk
Former detainee talks about his arrest and conditions in prison
15.02.2022 Former detainee talks about torture at GUBOPIK office
An ex-prisoner's account of torture, conditions at detention center, and how he was mistakenly released
09.02.2022 Ex-employees of the national telecommunications company sentenced to 11 years. They were beaten during arrest
Two political prisoners Aliaksei Bychkouski and Artsiom Parkhamovich, were sentenced in Minsk City Court for personal data dumping
26.01.2022 The Supreme Court upheld the sentence of political prisoner Mikalai Dziadok
He will be transported to a penal colony to serve his five-year sentence.
10.01.2022 Refusal to investigate torture and six years in prison for Telegram messages
The Hrodna Regional Court considered several criminal cases against 33-year-old Valiantsin Panasik.
29.12.2021 The most high-profile cases of torture in Belarus in 2021
During this year's trials, the society learned about the horrific details of the beating and torture of political prisoners Mikola Dziadok, Stsiapan Latypau, Dzmitry Dubouski, Ihar Alinevich, Siarhei Ramanau and Dzmitry Rezanovich, Volha Zalatar, Yahor Martsinovich, Yegor Dudnikov and Artsiom Bayarski.
08.12.2021 Ruslan Bahdanouski: “Head of the detention center was threatening to rape me with a baton”
A taxi driver Ruslan Bahdanouski left Belarus after serving a 30-day imprisonment and told “Viasna” about the unbearable detention conditions and torture.
22.11.2021 Man with Parkinson’s and brain pacemaker beaten and imprisoned in Babrujsk
There’s a high risk that if the neurostimulator in his head stops working, he might just die.
16.11.2021 Viasna alerts UN Special Rapporteurs to violations of detainees’ rights in Zeltser case
Acting on behalf of the detainees in the “Zeltser case”, human rights defenders of Viasna wrote to several UN Special Rapporteurs on the issue of cruel and inhuman treatment after their arrest and during detention in Žodzina pre-trial prison No. 8.
10.11.2021 Political prisoner Mikalai Dziadok sentenced to 5 years in prison
The Minsk City Court sentenced Mikalai Dziadok, a 33-year-old political prisoner, blogger and anarchist, to five years in a general-security penal colony.
01.11.2021 Germany: Human rights groups file complaint against Belarusian officials
A lawsuit has been filed against a group of Belarusian security officials for crimes against humanity — including torture. Rights groups have asked German prosecutors to take on the case.
28.10.2021 “It’s scary to never see your child back home.” Survivor stories
Alena told Viasna about what many Belarusian mothers went through when their children did not return home last summer. In August 2020, her 17-year-old son disappeared, he was searched for 5 days, and when found, she cried out in horror.
21.10.2021 “He tore my clothes, beat and insulted me.” Survivor stories
Nearly one year ago, on October 25, Aliaksandra (not her real name) was arrested while she was hiding with her friends in the entrance hall of an apartment building after the dispersal of a peaceful protest in Minsk. She was half strangled with her own scarf and her shoulder was injured. The girl told her story to Viasna.
