News on the topic: detention conditions
31.01.2014 Yauhen Vaskovich visited by mother and grandmother
Yauhen Vaskovich’s mother, Rushaniya, tells little about her recent visit to the Mahiliou-based prison No. 4, where her son is serving a seven-year term.
29.01.2014 Zmitser Dashkevich publishes book of prison stories
The book “Worm” written by former political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich has been published in Vilnius.
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.
27.12.2013 Platforma Innovation: There are fewer prisoners in Belarus, but their treatment fails to improve
In their annual monitoring released today, activists of the Platforma Innovation human rights NGO note that there number of inmates held in Belarusian jails has decreased, while their treatment has only improved in a number of places, Radio Liberty reports.
26.12.2013 Babruisk correctional colony wants former political prisoners to “compensate for expenses”
Zmitser Drozd and Siarhei Kazakou received a suit from Babruisk correctional colony No. 2.
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.
18.12.2013 Information about torture in KGB jail is “state secret”
Upon release from the KGB detention center in March 2011 former presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich reported numerous facts of abuse and torture, and filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office urging the officials to investigate the allegations.
16.12.2013 Mahiliou prison administration says destruction of letters is legitimate
An activist of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Hramada”, Leanid Haravy, received a response from head of the Mahiliou-based prison. He demanded an explanation why his letter did not reach political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich.
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.
25.11.2013 Inmates of Mahiliou prison unable to subscribe to newspapers
Mrs. Taisia Kabanchuk, leader of the Babruisk office of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, says that her friend received back her letter with a check for the subscription sent to Mahiliou prison No. 4.
21.11.2013 Activist complains about detention conditions
Leanid Smouzh, complains about the conditions of detention at the Center for isolation of offenders in Minsk’s Akrestsin Street, where he was held after a demonstration staged on November 10.
20.11.2013 Mikalay Authukhovich was not allowed to meet with his mother
Mikalay Autukhovich’s meeting with relatives was scheduled for November.
19.11.2013 Censorship of prisoners’ correspondence: how to eliminate unreasonable restrictions?
Censorship of mail correspondence of prisoners is one of the most extensive problems reported to human rights defenders from Belarusian prisons. Analyzing the practice, lawyer Pavel Sapelka compares it with the situation in prisons abroad, as well as considers the rules of national law in this area in the context of international human rights standards.
