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Statements / Belarus / 2020 / August

Belarus:  Widespread torture  of protesters suggests crimes against humanity

Geneva, 14 August 2020   - The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)  condemns the widespread ill-treatment, often amounting to torture,  of hundreds if not thousands of protesters, who were arbitrarily detained in Minsk and other cities across Belarus. The OMCT further calls for an independent international investigation into the  systematic and extremely violent repression of peaceful protests after the August 9th presidential poll.  Any official involved in torture, including those bearing command responsibility, must be immediately suspended pending such an investigation, and subsequently  brought to justice and appropriately punished. 

In the aftermath of contested presidential elections on 9 August 2020, authorities  in Belarus initiated a massive and vicious crackdown against  overwhelmingly peaceful protesters. Police and other security forces used disproportionate force, including water cannons, tear gas, stun grenades,  rubber bullets, and even live ammunition, resulting in two deaths and dozens of seriously injured.  More than 7000 people were arrested, including 68 journalists covering the protests1 but also many passersby, who  did not even  participate in  the protests.

According to  the latest  information received from Belarusian human rights  organisations,  authorities have  started to release some people, including two human rights defenders from Ukraine, but thousands remain in detention without access to a lawyer and a doctor, or the ability to inform their loved ones of their whereabouts. Moreover, many protesters released from detention – following an expedited process with a secret hearing and in the absence of a lawyer – provide numerous and  consistent accounts of severe overcrowding in police detention facilities, lack of food, complete absence  of medical assistance to injured detainees, and systematic beatings and threats of other  forms of ill-treatment – including of gang rape – against detainees.2   

« Violations on such a scale would be impossible without the consent  and acquiescence of  the country's  top leadership, who are legally responsible under national and international law », said Gerald  Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. «The treatment meted out to large numbers of Belarusians, which clearly constitutes torture, is revolting in its magnitude. Considering its systematic and large-scale occurrence,  it clearly suggests crimes against humanity. »

The OMCT calls on  the international community,  in particular the  United Nations and the European Union, to conduct a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the brutal crackdown after the August 9th  presidential poll.  This inquiry should, as a minimum, be conducted in accordance with all standards enshrined in  the Istanbul Protocol. The OMCT calls on the Belarusian authorities to fully cooperate with  the  inquiry, adequately protect any victim from possible reprisals, provide them with urgently needed support,  and suspend all State officials, independent of their rank, from their duties for the duration of the inquiry.  Any official involved in torture, including those bearing command responsibility, must subsequently be brought to justice and appropriately punished.

Statement available in Russian here

[1] 23 out of those 68 journalists remained in detention (as of 5:40 p.m. on 13 August 2020, see < https://baj.by/ru/content/informaciya-po-zhurnalistam-na-13-avgusta >)

[2] For example < http://spring96.org/en/news/99036 > See also < https://www.rferl.org/a/how-can-this-be-our-country-claims-of-torture-abound-as-belarusian-jails-swell/30782196.html >

For more information, please contact : 

Iolanda Jaquemet, Director of Communications 

Mobile : +41 79 539 41 06  
 

E-mail : ij@omct.org

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Date: August 14, 2020
Type: Statements
Country: Belarus
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, Police, Military and Paramilitary, Threats, intimidation and harassment, Torture and violence

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