Since August, the prison system in Belarus has hit international news headlines. Many protesters against the outcome of the presidential election have been arrested and held in police cells, detention centres and remand prisons.
The number of people arrested has reached over 16,000. There have been numerous reports of how they have been subject to brutal physical and psychological abuse and confined to overcrowded and unhygienic cells. The majority of protesters have been held on administrative charges that allows them to be detained for up to 15 days. The use of administrative arrest and punishment against peaceful demonstrators violates rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Belarus is a signatory.
In addition to the thousands who have suffered administrative penalty, approximately 700 individuals, detained in pre-trial prisons, are being investigated for criminal offences. Notwithstanding the release of seven of those held in the KGB prison, who participated in Lukashenko’s “Potemkin” round table a week or so ago, the auguries for protesters’ facing criminal charges are not at all good.
