Violent protest dispersion resulted in a broken arm and a night at the detention center. Survivor stories
The Human Rights Center "Viasna” and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) launched a campaign to document cases of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of protesters on August 9-13. Some testimonies of people who survived torture and violence will be published on our website as evidence of crimes committed by security forces.
On August 10, the second day of the protests in Belarus, a video of riot policemen violently dispersing a group of young people in Dziaržynskaha Avenue appeared online. A bus drove up to them and riot policemen jumped out of it. When the young people huddled, the law enforcers began to beat them. Viachaslau Chakan, a 25-year-old Minsk resident, was among the beaten and detained. The video shows him being hit with batons at least ten times, kicked, and then dragged by the hands into the bus. The riot police broke his arm. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with many other injuries. Viachaslau told "Viasna" what happened to him in the bus and at the detention center.
"Kneel against the wall, leg by leg, face down, hands behind your back"
Viachaslau was held in the detention center in Akrescin Street on the night of August 10-11. According to him, from the moment of detention and during transportation to the detention center, he and other detainees were constantly beaten.
"After we had been detained, we were beaten again in that white bus."
Upon arrival at the detention center, the detainees, Viachaslau among them, were immediately taken indoors.
"While they were taking us to the third floor, sometimes we were hit again. Then they put us on our knees against the wall, leg by leg, face down, hands behind our backs. We stood like that for an hour or so. Meanwhile, more people were being dropped off. Sometimes they were also beaten.
Then they started taking everyone to the assembly hall. Everyone was ordered to look down and not around. They threw us on the seats: hands out front, face down. That way we wouldn't look at anyone.
There were about 50 people in the assembly hall. I definitely heard that there were 13 girls – they were talking to each other."
"One person had a stick, which provoked beatings. He was actually tortured"
According to Viachaslau, on the night of August 10-11, he and other detainees were kept in a basement for some time. In the morning, he was taken back to the assembly hall.
"After they asked for our personal information, they started taking us into the hallway row by row. We were undressed, they took away our possessions – shoelaces, belts – and then we could get dressed again. Then they took us back to the basement.
In the basement, thank God, there weren't riot policemen, but ordinary policemen or guards. I think they were the 'duty officers'. They were already much friendlier to us. They talked differently and didn't beat us. They gave us something to drink, let us stand and sit. There was something human in them.
Luckily, we were taken from the basement by the duty officer, not the riot police. He didn't push me, I could walk safely up the stairs.
In the assembly hall, they kept us in the same position as before. We were not allowed to move. By that time they had searched all of our belongings, including phones. I had absolutely nothing on my phone, so they didn't take me anywhere, but they took two guys out. One guy had some stick and he was beaten very badly. He was actually tortured. The riot police beat him non-stop for some 20 minutes. The guy was about 20 years old, if not younger – I could not raise my head to look, so I judged by the voice. He was already crying, asking them to stop. The riot policemen didn't care. When the officer was done, he asked 'How do I fuck you?' Like, with or without a condom. Is that a normal person?
Another person, a man in his thirties, had some affiliation with a human rights organization that was helping people who had been detained all that time: either 'Viasna' or 'Our House'. He was also very badly beaten by the riot policeman. You could hear the blows. He was beaten for a long time. The man asked them to stop, he was crying."
"While my left side was injured, but not critically, my right side was just smashed"
Viachaslau was released on August 11, the morning after his arrest, having been given some papers to sign. According to the interlocutor, it was probably an administrative offense report. After Viachaslau was released from the detention center, he immediately went to a health center.
"My knee was seriously injured, and in general the right side of my body was just smashed. There was a real psychopath among the riot policemen. When he detained me, he was on my right side, and the other riot policeman was on my left. While my left side was injured, but not critically, my right side was just smashed."
In the clinic, Viachaslau was diagnosed with a broken arm, bruises on the head, chest, shoulders, lower back, knees, a mild closed head injury, several abrasions and hematomas.
Viachaslau filed a petition to the Investigative Committee demanding to investigate the unlawful beatings by law enforcement officers.
More stories of people who survived police violence and torture:
"We felt like we were chickens brought to a cage with tigers." Survivor stories
"Let's take him to the police van, let the guys have fun." Survivor stories
"We brought you to the execution, guys." Survivor stories
A bartender talks about his 3-day arrest. Survivor stories
"A riot policeman sat on me in the police van and exclaimed: 'Look at my nice chair!'" Survivor stories
"They threw my skateboard away and told me I feigned a broken arm." Survivor stories
"I had to take down my pants and stand in my underwear in the middle of the hall." Survivor stories
"Riot policeman took another baton and said: 'I wanted to be a drummer all my life.'" Survivor stories
"They broke my ribs and found me guilty." Survivor stories
"When they looked at my ID, the beating became softer." Survivor stories
Rape threats and "shared responsibility". Survivor stories
"You have thrown Molotovs!" they said and hit us with a Taser." Survivor stories
"They started beating me again and said: 'This is a refill for you!'" Survivor stories
"A paramedic came and started beating people." Survivor stories
"White paint was poured on my head. It was like a sign to beat me harder." Survivor stories
"One of them beats you and the other aims at you with a machine gun." Survivor stories
"They took away my bra with a breast prosthesis." Survivor stories
"Road police officers broke my arm during detention." Survivor stories
"I was lucky to be a journalist and to have my kidneys thrashed previously." Survivor stories
“We will shoot you and you will never be found.” Survivor stories
“We were trampled in the police bus.” Survivor stories
“Now we’ll show you how to s..t your pants." Survivor stories
“So you are for Tsikhanouskaya?” Survivor stories
"Officers abused me all the time because I’m black." Survivor stories
“They kicked me in the head with their police boots.” Survivor stories
“People were screaming every night.” Survivor stories