Detained Demonstrators Tortured by Cold and Hunger
On 12 January human rights and youth organizations managed to bring food parcels to most of the convicted participants of the protest rally which was held on 10 January in Minsk. At 10 a.m. relatives and friends of arrested formed a queue near the entrance of the prison.
It was a shock for those present that only one sweater, one pair of socks and one pair of trousers could be given to a prisoner. Jackets, sleeping bags or blankets could not be given to the detained. Meanwhile, as said by ‘non-political’ prisoners who where shoveling away snow in the prison yard, the temperature in the cells of the special detention center was about 10° C. Policemen in duty refused to take warmer clothes even for girls who have been sentenced to 15-20 days of arrest, the web resource of the civil campaign Jeans for Freedom! informs.
As before, food is not allowed to be brought to prisoners, and they are not taken for a walk, though it is envisaged by the resolution of the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Belarus #194 of 8 August 2007.
In the resolution signed by Minister Uladzimir Navumau it is said in particular that:
‘persons under administrative arrest have a right for daily walks, lasting at least 1 hour’ (Chapter 14),
‘persons under administrative arrest have a right to use their own bedding” (Chapter 5)’,
Wards should have ‘a table and a bench with the number of seats corresponding the number of inmates’, ‘a socket-powered receiver’ (Chapter 5).
None of these conditions of the Resolution is followed in the ‘Center of delinquents’ isolation’ (which is the official name of the detention center in Akrestsin Street).
