Ales Bialiatski urges Prosecutor General to investigate torture reports

Ales Bialiatski, vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights and chair of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, has addressed Belarusian Prosecutor General Ryhor Vasilevich with a demand to investigate the alleged torture facts reported by former presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich in his statement for the media on 28 February.

Ales Bialiatski stresses that “freedom from torture is absolute which cannot be restricted in any circumstances, while Article 25 of the Belarusian Constitution, as well as a number of international human rights treaties, ratified by the Republic of Belarus, prohibit the use of torture.”

“The actions by the KGB and the Interior Ministry officials towards Ales Mikhalevich are an outrage against the absolute prohibition of torture”, says the human rights defender.

Mr. Bialiatski urges the General Prosecutor’s Office to identify and prosecute the persons, involved in the torture incidents against the inmates of the KGB pre-trial prison and prison #1 of the Interior Ministry.