Degrading treatment of Anastasija Huseva reported to UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

The Human Rights Center Viasna addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment with a request to investigate the acts of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in a recent notorious case of anti-police graffiti.

During her three-day detention and stay in the temporary detention facility, Anastasija Huseva was deprived of food and water for one day, was refused medical assistance and a possibility to go to the toilet, and faced humiliation, abuse and threats.

Upon arriving at the detention facility, Anastasija reported a migraine to a medical worker. The medical worker gave Anastasija two pills of Drotaverin, and then she was moved back to the "box" – a narrow room in a detention facility, where one can only stand. Having spent half an hour in the "box," Anastasija felt nauseous and began to knock on the door and call a duty officer of the detention facility for help; she asked to be taken to the toilet. But neither the duty officer, nor the medical worker agreed to take her to the toilet.

Human rights defenders draw attention of the Special Rapporteur to the fact that the Belarusian authorities don't react to the reports of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment. Out of 614 reports of acts constituting torture and ill-treatment received by the Belarusian Investigative Committee and other relevant officials between 2012 and 2015, only ten were subject to criminal investigation.

Therefore, the Special Rapporteur is asked, using the potential of your mandate, to initiate communication with the Belarusian authorities and urge them to ensure competent and impartial investigation of acts of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment to which Anastasija Huseva was exposed during her detention and stay in the temporary detention facility

Anastasija Huseva, together with Dzmitry Palijenka and Jauhen Chulitski, was detained early on January 21 by the criminal investigation officers on suspicion of committing a crime in violation of Article 341 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus criminalizing the desecration of structures and property damage.