The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

03.03.2017 Mental anguish ‘adds weight’ to argument for ending capital punishment – UN rights chief

The United Nations human rights chief today reiterated his call to abolish the death penalty as it raises serious issues in relation to the dignity and rights of all human beings, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

15.02.2017 Amnesty International: Aleksandr Lapshin's extradition to Azerbaijan is breach of Belarus's international obligations

Following his extradition to Azerbaijan, blogger Aleksandr Lapshin is "at risk of torture and other ill-treatment as well as an unfair trial," Amnesty International said in a statement.

04.11.2016 FIDH and OMCT call for urgent measures to protect Russian prisoner of conscience Ildar Dadin

"Sentenced to three years in 2015 for merely expressing his opinion on relevant political issues, Ildar Dadin must be immediately released and rehabilitated," FIDH said today in a joint press-release by FIDH, its member organisation Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).

22.08.2016 Human Rights Watch urges Belarus to free Turkmen dissident

Belarusian authorities are holding a former journalist from Turkmenistan on an extradition request by the Turkmen government, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday. They should immediately release the former journalist, Chary Annamuradov, and under no circumstances extradite or otherwise return him to Turkmenistan, where he would face torture and ill-treatment in custody.

15.07.2016 Prison doctor to stand trial over fatal neglect

The Prosecutor General's Office has completed the investigation into the death of Ihar Ptsichkin in jail No. 1 of Minsk in August 2014. According to latest information, the criminal case against paramedic Aliaksandr Krylou will soon reach the court.

23.06.2016 Freelance journalists appeal violent detention in Lojeŭ

Freelance journalists Kanstantsin Zhukouski and Aliaksei Atroshchankau, who were detained on June 21 in the town of Lojeŭ, Homieĺ region, have written to the Investigation Committee asking the authorities to investigate their brutal detention by the police officers. The reporters say they were beaten after the arrest.

23.03.2016 Viciebsk police go unpunished in beating case

The Viciebsk city office of the Investigative Committee has refused to open a criminal case to investigate the beating of Pavel Rasliakou. According to him, he was badly beaten by employees of the Kastryčnicki district police department on 1 September 2015.

28.01.2016 Man in Ivacevičy complains about police-related violence

Siarhei Dyliuk, 57, has been reportedly beaten by police officers during interrogation at the Ivacevičy department of internal affairs on January 23. According to him, he was forced to sign a confession to stealing his neighbor’s TV tuner, as he feared the police officers could kill him.

20.01.2016 Vitebsk Investigative Committee Dismissed Allegations of Beating by Police Officer

A student of the veterinary academy from Vitebsk Pavel Rasliakou appealed for help to the HRC Viasna: the student was beaten by investigators of the department of the interior of the Kastrychnitski district administration in the process of questioning about a case of theft. An official inquiry into his complaint failed to establish the facts he outlined and dismissed the demand to initiate a criminal case.

06.10.2015 Homieĺ resident complains of torture and humiliation by police

Disabled of the 2nd degree Dzianis Yauseyenka appeals the illegal actions of an employee of the Navabielicki District Police Department of Homieĺ Artsiom Siurtukou at the prosecutor's office and challenges the verdict of the Navabielicki District Court at the Homieĺ Regional Court.

20.08.2015 Poisoning with bleach: Torture or ‘violation of sanitary norms”?

The Investigative Committee of Belarus has quashed a decision not to institute criminal proceedings against employees of the Mahilioŭ-based penal colony No. 15, who tortured prisoner Piotr Kuchura with bleach during his confinement in the punishment cell. However, when notifying the convict, a representative of the Investigative Committee writes about a ‘violation of sanitary norms’.

15.08.2015 Suspects in case of Belarusian-language are neither charged, nor released

At about 7 p.m. on August 14, the persons who had been detained in the case of Belarusian-language graffiti, were to have been either released or presented charges. However, neither of has happened.

14.08.2015 Criminal proceedings for Belarusian-language graffiti, lawlessness of riot police (video, photos)

After 4 p.m. on August 11 in Minsk, people in black uniforms with guns and helmets broke into three different apartments. Young residents were knocked down to the floor. In one of the apartments they were kept on the floor for about an hour, and electric shockers were used towards them without any reasons.

14.07.2015 Mikalai Dziadok. Bitter taste of colony in Horki

Mikalai Dziadok has been held in the correctional colony in Horki for two months already. He was transferred there on May 12, after being sentenced to one year of imprisonment under Article 411 of the Criminal Code.