Belarus: Arrested Journalists Spend Days In Excruciatingly Inhumane Conditions And Get “Released” With Reprimands And Threats

Location:  Belarus, Minsk
Date: August 21, 2020

Aleksandr Lukashenko’s early announcement of “victory” brought crowds into the streets on the night of August 9 with journalists getting the brunt of police violence. The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented at least 15 threats and attacks against women journalists working on the ground for the past two weeks.

In the evening of August 10, Tatsiana Belashova was among numerous journalists detained and loaded into a police van near the Central police department, without any explanation. There, Tatsiana and her colleagues spent 2 days without any indictment nor a report. They were later released with a reprimand and warning “to not get caught again” even though “their crime” is unknown and unaccounted for. 

In a letter Tatsiana wrote to Belarusian Association of Journalists she explained the horrific details of the detention center where many reported to be a place where sexual assault and torture take place along with horrible conditions such as overcrowding, no ventilation and one meal every two days:

“Akrestsina is a manmade hell. Police vans arrived every night, after midnight, and we heard from our cell many men screaming of pain, at once.

Everyone who was there can tell you about the procedure: the door of the police van opens and one is to get out and run between the rows of policemen to the end of the huge yard, as they are beating him/her with batons. After that, ambulances arrive and take some people away, while the others are registered and sent to cells.

In Akrestsina center, the guards treat people brutally, especially men, they certainly go all out to humiliate people as much as possible. It is almost impossible to call an ambulance for the inmates. One of our cellmates had her tendons and muscles torn by a baton during detention. She was getting worse every day, she was almost fainting and screaming in pain, but no one called the ambulance.”

Tatsiana in her also letter warned the community about the “chilling effect” of the arbitrary and unlawful arrests: “I see, they now don't keep people there for long — due to overcrowding, there is no time for police reports and trials, and they try to release people quickly, with a warning under article 23.34. Apparently, this time their goal is not to profit from fines, but to scare as many people as possible within the shortest time.”

Since 1995, Independent observers have not considered Belarus elections to be fair and unrigged. While the Belarus citizens are calling for a re-election, opposition leader Svetlana 

Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania over concerns for her safety. But even without Tikhanovskaya, protests across Belarus show no signs of abating. If anything, they’re gaining momentum. Social media channels are rife with examples of government officials and members of the security forces joining the protesters.

The opposition which was formed by three women candidates whose husbands are political prisoners are set to change the course of things and prove the perception that Belarus is not ready for a woman leader.

With the slogan "We are equal and we can win," women who appear on the political scene and out on the streets with protests of “women in white”, will challenge Lukashenko and, who says "poor things" for themselves and says "the Constitution of Belarus is not made for a woman." and bring democracy to the country

The Coalition For Women In Journalism follows the breach of freedoms in Belarus with great concern. In the joint statement letter we signed with other journalists organizations we have made a call to the EU agencies to take concrete measures to ensure journalists’ safety in Belarus. We call upon CPT to send a special mission force to Belarus to investigate the allegations of torture and inhumane treatmen in Minsk detention centers.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.