Opposition activist said she was humiliated in jail

• 22.08.2008, 12:13

Opposition activist from Brest Zhanna Abramava sent a complaint to the prosecutor of the Leninski district of Brest against living conditions in the temporary detention center of the Leninski district militia department.

As human rights activist Raman Kislyak told to BelaPAN, this complaint is a part of a campaign of human rights activists on improving conditions in this facility, including elimination of discrimination against women.

The human rights activist said Z. Abramava was kept in the detention center from 29 September till 1 October 2005 and 27¬–30 January 2006. He said, according to the Law on Public Appeals, complaints can be sent to governmental bodies not later than three years since the day a violation of their rights was committed or they learnt about this violation.

Moreover, as she learnt later, the detention center is equipped with video control system allowing an officer on duty and male militia officers to monitor what is going on in cells.

The activist thinks such conditions humiliated her as a woman and also were insulting and cruel.

“It’s not the first complaint sent by women to these bodies. As far as I know, the situation in this detention center hasn’t changed since that time, though much money and complicated steps are not needed for it. They just should take into account, when personnel hiring, that both men and women, who don’t want to have their dignity humiliated, are placed in the detention center,” R. Kislyak said.

According to him, human rights activists will continue to help the arrested people to complain against keeping conditions by raising a question on violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.