Ales Byalatski: Belarusian riot police officially engaged in violence and tortures

• 23.02.2010, 11:57

Belarusian human rights activists plan to address the UN, the OSCE and the European Union in connection with wide repressions against the opposition in Belarus.

“Pessimistic forecasts of human rights activists heard in the end of the last year are starting to come true. As experience of the regime’s preparation to election campaigns confirms, these stages are accompanied by wide-scale repressions against active citizens. It becomes obvious that some plan exists, according to which public associations, independent trade unions and mass media start experiencing hard pressing of authorities once again,” said the head of the human rights centre “Viasna”, Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Byalatski.

The human rights activist reminded that in the beginning of this year crackdown on peaceful opposition rallies took place. It happened on February 8, 14 and 16. Persecution of the Union of Poles in Belarus is taking place. It started before the presidential election in 2005, when the organisation was artificially split. The scandal with the Polish House in Ivyanets, which was seized by police by force, and has demonstrated antagonistic attitude of the Belarusian authorities to the public association, looks typical as well.

Ales Byalatski noted “an active and persistent” position of non-registration of NGOs and political parties. In early 2010 the Belarusian Christian Democracy party received a final denial to be registered from the Supreme Court, the Assembly of Non-Governmental organisations and the trade union “Razam” – from the Justice Ministry.

“We record unprecedented pressure on the media, on independent journalists, who are trying to cover the events of public life or rallies held in Belarus. The desire of the authorities to prevent staging peaceful manifestations and rallies is obvious. Beside rallies disbanded in Minsk, one can recall recent arrests of representatives of the Polish minority in Hrodna for a picket of solidarity with the Union of Poles actions,” the human rights activist noted.

The Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) notes that one more political prisoner, Aleh Surhan, has appeared in Belarus.

“The situation in Vitsebsk is rather tense, and it started in the beginning of this year after Syarhei Kavalenka hung a national white-red-white flag on the New Year tree. After this event local special services and law-enforcing agencies ran amok: endless arrests of activists started, Aleh Surhan’s case initiated last year and then suspended was set in motion. Surhan was detained and beaten up forcibly for hanging the national flag; he was hung on handcuffs and beaten with the use of tortures and violence. And the facts that he was allegedly banging his head against the door of the police car and bit a policeman’s finger while lying on the bottom of the car with his hands handcuffed behind his back is absolutely implausible. Notably, policemen set up a counter claim only after Surhan recorded he had been beaten, and a complaint to the prosecutor’s office against illegal actions of policemen was filed. Then they started to act, in order to conceal violence and tortures done by themselves, and counter-claimed. I am personally convinced that Aleh Surhan has been sentenced to the term not for hooliganism, but for politics, no matter what policemen may invent,” Byalatski said.

The head of “Viasna” reminded that last week representatives of some Belarusian human rights organizations invited officials of the Internal Affairs Ministry and the KGB (State Security Committee) to a meeting dedicated to the issues of freedom of association and enforcement of law during mass rallies.

“We wanted to outline claims we have today against representatives of law-enforcing agencies. We see that the practice of using tortures, violence, and fabricated dishonest evidence by policemen against public and political activists in Belarus is becoming an everyday practice. After we collect complaints of people beaten up by riot policemen during rallies and detentions, and forward them to the prosecutor’s office, the prosecutor’s office in fact covers up these crimes.

In such a situation the Interior Affairs Ministry, special services should consider what they are doing, and suspend criminalization of junior officers of law-enforcing agencies, who are legally engaged in such dirty affairs as beating, violence and tortures of citizens, activists of the civil society.

In such a case it should be stated that from an authority which must protect order, rights and freedoms of citizens, the Belarusian police are turning into a punitive organ aimed at defence of lawlessness and permissiveness, and which violated the Constitution of Belarus blatantly itself.

Unfortunately, that meeting hadn’t taken place, none of the invited officials came, and they haven’t even sent a sergeant with a rubber club, figuratively speaking. I do not know, whether they had fear or they were ashamed.

We will maximally attract attention of the international community to these problems, as the today’s situation contradicts international agreements signed by the country and agreements in the framework both of the UN and the OSCE, and the new EU Eastern Partnership Program,” Ales Byalatski said.