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We demand immediate investigation of torture and abuse of hundreds of people in Belarus

Roman Bondarenko, 31, died because on the wounds sustained on November 12. Masked strangers detained him near "Peremen (Changes') Square" in Minsk and abducted him by minivan in Central District Directorate of Internal Affairs (kind of police station) in Minsk. This murder is at least the fourth known to us.  

Up to date, no cases were put against the siloviki (security officials) who have committed crimes against civilians on 9-11 August, as well as in the ensuing months.

On the contrary, the sufferers are being persecuted.

We are volunteers and reporters, members of the media project August 2020, and we demand thorough and unbiased investigation of these crimes. We can confidently tell that some people were treated with severe violence. In cooperation with Belarusian and international human rights advocates, we are collecting and – with consent of the sufferers – publishing the evidences of tortures and inhuman treatment.

We are writing down the accounts of the wronged individuals, collecting their medical assessments; we communicate with the sufferers IN PERSON and do not raise rumors. 

The statements about these crimes were filed for the law-enforcement authorities, but their legal assessment is still to be done, for some unknown reason.

The Head of the Council of the Republic Kochanova has visited Belarusian State University, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kazakevich has been to Minsk State Linguistic University; they have met with students and claimed that either the facts of atrocities are not proven, or the violence was necessary. The goal is to persuade people that nothing horrible has happened.

You don't need to be an investigator to analyze everything that was written and ask yourself, for instance, the following questions:

- What for the person who didn't struggle on arrest and voluntarily went to the prison truck was consistently forced to "have flag for supper", even if the flag "wasn't registered"? Against whom the siloviki were pushing back at that moment?

- What for the person with a white bracelet was forced to chew this bracelet and choke with it? He was already detained, isolated in the infirmary, he was armless, defenseless, and he had no way to escape. Which law allows forcing people to chew plastic all night through? Was it just a "protection from attacks" for siloviki?

- What for tens of men were beaten in the groin in confined spaces, until they began losing consciousness and soil themselves because of the pain? Which aggression was "rebuked" by siloviki in such ways?

- Why are you denying RAPES if the young man got intramucous extravasations (3 loci) of the rectal ampulla that were formally recorded? Tens of men and women were methodically threatened with rapes: their trousers were cut; condoms were put on the police batons to threaten to put it into the anal orifice until the arrestees unlock their smartphones. We know of at least several episodes of real rapes with batons, sticks and bottles – these were the rapes of young girls.

We have to emphasize that there are real evidences of tortures. Real facts. Real medical assessments. Lots and lots of facts affirmed by several sufferers. They remember people who did away with the arrestees with extreme atrocity; they remember the severe conditions of confinement and treatment. Why don’t you, officials, speak of it? Why does nobody search for the criminals?

If you do not conduct the investigation in person, look through the evidences of the sufferers on our website August2020. More than 100 stories of men and women who have suffered from the actions of the siloviki are published there – people from Minsk, Brest, Grodno, Mazyr, Barysaw.

By standards of the international law, tortures are the gross human rights violation, which cannot be justified by any circumstances. The tortures are illegal according to the Belarusian national legislation too. In line with Article 128 of the Penal Code, the tortures are punishable by imprisonment of seven to twenty-five years, or life sentence, or capital punishment. This crime has no term of limitation.

Even now, many people whose accounts are collected by us are still afraid to speak publicly. Tens of people have already left the territory of Belarus in fear of persecutions. But we do know that the majority of those who have suffered after the August presidential elections are peaceful men and women. Part of them didn't protest, but fell into the siloviki's hands only accidentally: one had left home to buy cigarettes, another – to walk a dog; some of them were just returning from work. 

We are sure that someday these crimes against the community would be investigated in courts of the new Belarus and at international scale. We are sure that this would happen soon. And you, those who are still holding key positions, can play the most important role for your country by doing your best for such investigations.   

We are demanding the full, thorough, transparent, unbiased and comprehensive investigation of these numerous crimes.

 (!) We approach to all the students, workers, public servants. When the officials would come to you to give a preventive conversation, choose several stories from August2020, print them and hand to the officials.

Please sign our petition and tell your friends and colleagues about it.

August2020 team