UN experts on Monday Alarm triggered over allegations of poor conditions, inhumane treatment and other violations of international law at a Belarusian internment camp.
After confidential meetings with a psychologist at the Navapolatsk Correctional Colony, experts heard reports of “inmates… being subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, disciplinary punishment and corporal punishment after attempting suicide, (and) being denied basic medical care.” Detainees were also reportedly denied access to family members and lawyers.
Experts said allegations that authorities were labeling certain detainees as terrorists and extremists “despite the lack of appropriate convictions” were particularly alarming. Among these prisoners is Ihar Losika journalist and blogger who was “arbitrarily detained” from 2022 to 2025 on “politically motivated allegations.”
In 2024 rights group Viasna drew attention to himself to reports that officials had placed prisoners in Navapolatsk in solitary isolation “without visits, broadcasts and phone calls” and banned them from sending correspondence. The group also alleged that officials tortured detainees by depriving them of appropriately warm clothing in cold weather. Earlier this year, 18 human rights groups published an open letter to the UN Human Rights Council warning of possible human rights violations against detainees.
Such actions contained in various reports violate international law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The experts reminded the Belarusian government that it is obliged under international human rights standards to “ensure humane conditions of detention, ensure access to independent medical and psychological care, and conduct credible investigations into all reported deaths and serious injuries in custody.”
