Okrestina
Security class | Criminal Detention Centre |
---|---|
Managed by | Minsk City Police Department |
Street address | 1-y zavulak Akrescina, 36 |
City | Minsk |
Country | Belarus |
Okrestina Detention Centre, Akrestsina Detention Centre, officially, the Criminal Detention Centre of the
Name
The prison is most commonly referred by its informal name Okrestina (
]).Torture
According to numerous reports, many protesters arrested during the
Many were beaten and in some cases seriously injured. At least three detainees suffered injuries indicative of sexual violence in Okrestino or on the way there. The victims were hospitalized with intramuscular bleeding of the rectum, anal fissure and bleeding, and damage to the mucous membrane of the rectum.[6]
On the night of August 13–14, 2020, relatives of people detained in Okrestino recorded the sounds of incessant beatings that could be clearly heard on the street. Several voices can also be heard on the recordings, screaming in pain and begging for mercy. One released inmate reported that those who begged officers not to be beaten were beaten even more severely.[7]
On September 29, 2020, detainee Dsjanis Kusnjazou was hospitalized from Okrestino with fractures of the skull bones, third-degree open craniocerebral trauma, hematomas, rib fractures, and pulmonary contusion. He succumbed to his injuries. Security authorities claimed the injuries were due to Kusnjazou falling from his bunk bed.[8]
On 11 October 2020, a video recording went public showing prisoners being chased through the ranks of police and security forces in Okrestino and being continuously beaten.[9][10]
In October 2020, Okrestina's Detention Centre head Ivan Sakalouski (Sokolovskiy) was sanctioned by the European Union,[11] the United Kingdom,[12] Canada[13] and Switzerland.[14][15] More Okrestina officials were banned from entering the European Union in June 2021[16] and the United States in August 2021.[17] The U.S. Treasury gave the following motivation for including Okrestina to its
Following the peaceful protests against the fraudulent August 9, 2020 presidential election, many protesters have been arrested and subsequently detained at the notorious Akrestsina Detention Center (Akrestsina) in Minsk. Protesters have described intense physical abuse, including torture and inhumane conditions during their detention at Akrestsina. It has been the site of beatings, arbitrary detentions, and other human rights abuses in the months since the fraudulent presidential election. Akrestsina is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13405 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, human rights abuses related to political repression in Belarus.[18]
In November 2021, Belarusian President
Famous Inmates
- Leaders and participants of the 2020opposition protests, who were detained in Okrestina:
- Zmitser Dashkevich[20]
- Andrei Kim[21]
- Anatoly Lebedko[22]
- Uladzimir Nyaklyayew[23]
- Nasta Palazhanka[24]
- Paval Sieviaryniec[25]
- Mikola Statkevich[26]
- Siarhei Tsikhanouski[27]
- Franak Viačorka[28]
See also
References
- U.S. Department of Treasury, 06/21/2021
- ^ Thousands demonstrated outside the infamous Okrestina jail in Minsk demanding the release of all prisoners - intellinews.com, August 18, 2020
- ^ Belarus election: 'Widespread torture' inflicted on jailed protesters - BBC, 14 August 2020
- ^ The mutual aid corridor ‘Meduza’ visits the volunteer camp outside of the infamous Okrestina detention facility in Minsk - Meduza, August 19, 2020
- ^ Journalist Tatsiana Belashova: Akrestsina is a manmade hell - Belarusian Association of Journalists, 16.08.2020
- ^ Das verprügelte Minsk
- ^ "Belarus: Impunity for perpetrators of torture reinforces need for international justice". amnesty.org. 27 January 2021.
- ^ "В Беларуси скончался мужчина, который поступил в реанимацию из изолятора на Окрестина с тяжелыми травмами". novayagazeta.ru. 3 October 2020.
- ^ Welcome parade at Akrescina prison in Minsk, 11 August 2020
- ^ Das verprügelte Minsk
- ^ "EUR-Lex - 02012D0642-20210227 - EN - EUR-Lex". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury. 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List". Global Affairs Canada. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
- ^ Shields, Michael; Liffey, Kevin (2021-07-07). Liffey, Kevin (ed.). "Swiss widen sanctions list against Belarus". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- ^ "Sanctions program: Belarus: Verordnung vom 11. Dezember 2020 über Massnahmen gegenüber Belarus (SR 946.231.116.9), Anhang 1 Origin: EU Sanctions: Art. 2 Abs. 1 (Finanzsanktionen) und Art. 3 Abs. 1 (Ein- und Durchreiseverbot)" (PDF). Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft. 2021-07-07. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- ^ COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/997 — EUR-Lex, 21.06.2021
- ^ "Treasury Holds the Belarusian Regime to Account on Anniversary of Fraudulent Election". United States Department of the Treasury. 9 August 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ^ "Treasury and International Partners Condemn Ongoing Human Rights Abuses and Erosion of Democracy in Belarus". United States Department of the Treasury. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- Viasna, 29 March 2019
- Charter'97, 31 January 2008
- Radio Svaboda, 31 March 2014
- Belsat, 11 May 2017
- ^ Палажанка выйшла з турмы на Акрэсціна [Palazhanka set free from prison on Akrestsina street] - Nasha Niva, 30 September 2011
- ^ Дзясяткі чалавек чакалі Севярынца пад сценамі Акрэсціна, але яго так і не вызвалілі [Tens were waiting for Sieviaryniec at the walls of Akrestsina but he was not set free] - Belarusian Christian Democracy official website, 22 July 2020
- Viasna, 30 June 2020
- Radio Svaboda, 30 May 2020
- ^ "Голад, холад, пацукі" - Франак Вячорка пра ўмовы свайго ўтрымання ў следчым ізалятары на Акрэсціна ["Hunger, cold, rats - Franak Viačorka about the conditions of his detention in the centre on Akrestsina street] - Deutsche Welle, 17 February 2008
External links
- Media related to Okrestina at Wikimedia Commons