Amnesty International: Belarusian judiciary a tool to quell dissent

March 28, BPN. Amnesty International says “torture and other ill-treatment were widespread and impunity prevailed” in Belarus last year.

In its annual report on the state of human rights in the world, it says “Belarus remained largely isolated internationally owing to the continuing refusal by the EU and USA to recognize Alaksandr Łukašenka as president,” and “aligned its foreign and defense policy with that of Russia, including by contributing to Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

The international NGO pointed at numerous human rights violations documented in Belarus in 2022: thousands of politically motivated criminal cases, harassment of journalists, closed trials, the recognition of organizations and online/printed content as “extremist,” and non-governmental organization closures.

It emphasized that “the authorities continued the crackdown on independent civil society organizations that began after the disputed 2020 presidential election.” They specifically noted that in Belarus, “legislative amendments were enacted allowing troops from the Ministry of the Interior to use combat weapons and special military equipment to disperse public protests.”

Amnesty International went on to say that “torture and other ill-treatment remained widespread,” while “perpetrators continued to enjoy impunity.” The group reported discrimination against political prisoners, who were “frequently held in inhuman conditions in solitary confinement.”

“The justice system continued to be widely abused by the authorities to crack down on all dissent and imprison government critics, as well as to intimidate and silence the lawyers defending them,” it said. The Belarusian authorities also “prevented human rights defenders from carrying out their work and subjected them to arbitrary detention, violence and intimidation.” The state also intensified attacks on ethnic minorities.

The NGO said that “the quality and availability of healthcare remained severely compromised, including by the continued exodus of medical workers dismissed on political grounds, as well as shortages of certain drugs and medical equipment.”