{"id":102563,"date":"2024-08-29T13:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T10:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102563\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"viasna-at-least-16-political-prisoners-have-disability","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102563\/","title":{"rendered":"Viasna: at least 16 political prisoners have disability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 29, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> At least 16 Belarusian political prisoners have a disability, 10 have mental issues and 91 are seriously ill, says a recent report by the Viasna Human Rights Center to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 65 jailed regime critics are seniors over 60 years old and also have weak health, it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convicts with disabilities are denied adequate medical care, which has resulted in the death of several political prisoners with disabilities over the past few years, the report said, citing rights defender Natalla Sacunkievi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defendants with poor mental health are often held in pre-trial detention centers for several months, where they do not receive any treatment and are kept in ordinary or solitary cells, she noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People with disabilities are subjected to torture and inhuman treatment, as was the case with Halina Dzerby\u0161, 63, with cancer, the rights defender said. The woman was reportedly held incommunicado in solitary confinement and denied necessary medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society activists have developed recommendations for implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Siarhiej Drazdo\u016dski of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include the immediate release of all political prisoners with disabilities or serious health issues that may be considered as a disability as well as access to information, including statistical and research data on disability, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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