{"id":194016,"date":"2026-06-30T15:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194016\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:20:10","slug":"belarus-ranked-very-high-risk-country-for-torture","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194016\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus ranked \u201cvery high risk\u201d country for torture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June 30, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)\u2019s new annual report labels Belarus as a country whose residents face a \u201cvery high risk\u201d of torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Torture and ill-treatment in Belarus \u201cremain widespread, systematic and state-sanctioned,\u201d says the Belarus country page of the organization\u2019s 2026 Global Torture Index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human rights crisis triggered by the disputed 2020 presidential election \u201chas deepened into an entrenched architecture of repression,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization notes that in March 2026 Belarusian authorities released several imprisoned human rights defenders, though many remain in custody. At the same time, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka warned that he would react to any renewed protests \u201cmost harshly, without looking at any laws,\u201d which amounts to \u201can explicit endorsement of extrajudicial violence,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to it, political prisoners and other people behind bars face torture, including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions and sexual humiliation, particularly during the initial hours of detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OMCT stresses that \u201ctorture is not criminalized as a stand-alone offence\u201d in Belarus, and that there is no independent mechanism for monitoring detention conditions. The organization cites a conclusion by the UN Group of Independent Experts that human rights violations in Belarus since 2020 constitute a widespread and systematic pattern amounting to crimes against humanity. The report notes that \u201cthe International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into crimes by Belarusian state agents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OMCT\u2019s recommendations for Belarus include ratifying the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture; establishing an independent national preventive mechanism with unrestricted access to all places of deprivation of liberty; creating a national human rights institution; enforcing a zero-tolerance policy toward torture; and establishing an independent oversight body empowered to investigate misconduct and suspend implicated officers, and publish all investigation findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report calls on Belarus to revise regulations against \u201cextremism\u201d and \u201cterrorism\u201d to align definitions with the principles of \u201clegality, necessity and proportionality\u201d; include explicit prohibitions of torture and refoulement; and end the use of these laws to target non-violent expression, peaceful political activity or journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization also demands ending repression against human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and civil society organizations; simplifying NGO registration procedures; lifting restrictions on foreign funding; and adopting legislation recognizing and protecting human rights defenders in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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