belarus executive summary - US Department of State

BELARUS 5
and bedding and inadequate access to basic or emergency medical care and clean
drinking water. Ventilation in cells and overall sanitation were poor, and
authorities failed to provide conditions necessary for maintaining proper personal
hygiene. Prisoners frequently complained of malnutrition and low-quality
uniforms and bedding. Some former political prisoners reported psychological
abuse and being forced to share a cell with violent criminals. The law permits
family and friends to bring detainees food and hygiene products and to send them
parcels by mail, but in many cases authorities did not adhere to the law.
Former prisoners reported that access to medical care was severely limited and
frequently provided by under-qualified medical personnel and the results of
medical check-ups were often fabricated. As a result of these conditions,
tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, and other communicable diseases were
widespread in prisons. According to domestic human rights groups, the rate of
tuberculosis infection in prisons was seven times the national average. The
Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that, out of approximately 50,000 inmates
nationwide, 1,170 suffered from active tuberculosis. The death rate from
tuberculosis among inmates was 1.3 times the national average. According to
NGOs, authorities continued their practice of isolating certain prisoners-particularly
inmates with HIV/AIDS and foreign citizens. According to official
data, at the end of 2010 there were 1,098 inmates with HIV/AIDS, accounting for
15 percent of the total number of persons with HIV/AIDS in the country.
In March members of the public monitoring commission under the Justice Ministry
visited a prison in Vorsha and reported that the prison was 500 inmates above
capacity. Commission official Tatsyana Krauchanka said that, despite the
overcrowding, prison conditions were “not bad.” She claimed that the commission
visited different prisons once a quarter and paid special attention to inmates’
complaints regarding their conditions, although in most cases such complaints
were dismissed as illegitimate. She concluded that prisons were not “a resort” and
generally conditions were “good.”
At a press conference on April 20, Deputy Prosecutor General Alyaksei Stuk
admitted that prisons and detention centers were overcrowded and conditions at
times failed to meet legal norms. Stuk cited the failure to conform to space
standards per inmate and a shortage of rooms for private visits as two examples.
Officials also admitted that prison facilities were short of medical personnel,
equipment, and medicines but claimed that all prisoners received sufficient medical
care. He dismissed reports that the situation with tuberculosis was “alarming,”
although he admitted that rates of infection in certain prisons were higher than the
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor