Following a vote condemned as neither free nor fair, Alexander Lukashenko (commonly referred to as “the last dictator of Europe”) was declared winner of the 2020 elections in Belarus, provoking massive protests all over the country. These protests have resulted in thousands arrested and at least two dead, with multiple detainees presenting signs of torture.

On Friday, protestors in Minsk marched to the Belarusian government building after claims that prisoners freed on Friday had been tortured during their days in detention. Of the around 6,700 protesters detained, only close to 1,000 have been released.

Since 1994, Belarus has been led by Alexander Lukashenko, who was re-elected this past Sunday with 80% of the vote, numbers that don’t make sense to the Belarusian population since opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was extremely popular.

Lukashenko has in the past admitted to falsifying election results, and external election observers, including the US and EU, have condemned all past elections and the most recent one as neither free nor fair.

Belarus has a history of severe police brutality that has only heightened since protests erupted on Sunday. Numerous journalists that were detained by police have recounted horrifying instances of beatings, torture, and overall inhumane conditions in jail. Amnesty International has said that there is “mounting evidence of the widespread torture of peaceful protestors.”

Amnesty International and human rights groups based in Belarus have received gruesome testimonies describing instances previously mentioned. They recounted situations where they had been stripped naked, beaten, and threatened with sexual assault. Even those crowding outside a detention center have said that it is possible to hear the screams of victims from outside, documenting the audio in videos that are now being spread across the internet.

Katsyaryna Novikaka, a young woman interviewed by Amnesty International, says that she was detained on August 10th while on her way to the supermarket and spent 34 hours at the Center for Isolation of Offenders (TsIP). In this time, she says she saw the facility’s yard filled with men forced to lie face down in the dirt; Katsyaryna also says that many were stripped naked, put on all fours, and kicked and beaten with truncheons by officers.

She was placed in a four-person cell with 20 other women, being denied access to water, food, and doctors. Multiple women claimed that they had been threatened with rape. It was only until Katsyaryna had spent 22 hours locked up that she was charged with participating in an unauthorized rally. Before she was released, she received death threats from officers and never received her passport or apartment keys back.

Although the Belarusian government announced on Thursday that 1,000 people were being released, hundreds are still waiting for news of missing friends and family.

Another case is that of Nikita Telizhenko, a journalist at the Russian online newspaper Znak.com, who was arrested on August 10th. He reportedly spent 16 hours in the Maskouski District Internal Affairs Office where police forced detainees to pray, whoever refused to do so was beaten.

“In the police bus, people continued to be beaten — for having tattoos, or for having long hair. ‘You are a faggot, now you will be turned out in prison,’ they [police officers] yelled at them.”

Nikita Telizhenko

“People spent a lot of time on their knees, or on the floor spreading their legs. It was scary. I’m a person who has seen quite a lot of things, but it was scary.”

Journalist Maksim Solopov

Nikita was only released after consistent demand through public outcry and intervention by the Russian Embassy.

Aside from the several thousands arrested, there have been at least two deaths since protests began. The first was a protestor who died on August 11 after police fired stun grenades and tear gas in Minsk. The second was a 25-year-old man who died in custody in Brest on August 12, the same day police began using live ammunition against protestors. There was an earlier death on August 9 which is corroborated with a video showing a protestor being run over by a police car and lying motionless on the ground afterwards. The identity, and whereabouts of this victim are unknown.

Since this crackdown, there have been several strikes all over the country, the majority at state-owned factories. In truck-maker Belaz, in Zhodino, hundreds of workers were seen walking out.

Aside from strikes, thousands of women in Belarus have also formed what are being called “solidarity chains” in Minsk and other major cities. Those participating have said that they wanted a peaceful resolution where all detained protestors are freed.

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