In August, the Human Rights Center “Viasna” reports about the detentions and arrests of peaceful protest participants for using white-red-white symbols in Belarus, including in private housing and territories.
According to the HRC “Viasna,” in August, the courts imposed at least 29 fines in the amount of 1,584 basic units (about 52,500 Belarusian rubles) and sanctioned at least 81 administrative arrests for a total duration of 1,248 days. There is information about at least 209 persons detained.
“Human rights defenders and journalists continue to record numerous facts of ill-treatment of citizens deprived of their liberty on political grounds, detained and subjected to administrative arrest for participation in peaceful assemblies. “Viasna” experts consider the inhuman detention conditions deliberately created by the administration of the TDFs and other places of detention for this category of detainees as torture,” reads the report of human rights defenders in August.
The human rights defenders point out that criminal persecution for political reasons remains the harshest form of repression in Belarus, remaining widespread. According to the Human Rights Center “Viasna,” courts sentenced at least 136 people in politically motivated criminal cases in August.
As of the end of August, authorities had liquidated or were still liquidating approximately 200 non-profit organizations.
