‘Torture and cruel treatment of detainees’: US blacklists heads of ill-famed Akrestsin jail in Minsk
Today, on Human Rights Day, the US Department of State has imposed sanctions on 12 officials of foreign governments, including two directors of the detention center on Akrestsin Street in Minsk, over their being part of human right abuse in their countries.
There are also nationals of Uganda, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mexico on today’s black list. According to the US authorities, those individuals and their immediate family members are to be designated publicly or privately and are ineligible for entry into the United States.
“Ihar Kenyukh and Yauheni Shapetska, heads of the notorious Akrestsina Detention Center in Minsk, Belarus, for their involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the torture and/or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in the aftermath of the fraudulent August 9, 2020 presidential election,” the statement reads.
The United States is determined to put human rights at the center of their foreign policy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned.
“We reaffirm this commitment by using appropriate tools and authorities to draw attention to and promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, no matter where they occur,” he added.
In the wake of the 2020 post-election protests, the detention centre on Akrestsin Street, where thousands of people have faced brutality and torture, has become one of the sad symbols of the current repression against the Belarusians.
belsat.eu
