Beatings, fractures, electric shocks, sexual violence: “in many cases the ill-treatment was reported to be of such a severe nature that it would amount to torture in various forms”, said the EU Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, in a statement issued on Monday 21 September.
In view of the brutality of the repression, she reminded the Belarusian authorities that international law requires them to investigate any allegation of torture or ill-treatment and encouraged Belarus to join the “European Convention for the Prevention of Torture”, which is open to non-Member States of the Council of Europe.
Furthermore, she calls on Council of Europe Member States to assist Belarusians seeking protection on their territory and to show solidarity with journalists, activists and human rights defenders who are taking enormous risks to report on the situation in Belarus.
For her part, the Commissioner says she is “ready to offer my advice and co-operate with European an international institutions to protect our shared human rights values effectively throughout Europe including Belarus”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)