Chaos in Belarus: a friction on two fronts

Photo source @TheGlobePost

What is happening in Belarus?

In recent weeks, Belarus has seen a bubbling surge of street violence, torture and police brutality targeting protesters against the current political circumstances of Belarus.

Statistics indicate that some 6,700 demonstrators have been detained in police custody during and post the polling results, consequential to a governmental crackdown on mass peaceful rallies.

In addition, two protesters have died during the unrest: one after being hit by a police van and the other within police custody.

The reason? Belarus’ controversial 2020 presidential election.

The two key running candidates were composed of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a renowned human rights activist who is much loved by the Eastern European territory and known for her nature as a compassionate leader since charity volunteer work abroad in Ireland during the 1990’s.

By contrast, Tikhanovskaya's opponent, the winner emerging from Belarus' presidential race on the 9th August is Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko is well versed in the operation of Belarusian government, having held office in the country for the last 26 years, securing his re-election by landing a landslide 80.1% of votes.

Pursuant to Lukashenko's political victory, Tikhanovskaya has been driven to exile in Lithuania.

Why are Belarusians holding these mass demonstrations against the government?

Tikhanovskaya's supporters are convinced the election ballots were fraudulently coordinated, rigged as a ploy to ensure that Lukashenko remained in power.

Arguably, Lukashenko's presidential reign since 1994 may be better aligned with a dictatorship rather than a democracy. Since Lukashenko's early years in office, Belarus has seen a major tightening on freedom of speech, press and the mysterious dispersing of all major political opposition to his regime.

In Human Rights Watch's 2020 report on Belarus, the organisation confirmed that the government is known to "harass" civil society activists, censor journalists from attending key political events and routinely deny external news outlets from being accredited by the Belarus foreign Ministry, a step required for these journalists to report events on the scene in the country.

What alleged human rights violations have occurred?

Police brutality, torture and degrading treatment have been both alleged and confirmed in the media by human rights group Amnesty International.

The organisation has confirmed reports from detainees, accounting for the severe atrocities against dissenting voters to Lukashenko's reign.

According to the BBC, one detainee recounted that "We were forced to stand in the yard all night. We could hear women being beaten. I don't understand such cruelty."

Moreover, human rights activists and journalists for the obscene events in Belarus have described what they heard as "screams of the detained" emanating during the night from a prison in Minsk.

Whilst deaths and injuries still remain at minimal level, fears are mounting this should not push Belarus's situation under the rug.

"For days the world has watched in horror as police in Belarus fire rubber bullets, tear gas into crowds of peaceful protests" says Marie Struthers, Amnesty International Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

"It is now becoming increasingly clear that the bloody scenes on the streets of Belarus are just the tip of the iceberg."

On 12th August, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet condemned the violence in Belarus and re-iterated international law's use of force in being limited to exceptional circumstances and "the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees."

Key legal notes

• Use of force by law enforcement (International Law)

Article 3, Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement

"Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for performance of their duty"

(a) "This provision emphasizes that the use of force by law enforcement officials should be exceptional; while it implies that law enforcement officials may be authorized to use force as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances for the prevention of crime or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders, no force going beyond that may be used."

• Prohibition of torture and degrading treatment (International law)

Article 7, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Article 5, Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement

"No law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, nor may any law enforcement official invoke superior orders or exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to national security, internal political instability or any other public emergency as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

(Adopted by General Assembly resolution 34/169 of 17th December 1979)

Article 1, para 1 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)

"[T]he term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining... information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing..."

(Adopted by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10th December 1984, entry into force 26th June 1987, in accordance with article 27 (1))

Belarus accepted the convention as binding law applicable to the state in November 1973. (entry into force in Belarus as of March 1976)