The International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus has published a new investigation report, now available in Russian, Belarusian, and English.
Over several years, the Committee’s team of documenters, analysts, and human rights defenders collected and analyzed testimonies of former political prisoners who had served unlawful sentences in Men’s Penal Colony No. 17 in the city of Shklov. Their work revealed a wide range of grave human rights violations and evidence of crimes against humanity.
These testimonies helped reconstruct a detailed — and at times shocking — picture of life behind the barbed wire of PC No. 17: from inhumane conditions of detention and forced labor to systematic pressure and punishments inflicted on political prisoners.
The report is based on testimonies of 18 former inmates held in PC No. 17 between December 2020 and June 2024. In total, 836 pages of materials were analyzed.
Special attention in the investigation was devoted to the death of Vitold Ashurak in May 2021, whose passing caused widespread public outcry. The official version of “heart failure” was refuted by conclusions of independent experts pointing to signs of violent death. To this day, none of the colony’s staff has been held accountable.
The Committee hopes that the results of the investigation will serve as a basis for journalistic inquiries and human rights work, help bring perpetrators to justice, and increase pressure on the regime that systematically violates human rights in Belarus.
Here you can download the full version of the investigation in English.