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United Nations experts expressed concern on Monday over allegations of prolonged incommunicado detention and dire custody conditions in Belarus that may amount to torture.
The group of 17 independent experts said they had received information pointing to “deeply alarming detention practices that may amount to grave violations of international law” at the Novopolotsk correctional colony in northern Belarus.
“We are gravely concerned that detainees in Novopolotsk Colony may be subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, disciplinary sanctions and physical punishments after suicide attempts,” they said in a statement.
Mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but not speaking on behalf of the United Nations, they also highlighted “denial of essential medical care and reprisals for attempting to raise complaints, especially after confidential meetings with the Colony’s psychologist.”
“If confirmed, such practices may amount to torture and ill-treatment, and, under certain circumstances, may entail the commission of enforced disappearance,” they said.
The experts cited the case of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Losik, who was arbitrarily detained on politically motivated charges and held at several facilities in Belarus, including Novopolotsk.
His prison sentence began in June 2022, after his arrest in 2020, and he was released and expelled from the country in September 2025, according to the statement.
Losik, who was among 52 political prisoners released last September, reportedly endured prolonged isolation in harsh conditions, and attempted suicide twice while in custody.
After one reported attempt in which he seriously injured himself, he was allegedly denied hospitalisation and put into “disciplinary isolation.”
“Punishing detainees for suicide attempts rather than ensuring urgent psychological and medical care is profoundly disturbing and incompatible with basic human rights standards,” the experts said.
They also raised concern over the reported 2023 death in custody of an older detainee with health conditions, who they said was held in isolation without adequate care.
“Deaths in custody amid allegations of isolation, denial of care and concealment of information from families, raise the most serious concerns under international law,” they said.
In a separate statement, a team of UN investigators slammed the Belarusian government’s decision since last year to invalidate the passports of political prisoners who were forcibly expelled from the country following their release.
The UN Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus said it interviewed a large number of former detainees who had been left without valid travel documents as a result.
The measure, it said, was “contrary to international law and without legal ground or justification.”
The group called on Belarusian authorities to immediately remedy the situation.
There are more than 1,100 political prisoners in Belarusian jails, many arrested after a disputed 2020 election that triggered widespread protests, according to the Viasna human rights centre.
Additional sources • AFP