If you or your loved one have become a victim of torture or inhuman treatment, be sure to document what happened:
1. Contact human rights organizations to tell them in detail on the record (audio or video) about what happened to you or the actions you witnessed. Try to remember and clarify as many details as possible. This is important in order to use all possible mechanisms to provide legal assistance in such a case;
2. Submit your report to the district department of the Investigative Committee or the Investigative Committee of your city, pass an interview with an investigator, who must issue a referral for a forensic medical examination. If the victim is in the hospital, you can send an electronic appeal through the website of the Investigative Committee, then the investigator will have to come to the victim of torture and ill-treatment for the interview. If the person who suffered from violence is in custody, call a lawyer to file the necessary complaints;
3. If you are not ready to contact the Investigative Committee, then you can independently undergo a medical examination at the clinic at the place of your registration or at a private medical center. Such an examination is not considered official and has no legal force, however, a doctor will record the injuries and the state of your health. In any case, contact human rights organizations to document torture. During your interview, you will talk to trained specialists and a psychologist. You can contact Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus.
4. Independent documentation should be carried out by you as soon as possible and consists of:
- taking a picture of the injuries,
- making an audio or video recording of important information: the date, time, and ะธ location of the incident, the data of persons involved in the abuse, the data on witnesses, your condition and well-being;
- saving a copy of medical documents after passing the examination;
- saving the clothes you were wearing at the time of the incident.
Learn more about documenting the accident on your own in a brochure.
If a person is in custody, be sure to record all evidence of torture through a lawyer. If you have notarized power of attorney (in order to obtain notarized power of attorney, it is necessary to send a lawyer to the place of detention/imprisonment of the person to sign the necessary documents), you will be able to file complaints yourself on behalf of the imprisoned person.
Do not ignore the torture, inhuman treatment, and violation of human rights during detention and in custody. Documenting and publicizing will help to contact international bodies (UN special rapporteurs, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, EU structures) and to be able to counteract the recurrence of such events. To understand the importance of documenting torture you can watch a series of videos on YouTube from an educational project DOCUMENT.
If you need a psychologist:
- Psychological help line for women from the Belarusian Women's Foundation: [email protected]
- Website with free psychologists, including specialists who work with survivors of torture and ill-treatment
- DAVER, free psychological assistance to Belarusians 2020.
The very first step is to start looking for the person right away. Do not wait for news from law enforcement officers. In the first hours and days of detention, the police forces out a confession which later becomes the basis for the charges. Therefore, the person needs timely legal assistance and support.
Phone numbers of TsIP and IVS detention facilities, police departments and courts of Minsk (if the case is turns out to be administrative and the person receives administrative arrest) can be found if you follow the link. A hint: first of all, it is worth looking for the person in the district police department at the place of residence. Phone numbers of police stations in other cities of Belarus can be found here. If you could not get any information by phone, visit the police station and leave a missing person report in a free form describing all the known circumstances. They will be required to inform you about the whereabouts of the detainee as soon as possible.
Next, find a lawyer who you will be able to get you the access to all the information about the detainee in the near future. When a lawyer enters the process, no investigative actions should be carried out without their knowledge. Ask for help in finding a lawyer to existing initiatives Avocado.help, Legal service Viasna or through contacts on our Telegram channel. Make sure to ask the lawyer to records all violations against the detainee (psychological pressure, physical violence, misuse of power, violation of rights) and file complaints.
!In no case should you believe the police, the investigative committee or the KGB!
The main goal of these people is to achieve the harshest possible punishment for the persecuted, isolate them from society, and hide all their own violations. The only way to stop violations by the punishers, to exclude pressure or torture is to make what is happening visible.
Only this way will the human rights community, international society, and independent media be able to respond timely and properly to the lawlessness of the authorities and provide solidarity, material and information support.