Abuse of Belarus female prisoners alleged

Antanina Kanavalava says her four years in a Belarusian penal colony as a political prisoner were filled with fear and anguish that still haunt her.

- By Yuras KARMANAU

RAMIL NASIBULIN Pool Photo IMPRISONED opposition figures include Maria Kolesnikova, shown in Minsk, Belarus, in 2021.

She nearly lost parental rights to her two young children when she was initially arrested. Her eyesight deteriorated from sewing military uniforms in a dimly lighted room. Denied access to even basic needs such as feminine hygiene products, she used rags or whatever she could find amid unsanitary conditions.

“Women in prison go through hell and can’t even complain to anyone,” Kanavalava, 37, told the Associated Press after her release in December. “The head of the prison told me straight out that people like me should be put against the wall and shot.”

Belarus has nearly 1,200 political prisoners. While all endure harsh conditions suchas unheated cells, isolation and poor nutrition and healthcare, human rights officials say the 178 women behind bars are particularly vulnerable.

Pavel Sapelka, a lawyer with the Viasna human rights center, says women are often singled out for abuse and humiliation, threatened with losing their children, and have had medical problems ignored.

Sapelka cited the case of Hanna Kandratsenka, 30, who died of cervical cancer in February, months after getting her freedom. She was diagnosed in prison but denied early release for treatment, he said.

Independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council describe “appalling” conditions for women in Belarusian prisons, with “a blatant lack of accountability for the ill treatment.”

Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for over three decades, living up to his nickname of “Europe's last dictator” by silencing dissent and extending his rule through elections the West calls neither free nor fair.