Lukashenko’s government has been accused of responding to the protests with excessive force and violence, but the allegations of ill – treatment of people behind bars have caused renewed public outcry against the government.
A woman named Olesya told CNN she was arrested on Sunday while walking down the street next to her friend in the capital Minsk.
She said they were forced to strip naked next to other women before searching in a detention center. Olesya, who for security reasons refused to give her last name, said she was then placed with 17 other women in a small cell. All of them got one water bottle and no food and were forced to sleep on the floor like a small table.
The guards periodically cut off their access to water to silence them. She also refused medical assistance to one of the women, who was injured by a rubber bullet.
Olesya said she spent about 14 hours in the facility and was released after she was forced to sign a paper with what she says were false accusations against her. Her friend, however, is still missing. She is very worried because men appear to be treated much less than women, according to witness accounts.
“They would put four men in a 1.5 meter (5 foot) wide cell, three standing, but they made the fourth one crawl inside like a dog and stand on its knees,” she told Olesya.
Olesya said she continues to return to the detention center to get information about her partner and help others.
“It was very scary to wait outside, we could hear them being beaten, they were crying, they were crying,” she said. “They stormed out with crazy eyes and half-conscious … they just ran in whatever direction the guards told them to and did not tell them to approach us, which could help them get home, and threatened to put them back in. prison. “
Hundreds of people have gathered in the Ukraine’s Ukraine-held detention center for the past two days to try to find their relatives and friends who were arrested during the protests. Some are missing for days, according to people interviewed by CNN, because authorities often do not disclose the location of detainees and prohibit food, water or medication. As of Thursday, about 6,700 people have been arrested nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry.
Ivan, who also did not want to reveal his last name, told CNN that while he was looking for a friend in the detention center early Thursday, he witnessed a young man with a broken arm and leg leave the building.
“People are being beaten, tortured from the moment they are arrested in the streets,” Ivan said. “Then they are taken to local police station, beaten there and then they are brought here after a day or two, and the beatings and torture continue.”
Several other people shared similar accounts of abuse while in government. Reports and images showing injuries by the detainees also appeared on social media. The Belarusian Association of Journalists said in a statement that it had recorded dozens of cases of violence against journalists, while several remained in custody.
The Russian independent news store Znak.com published an account by one of its journalists, Nikita Telizhenko, who reported in Minsk and said he had been detained for 16 hours with several protesters grabbing from the streets, who were forced to lay face down in pools of blood, with some men stacked on top of another.
“The most brutal beatings happened around: hits, screams, screams and screams coming from everywhere,” Telizhenko said. “I felt that some of the holding bands – hands, legs, spines – had broken because they were screaming in pain with the slightest movement.”
Telizhenko says he was eventually released following an intervention by the Russian embassy, which helped release and repatriate several journalists back to Russia.
A change in tactics
Despite such brutal abuses, the opposition has shown no sign of backing. But strategy and tactics have changed.
Thousands of mostly female peaceful protesters, holding white flowers and balloons, took to the streets of Minsk on Thursday as part of a more decentralized protest. Across the country, women are forming so-called ‘chains of solidarity’ to end violence and release detainees. White ribbons, bracelets and shirts have become symbols of the movement, a color that initially represents the peace of the Protestants and later morphs to reflect the old Belarusian flag – white with a red stripe – that it can be seen hanging from many windows in the city.
One chain of Protestants in Minsk was nearly two miles (3.2 kilometers) long. Cars passing by coughed to show their support.
During an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Maria Kolesnikova – the last of the three women who became the faces of the country’s opposition still in the country – wore a white suit because she said she believed the clashes over the disputed election results signal the downfall of Lukashenko’s presidency.
The trio – Kolesnikova, Svetlana Tikhanovskay and Veronika Tsepkalo – came together to run Lukashenko in the election after several opposition candidates were released from running or imprisoned. Lukashenko dismissed the trio last week as “poor girls” in his annual state of the union address, saying he would not “give the country away.”
But the women seem to enjoy significant support. The Tikhanovskaya campaign rallies saw important missions, even in small Belarusian cities not known for their protest activity. Some 63,000 people attended the largest event in Minsk in July – making it the largest demonstration in decades.
The independent monitoring group “Honest People” said that according to their data, Tikhanovskay – who stood in for her arrested husband – had won in at least 80 polling stations in Belarus in Sunday’s vote, causing many to repeat required.
Tikhanovskay and Tsepkalo say they were forced out of Belarus after the election because of government threats. Tikhanovskaya’s campaign told CNN on Sunday that nine people associated with the campaign had been arrested, and her decision to leave was made in part to free her peers.
‘I’m not a bloodthirsty person’
Lukashenko claimed earlier this week that the protests were initiated by “foreign puppets” and added that the legislation would not be repealed and maintained that he still enjoys widespread support.
However, the allegations of torture appear to have angered the government.
On Thursday, thousands gathered in Zhodzina, a city about 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside Minsk, where one of the most important detainees is. Videos from the event made people sing “Release!” and “Leave!” – a song apparently aimed at Lukashenko.
Some of the country’s military and police officers also appear to be turning against Lukashenko and showing support for the opposition. A video posted on Instagram by a man named Evgeny Novitski shows his brother – a former special forces officer – throwing his uniform in a trash can, saying he is no longer proud of his job.
“Hello everyone! I took an oath to my people, and look at what is happening in Minsk, I can not be proud of where I have served, and so I can no longer keep this uniform at home,” said the former officer.
Another video posted by Belarussian TV station Nexta shows a police officer named Ivan Kolos saying he refuses to “follow criminal orders.” He urged his colleagues not to point guns at peaceful people and instead be with them. He said he would take orders from Tikhanovskaya, not from Lukashenko.
The growing call has prompted some Belarusian authorities to apologize late Thursday, a reversal of their previous rhetoric promising a harsh response to Protestants.
“I want to take full responsibility and apologize in a humane way to these people … I am not a bloodthirsty person and I do not want violence,” Belarusian Interior Minister Yuri Karaev said in an interview with a state TV channel ONT. .
Karaev also treats the use of violence against journalists by saying that he “is against any violence against journalists, but this does not mean you have to climb between the two sides, do not go into the thick of it!”
Lukashenko’s former ally and Belarusian Senate spokeswoman Natalya Kochanova also issued a televised statement on behalf of the president, urging Belarusians to “stop” and “stop self-destruction.”
“Less than a week ago, presidential elections were held in the Republic of Belarus. The people made their choice. But everything that happened after that was an unusual attempt to destroy what we were always proud of – our peaceful lives,” he said. Kochanova.
“We all do not need a fight, we do not need a war. People have always been quiet and calm,” Kochanova said. “The president heard the opinion of labor unions and instructed them to investigate all the facts of detention that have taken place in recent days. Intensive work that is going on today has already released more than a thousand people under the obligation not to participate in unauthorized events. “
.
