lukashenko’s Regime Has Turned the Prison System into a Tool for Physical Destruction of the Opposition

The lukashenko regime has turned politically motivated imprisonment into a system of punishment that bears all the hallmarks of torture. This is stated in the study “Regime-Attributed Political Assassinations and Deaths” prepared by the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in belarus.

Since 2020, the conditions of detention for political prisoners in belarus have not merely become harsher. According to human rights activists, the deterioration in these conditions is systemic and deliberate. People are denied proper medical care, serious diseases are ignored, psychological and physical pressure is applied, and in some cases, they are held in prisons until they die or reach a critical condition.

Human rights activists have documented dozens of deaths linked to political persecution. Some people died directly in detention facilities, while others died shortly after their release due to the consequences of their imprisonment. There are also cases of deaths under unclear circumstances and suicides, which researchers link to political persecution and pressure from the regime.

The situation regarding medical care is especially telling. The authorities effectively deny seriously ill prisoners the opportunity to receive proper treatment or to be released on medical grounds. The prison system, which is supposed to ensure the lives and safety of the people under its control, in many cases contributes to the deterioration of their condition.

There are virtually no official investigations into such deaths. belarusian authorities have no interest in determining the causes or identifying those responsible, and the system’s secrecy allows them to conceal the circumstances of the deaths. Documentary evidence from former prisoners and their relatives often becomes available only after a long time.

Human rights activists believe that this is not a matter of isolated abuses by prison administrators or law enforcement officials. In their view, the deaths of political prisoners are the result of a state policy aimed at suppressing and destroying dissidents. Responsibility for this lies not only with the direct perpetrators but also with the entire system that persecutes people, convicts them, keeps them in prison, and fails to address life-threatening conditions.