BELARUS-SOGI-TBs-CAT

Country: Belarus

Issue: SOGI

Human rights mechanism: Treaty bodies

Treaty body: Committee Against Torture (CAT)

Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2018) (Link)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in detention

29. The Committee is concerned at the reports it has received that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in prison facilities are subject to abuse and stigmatization by public officials and fellow inmates. The violent clashes and humiliating and degrading treatment of homosexual prisoners by other inmates and their involuntary segregation from other inmates due to the criminal subculture and hierarchy in prisons aggravate their conditions of detention. The Committee is also concerned at the reported involuntary placement of transgender women with male detainees, which exposes them to a high risk of sexual assault (arts. 2, 11 and 16).

30. The State party should:

(a) Take measures to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons from violence by public officials and fellow inmates, and in particular protect transgender women from violence inflicted by male detainees;

(b) End the discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex prisoners, abolish the practice of their degrading and involuntary segregation and all other degrading and humiliating practices that still persist in prisons; and investigate promptly, impartially and thoroughly all such allegations, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

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Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons

42. The Committee is concerned at reports that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are subjected to violence, such as physical attacks and other ill-treatment, on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity by law enforcement officials and private individuals. The Committee is also concerned at reports that the law enforcement authorities fail to act with due diligence in investigating and punishing these cases and in applying legal provisions for crimes motivated by hate (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16).

43. The State party should intensify its efforts to ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of attacks against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity; provide training to law enforcement officials and the judiciary on detecting and combating hate-motivated crimes, including those motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity; and develop specific monitoring mechanisms documenting the administrative and judicial measures taken to investigate and prosecute such crimes and the sentences imposed on perpetrators.

BELARUS-SOGI-TBs-CAT

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